White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen has been linked to a political group called The Wide Awakes, according to the New York Post. He is believed to have attended a ‘No Kings’ protest in California in the past.
The 31-year-old, of Torrance, California, faces charges of two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on an officer using a dangerous weapon after breaching security at the Washington Hilton. He shot a law enforcement agent who was not seriously injured, Newsweek reported.
Donald Trump and other government officials were evacuated from the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner after gunshots broke out. The chaos was caught in a video.
Allen’s sister told Secret Service and Montgomery County Police on Sunday, April 26, that her brother often made “radical statements” and frequently indicated that he plans to do “something” to fix what he saw as problems in the country. She added that he was part of ‘The Wide Awakes.’
What we know about ‘The Wide Awakes’
The Wide Awakes is a group whose name dates back to a Civil War-era political movement linked to President Abraham Lincoln. The original Wide Awakes, a Republican political organization founded in Hartford, Connecticut, on March 3, 1860, was dedicated to electing Lincoln to the presidency, according to the National Park Service (NPS). It was founded by five young law clerks.
The Wide Awakes were known for the kepi hats, capes made of enameled canvas, and large kerosene lamps they carried during pro-Lincoln torchlight parades. Its members ranged in age from 15 to 40.
According to the National Park Service, “The Wide Awakes were made up of young Americans, aged between fifteen and forty years old (Grinspan, 2009), although there were occasionally older people involved (Barrow, 2005). They were instrumental in getting young people interested in the 1860 presidential election. This is because during the presidential election of 1860, the Wide Awakes were one of the first political organizations formed whose membership was made up, by, and for young people.”
In 2020, a modern Wide Awakes network was launched, drawing inspiration from the original movement. According to Amplifier.org, which is one of the founding organizations, the new Wide Awakes are “a network of thousands of artists, cultural workers, and activists driven by the most urgent social and political issues of our time.” The modern network says it is one of the largest collaborations of cultural leaders in the history of the US, with nationwide civic actions organized before and after the 2020 election.
Amplifier shared a statement after Allen’s arrest, saying, “In 2020, Amplifier was asked to help create a series of artworks for the open-source Wide Awakes project, one of more than a dozen campaigns we worked on for numerous partners that year. In 2022, we used some of the art in a clothing line and showed it at an exhibition. Since that time, we have periodically reposted these artworks on our social media accounts. We had never heard of Cole Allen before yesterday and he has never had any affiliation with our orgaization. Our hearts go out to those affected by the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”
