The California man accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner will remain in custody.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, returned to federal court on Thursday for a detention hearing to determine whether he will stay behind bars as he awaits trial.
Allen’s public defenders agreed to keep him behind bars for now but left the door open to pressing in the future for his release before trial.
He did not enter a plea during Thursday’s brief hearing before U.S. Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya.
In pushing for his release, the defense in court papers just the day before cited alleged inferences made about their client.
“The government’s evidence of the charged offense—the attempted assassination of the president—is thus built entirely upon speculation, even under the most generous reading of its theory,” Allen’s lawyers wrote.
Allen’s defense also claimed that some of the Justice Department’s statements indicate that the recovered ballistics evidence is inconsistent with some part of the government’s theory, evidence, and witness statements.
In response, the Justice Department said the evidence shows Allen fired his shotgun at least once in the direction of the Secret Service agent, noting that investigators recovered at least one fragment that is consistent with a buckshot pellet.
“The government is aware of no physical evidence, digital video evidence, or witness statements that are inconsistent with the theory that your client fired his shotgun in the direction” of the officer or that the officer “was indeed shot once in the chest while wearing a ballistic vest,” prosecutors wrote.
The accused gunman sent a message to family members just minutes before the attack in which he described himself as “Friendly Federal Assassin” and railed against recent actions taken by the Trump administration.
Trump was rushed off stage and uninjured.
In addition to the attempted assassination of a president, Allen has been charged with two additional firearms counts.
Allen faces up to life in prison, if convicted, of the assassination count alone.