A DC federal judge apologized Monday to the man accused of trying to assassinate President Trump and his top aides at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, saying the suspect’s jail conditions are too harsh.
US Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui told alleged wannabe killer Cole Allen, 31, he was sorry that the suspect had been held under suicide watch despite a mental-health exam finding he did not pose a threat to harm himself, according to Politico.
Faruqui said it was the court’s job to make sure Allen was jailed responsibly and fairly — and that the accused killer was “being treated differently than anyone I’ve ever observed.
“Whatever you’ve been through, I apologize for the prior week,” the judge told Allen, according to a report by USA Today.
The move prompted furious US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro to tweet, “Welcome to Washington, DC, where U.S. Magistrate Judge Faruqui believes a defendant armed to the teeth and attempting to assassinate the president is entitled to preferential treatment in his confinement compared to every other defendant.”
Prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine had argued that the FBI recommended the measure because Allen told agents after his apprehension April 25 that “he did not expect to survive the attempted assassination of the president.”
Tony Towns, a lawyer for the DC lockup, said Allen was in an isolated cell because of “ongoing” psych exams and that the decision to keep him there was made by medical staff at the facility.
But Faruqui said he didn’t think Allen’s statement in custody meant he planned to kill himself but rather that he expected to be shot during his assault on the black-tie soiree at the Washington Hilton hotel.
Allen’s lawyer, Eugene Jeen-Young Kim Ohm, also informed the judge that Allen had been held in a padded cell and was on what amounted to 24-hour lock down, CNBC reported.
Ohm said Allen wasn’t allowed to make a call to him, was barred from having any court records in his cell and wasn’t even allowed to have a Bible.
“It just doesn’t add up,” Faruqui said, as he noted people convicted of more serious crimes were held in less restrictive conditions than Allen was being held in.
“He should not be in solitary confinement,” the judge said.
Faruqui ordered the feds to update him by Tuesday morning about where Allen will be held going forward and said he’d need justification for any decision to tighten restrictions on him in jail.
“This is not the jail’s first go-around with people engaged in alleged political violence,” the jurist said, referring to the dozens of Trump supporters held there in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Allen’s lawyers had requested Monday’s hearing but asked for a cancellation Sunday, noting their client had been finally removed from suicide watch.
Judge Faruqui declined to scrap the hearing, citing “grave concerns” about Allen’s treatment.
Allen’s lawyers had claimed their client was “escorted to the shower,” stripped searched any time he came into or left his cell and was made to wear a padded vest.
“These conditions are excessive restrictions on his liberty that serve no justifiable purpose and deprive Mr. Allen of dignity while incarcerated,” Allen’s team wrote at the time.
The Torrance, Calif. native is charged with attempting to assassinate the president, transporting a firearm and ammunition across state lines with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
He has yet to enter a plea and faces up to life in prison if convicted.
-Additional reporting by Ryan King
