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Grand jury adds terrorism charge in White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 9 outlets across the spectrum.

9 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Officials at a podium before a U.S. Attorney's Office display and seal, flags behind.
Image via The HillHow images are chosenReport this image

A federal grand jury has added a terrorism charge against Cole Tomas Allen, 31, accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 25. The superseding indictment, announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, brings the case to five criminal counts. NBC News and The Center Square say the new count is an attempted terrorism charge under a D.C. local statute, and the Justice Department says its maximum penalty is life imprisonment. Allen was previously charged with attempting to kill President Donald Trump, who was seated at the head table during the dinner.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. Editors read every story. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. A federal grand jury added a terrorism charge against Cole Tomas Allen in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting case.

    Across the spectrumReported byLeft2Center2Right4See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    ABC News, NBC News
    Center
    United Press International, The Hill
    Right
    Daily Mail, Washington Examiner, The Center Square, New York Post

  2. The new terrorism count is brought under a D.C. local law, according to NBC News and The Center Square.

    Reported byLeft1Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    NBC News
    Right
    Washington Examiner, The Center Square

  3. The superseding indictment brings the case to five criminal counts, according to The Center Square.

    One outletThe Center Square· Right

  4. The Justice Department said the maximum penalty for the new terrorism count is life imprisonment.

    One side only: the rightReported byRight2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Right
    The Center Square, New York Post

  5. Allen was previously charged with attempting to kill President Trump, who was at the head table.

    Reported byCenter1Right3See the outletsHide the outlets
    Center
    The Hill
    Right
    Daily Mail, Washington Examiner, The Center Square

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three sides report that a federal grand jury added a terrorism charge against Cole Tomas Allen over the April White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting. Left and center headlines describe the charge neutrally, while right-side outlets stress the alleged attempt on Trump and the possible life sentence.

  • the left

    2 outlets

    Left headlines report the new terrorism charge in plain terms, with NBC News adding that it is a D.C. terrorism charge and ABC News giving only the charge.

    Man accused in White House Correspondents' dinner shooting charged with terrorism
    ABC NewsLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    3 outlets

    Center headlines state the grand jury action neutrally, and The Hill frames the suspect as accused and ties the case to the alleged attempt to assassinate Trump.

    Man accused in WHCA dinner shooting faces new terrorism charge
    The HillCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    4 outlets

    Right-side headlines lead with the new charge and, at Daily Mail, the alleged plan to kill Trump; Washington Examiner uses ‘slapped with’ while the NY Post stresses the potential life sentence.

    Shooter who tried to 'kill Trump' at White House Correspondents' Dinner hit with new terrorism charge
    Daily MailRightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

Mantle found no loaded language in this coverage. Every headline and opening was checked against Mantle’s published word list, and Mantle’s AI read 8 of the 9 articles in context when it wrote the analysis. Straight reporting often has none.

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

2 outlets

Leads with

  • the new terrorism charge
  • the D.C. statute named by NBC News

Leaves out

  • the five-count total reported by right-side outlets
  • the life-sentence maximum reported by right-side outlets

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 2 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • ABC NewsLeft

    Man accused in White House Correspondents' dinner shooting charged with terrorism

    Cole Tomas Allen is facing a new charge of terrorism.

    Read at ABC News (opens in a new tab)
  • NBC NewsLeft

    Feds add D.C. terrorism charge for White House Correspondents’ Dinner gunman

    A federal grand jury has added an attempted terrorism charge to the case of Cole Tomas Allen, the man arrested at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner Association dinner in April.

    Read at NBC News (opens in a new tab)

From the center

3 outlets

Leads with

  • the grand jury action
  • the alleged attempt on President Trump

Leaves out

  • the D.C. statute under which the count was brought

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 3 headlines from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

4 outlets

Leads with

  • the alleged plan to kill Trump
  • the terrorism charge as an escalation
  • the potential life sentence
See the 4 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • Daily MailRight

    Shooter who tried to 'kill Trump' at White House Correspondents' Dinner hit with new terrorism charge

    The gunman who crashed the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April is now being charged with attempted terrorism.

    Read at Daily Mail (opens in a new tab)
  • Washington ExaminerRight

    WHCA dinner suspect slapped with new terrorism charge

    A federal grand jury added a new terrorism charge against Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner earlier this year. …

    Read at Washington Examiner (opens in a new tab)
  • The Center SquareRight

    White House Correspondents’ dinner shooting suspect hit with terrorism charge

    (The Center Square) – The suspect in the shooting during April’s White House Correspondents' Dinner faces an additional charge: attempted terrorism.

    Read at The Center Square (opens in a new tab)
  • New York PostRight

    Alleged White House Correspondents’ Dinner gunman Cole Thomas Allen hit with new terrorism charge

    Cole Thomas Allen faces a new terrorism charge carrying a potential life sentence over the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting.

    Read at New York Post (opens in a new tab)

The stories you read build My Mix, a private picture of which sides cover the stories you choose, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    27 min later

    Its first report, Nov 13, 11:57 AM EST

  • Center

    First to report

    The Hill, Nov 13, 11:30 AM EST

  • Right

    1 hr 57 min later

    Its first report, Nov 13, 1:27 PM EST

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The HillCenterNov 13, 11:30 AM EST
  2. NBC NewsLeftNov 13, 11:57 AM EST
  3. United Press InternationalCenterNov 13, 1:05 PM EST
  4. New York PostRightNov 13, 1:27 PM EST
  5. The Center SquareRightNov 13, 1:38 PM EST
  6. ABC NewsLeftNov 13, 1:51 PM EST
  7. Washington ExaminerRightNov 13, 2:00 PM EST
  8. NewsNationCenterNov 13, 2:03 PM EST
  9. Daily MailRightNov 13, 2:20 PM EST

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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