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The California man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner was highly educated and had worked as a tutor, a profile one university president said raises an unsettling question about the role of education in shaping character.
Cole Allen, 31, earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 and a master's degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills last year. That doesn't match the typical resume of a would-be presidential assassin, but a disturbing shift appears to be underway, according to Cornerstone University President Gerson Moreno-Riaño.
"A troubling trend that appears to be emerging is that of the 'educated assassin,' individuals who do not fit the typical profile of people who commit such heinous acts," Moreno-Riaño said. "These individuals are often schooled in some of America's most elite institutions and act out of a perverted philosophical conviction that sees the killing of others not as evil, but as justified."
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"My concern has been for many, many years that some of these not just activists, but violent activists, are perhaps some of the most highly educated ones in our country," he said. "When education ceases to educate, when it's ideological, when it's brainwashing, when it's indoctrination, it's no longer education… It's something very different."
Prosecutors say Allen, who remains in federal custody, targeted Trump and Cabinet officials in the April 25 incident. He allegedly had authored a damning manifesto and left what authorities described as an extensive digital trail showing weeks of planning.
In addition to his advanced schooling, Allen joined tutoring company C2 Education in March 2020, according to his LinkedIn profile. A Dec. 30, 2024, Facebook post from the company congratulated "Cole Allen of C2 Education Torrence" as a teacher of the month.
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Secret Service Director Sean Curran told Fox News Thursday that Allen shot an agent in the chest while "charging through security," with the round stopped by the agent's bulletproof vest.
Curran said the agent returned five shots that missed, adding the agent was the only person other than Allen who discharged a weapon during the incident. Allen is believed to have tripped and fallen, prompting Secret Service agents to surround and subdue him.
Defense attorneys claim prosecutors lack key physical evidence and dispute aspects of how the incident has been characterized. A defense memo described Allen as a "devout Christian," a highly educated man with no criminal history and a "loved and respected teacher."
But Moreno-Riaño warned that credentials and professional roles do not necessarily reflect deeper moral grounding.
"The universities have rejected the centrality of God, a theistic Christian worldview, but nothing has taken its place," he said.
"There is no moral compass for universities and for education today. It just doesn't exist."
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He added that parents should take a more active role in understanding what their children are being taught.
"Parents can no longer… simply drop off their student" and assume responsibility ends there, Moreno-Riaño said.
Moreno-Riaño also said people who carry out acts like this can hide their intentions, making them difficult to identify ahead of time.
"Our entire life as a whole, whatever we do in private, whatever we're doing in secret, does have a significant impact on what we do in public," he said.
Allen's next hearing is scheduled for May 11.
For Moreno-Riaño, the case points to a moral concern.
"There's a crisis of morality, a crisis of faith," he said. "Without it, all we're giving to students is just information then. And that's not giving them guidance and moral direction."
Fox News Digital's Alex Koch, Asra Q. Nomani, Jake Gibson, Julia Bonavita and Peter D'Abrosca contributed to this reporting.
