Judge Zia Faruqui apologizes to Trump assassination suspect over jail conditions

A federal magistrate judge personally apologized to the man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump during a hearing on Monday, saying his jail conditions were worse than those of January 6 Capitol rioters.

Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui made the remarks during a hearing over the detention conditions of 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, who is charged with attempting to assassinate Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 25, 2026.

"I am very troubled by what they indicate the conditions that you have been subjected to," Judge Zia Faruqui told Allen in court, adding, "I'm sorry. It sounds like things have not been the way they're supposed to."

Allen's public defenders alleged that their client was placed in a padded cell with constant lighting, kept in 24-hour lockdown and fully restrained using a five-point shackling system.

Judge Faruqui said he had handled scores of January 6 defendants and none of them were treated this way.

He concluded the hearing by ordering the jail to notify him once a housing decision had been made. He also ordered that Allen be given the Bible he had requested.

A representative from the jail said Allen was briefly placed on suicide watch following an evaluation by a doctor. Final housing decisions, she said, had not yet been made.

Prosecutors said Allen told the FBI after his arrest that he did not expect to survive the incident. "It's clear he did not expect to survive it, which gives rise to potential concern for suicide," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine said in court.

Allen, a teacher and engineer from Torrance, California, rushed a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton with a 12-gauge shotgun. A Secret Service officer wearing a ballistic vest was struck in the chest. Allen was shot at but not hit, and was arrested at the scene.

Allen faces charges including attempted assassination of the president, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison. He is being held in a Washington, D.C. jail pending trial.