WASHINGTON, D.C. — Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old Torrance man charged with attempting to kill President Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, agreed to remain in federal jail pending trial during a brief hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C. Allen did not enter a plea during the hearing.

"He's conceding detention at this time," federal public defender Tezira Abe said. Prosecutors had filed an argument that Allen should remain in custody until trial.

Allen faces a terrorism-related charge of attempting to kill the president that carries a potential life sentence. He also faces two firearms charges related to transporting two guns across state lines from California to Washington by Amtrak train, and an additional firearms charge for allegedly discharging a shotgun during the incident.

Video from a hotel camera showed Allen sprinting past U.S. Secret Service agents and into a secured event space a floor above the dinner while armed with a shotgun, a pistol and knives. He then fell to the ground and was detained. Allen reportedly took an armed selfie in his Washington hotel room shortly before the incident.

Just as he was breaching event security, Allen sent an email to his family titled "Apology and Explanation." In the email, Allen wrote that he was targeting top Trump administration officials, with the highest ranking among them receiving top priority. He wrote that he would go through other attendees at the event to reach administration officials but was not targeting guests or hotel staff, and that he chose buckshot rather than slugs to minimize casualties in the room. According to charging documents, the attempted assassination charge hinged largely on the email.

Allen's attorneys filed a motion Wednesday arguing for his pretrial release. In the motion, his attorneys argued that Allen has no criminal record, has family support and ties to his church, and that there are inconsistencies and weaknesses in the government's case against him.

In court, prosecutors alleged that Allen fired his shotgun and noted the recovery of one spent casing. In their detention filing, prosecutors wrote that an officer saw Allen fire his shotgun in the direction of the stairs leading down to the ballroom, and that evidence suggests Allen fired his Mossberg 12-gauge pump-action shotgun at least once as he ran past the magnetometers on the Terrace Level of the Washington Hilton.

Prosecutors wrote in the filing: "The preliminary analysis of the crime scene is consistent with the government's evidence that your client fired at least one shot from the 12-gauge pump action shotgun in the direction of Officer V.G., and that Officer V.G. fired his service weapon five times." At least one fragment recovered from the crime scene was physically consistent with a single buckshot pellet, according to the filing.

Investigators believe that Allen shot a Secret Service officer wearing a ballistic vest during the incident, according to three law enforcement officials familiar with the case. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro had separately alleged that a Secret Service agent's ballistic vest was struck during the incident.