A suspect in the attempted assassination of US President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges, Reuters reported.
The alleged perpetrator, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, is accused of being behind an attempted attack at a correspondents' dinner in Washington, D.C. on April 25.
He did not speak in court on Monday when his lawyer made the statement on his behalf. The charges include attempted assassination of the president, assault on a federal officer and weapons-related offenses.
He is charged with a total of four offenses, the most serious of which is attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
He faces life in prison if convicted of trying to kill Trump during an annual correspondents' dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel in the US capital.
According to the prosecutor's office, the incident took place in the area outside the dinner room itself, which was cordoned off as a security checkpoint.
Here, Allen penetrated a security check at the hotel and fired several shots.
Security officers returned fire and fired several shots at Allen, but he was not hit.
A Secret Service employee was shot, but escaped without serious injury thanks to a bulletproof vest.
Melania Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance were among the attendees, but were quickly evacuated.
2,600 people were supposed to attend the annual correspondents' dinner. Trump has previously boycotted the dinner, but decided to attend this year.
The president was not injured in the failed attack and has subsequently called for the dinner to be moved to another date.
Monday's hearing also kicked off the next major legal battle in the case, Reuters reports.
Allen is seeking to have acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and prosecutor Jeanine Pirro removed from the case. Both were present at the dinner and may have been among his alleged targets, the objection says.
- It is completely inappropriate for victims of an alleged incident like this to be prosecuting the case themselves, Allen's lawyer, Eugene Ohm, said, according to Reuters.
Pirro previously told CNN that "my ability to prosecute this case has nothing to do with the fact that I was there".
Several US media outlets have reported after the shooting a manifesto that the 31-year-old Allen reportedly sent to family members before the attack.
According to the Associated Press, he criticizes the Trump administration in the text and describes himself as a "friendly federal assassin".
/ritzau/
