When Indoctrinated in Leftism, Anyone Can Be an Assassin

Young people without meaning or purpose only need a consistently villainized target to turn violent.

The most remarkable thing about the attempted assassination at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last weekend is how unremarkable such events have become. A heavily armed young man—Cole Tomas Allen—charged the security checkpoint of an event attended by President Trump, the Vice President, various members of the administration, and more than 2,000 journalists and officials. Allen was subdued before reaching the ballroom, and for this feat, the Secret Service deserves the country’s thanks. Had he made it into the ballroom, the carnage might have been on a scale not seen in living memory.

The attack should not be treated as an aberration, since it is the third attempt on the President’s life in the last two years. And the perpetrator fits a profile that has become depressingly familiar.

Cole Allen is 31 years old. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Caltech, and a master’s in computer science. He worked as a tutor in Torrance, California, where he had been named “Teacher of the Month.” Described by his students and former teachers as intelligent, polite, and soft-spoken, he came from an apparently stable and comfortable family in the suburbs, and he bought his weapons legally.