A police K9 followed would-be Trump assassin Cole Allen into a side room just seconds before he charged through a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last weekend, newly released Justice Department footage shows. The video, posted Thursday by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, captures the Secret Service dog trailing Allen into the room, where investigators say the gunman removed a large black jacket concealing his shotgun. The K9 briefly entered the doorway before the handler paused, looked inside for roughly 10 seconds, and appeared to speak to someone in the room.  It remains unclear whether the handler was a Secret Service agent or with another law enforcement agency. Immediately after the officer and K9 walked away, Allen charged through the security checkpoint armed with his fully loaded Mossberg 12-gauge pump-action shotgun.  The Daily Wire reached out to the Secret Service seeking clarification on the interaction captured in the footage. Allen sprinted down the hallway at approximately 8:36 p.m. ET, just as agents began dismantling one of the metal detectors at the checkpoint. Minutes before he made his way downstairs from his hotel room, Allen had been monitoring news updates on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and President Donald Trump’s travel to the event at the Washington Hilton, according to court documents. The dinner began at 8:00 p.m., and Trump arrived at the hotel at 8:27 p.m. Authorities say Allen fired one round from his shotgun as he attempted to storm the ballroom, striking one Secret Service agent who was protected by a bulletproof vest. An agent returned fire, discharging rounds, though none struck Allen. He was ultimately subdued after falling shortly after breaching the security checkpoint. The Secret Service has faced criticism in the aftermath, though President Trump and administration officials have praised agents for stopping Allen before he reached the ballroom. Retired Secret Service agent Scot Bryan told The Daily Wire that the response appeared consistent with training based on the footage released. “When you consider the point of possibility perception and the cognitive recognition of what was occurring, the officer’s reaction time was elite,” Bryan added. “The response inside the ballroom, from what video I had access to see, was excellent.” Bryan also pushed back on claims that the agency should have secured the entire 10-floor hotel. “In the after-action evaluation, will the service discuss policy protocols for off-site venues? I expect they will,” Bryan said. “But completely controlling a private business (a hotel or any other venue location) where a protectee visits has broad consequences that have to be examined and are not likely accepted. Critics speak of things they know very little about and espouse ideas without considering context or consequences.” Additional footage released by the Justice Department shows Allen scouting the hotel the day before the dinner. He traveled from California to Washington, D.C., by train, arriving around 1:00 p.m. ET last Friday, according to the Justice Department. A manifesto posted minutes before the attack said Allen intended to target top Trump administration officials and was prepared to shoot any of the attendees or law enforcement officers who stood in his way.

WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump alerted Congress to changes in the United States approach to Operation Epic Fury in a war powers letter sent Friday afternoon, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Daily Wire. The letter informs Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Chuck Grassley, President pro tempore of the United States Senate, of “changes in the posture of the United States Forces” in the Central Command Area of Responsibility, as part of the president’s efforts to “keep Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution.” Trump reminded Congress that he reported to them on March 2 that the U.S. had begun Operation Epic Fury by conducting precision strikes against Iran on February 28. “I ordered that operation consistent with my responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests at home and abroad, and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests,” the letter states. “On April 7, 2026, I ordered a 2-week ceasefire,” Trump notes. “The ceasefire has since been extended. There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated.” Though the United States has been successful in its operations against Iran, the letter notes, “the threat posed by Iran to the United States and our Armed Forces remains significant.” “Accordingly, the Department of War continues to update its force posture in the AoR in select countries, as necessary and appropriate, to address Iranian and Iranian proxy forces’ threats and to protect the United States and its allies and partners,” the letter continues. “These changes are more fully outlined in the classified attachment to this letter. I have and will continue to direct United States Armed Forces consistent with my responsibilities and pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct United States foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive.” Trump concludes the letter by promising to update Congress on any “noteworthy changes,” consistent with the War Powers Resolution. The letter was made public amid murmurs that the president may resume strikes against Iran, which has submitted a new proposal for negotiations with the United States through Pakistani mediators, according to state-run IRNA. The move comes after President Trump rejected a previous offer and extended the ceasefire indefinitely, citing internal divisions within the Iranian government that have delayed consensus on a deal. Iran is using the current ceasefire with the United States to recover weapons and rebuild its capabilities, according to NBC News, citing U.S. officials. The report says Iranian forces have intensified efforts to dig out missiles, drones, and other munitions that were hidden underground or buried beneath debris following U.S. and Israeli strikes. U.S. officials reportedly believe Tehran is trying to quickly restore its missile and drone capabilities in case fighting resumes, allowing it to launch attacks across the Middle East if necessary. Trump shared Friday afternoon that Iran has offered a new proposal to the United States to end the war. But the president is not satisfied with the terms that Iran offered. “We just had a conversation with Iran,” the president told reporters on Friday afternoon as he prepared to depart the White House on Marine One, headed to Florida. “Let’s see what happens, but I would say that I’m not happy.” “They’ve got to come up with the right deal,” he added. “At this moment, I’m not satisfied with what they’re offering.”

This piece is part of MI x DW, a collaboration that brings Daily Wire readers exclusive commentary and research from the Manhattan Institute’s world-class team of scholars. In this piece, Manhattan Institute fellow Danyela Souza Egorov takes a look at ballooning public education spending and asks: What are we getting for this money? Her answer may surprise you. *** American K-12 public education spending reached $1 trillion for the first time in 2024. But what are students getting for that money? While spending grew by 56% since 2013, reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress — known as “the nation’s report card” — declined. Over the next decade, national student enrollment is projected to decline by 5.5%, around 2.7 million students. There are some bright spots. According to the Georgetown University Edunomics Lab, students in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia have seen some recent gains, with Mississippi leading in reading improvement. However, most states with increased education budgets have not improved student outcomes, and some have even experienced declines. What they have done is hire staff. A lot of staff. K-12 staff grew from 5.9 million in 2014 to 6.6 million in 2024, even as schools served about 1 million fewer students. This disconnect between spending and enrollment has resulted in situations such as a Chicago school with 28 staff members for 27 students. There’s also a Memphis charter school that was renewed despite having only 14 students enrolled — it may have helped that the principal is married to the Memphis-Shelby County Schools superintendent, who is responsible for charter renewal — and 112 New York City schools projected to enroll fewer than 150 students, effectively creating micro schools and raising per-pupil spending to approximately $42,000. But while lots of states are snatching up staff, they’re not all spending money the same way. Take the four largest states — Florida, Texas, California, and New York — which collectively educate 34% of American students. Click here for more Manhattan Institute content. The red states are expanding school choice. Florida dedicates nearly 12% of its budget to school choice programs, more than any other state. Currently, 53% of Florida students attend a school of their choice rather than the one assigned to them by the government based on their home address. Texas recently passed a bill allocating $1 billion to the Texas Education Freedom Accounts, now the largest education savings account program in the country, with over 274,000 students applying in its first year. Meanwhile, California and New York are moving to limit school choice for families. California previously saw rapid charter school growth, with about 80 new schools opening annually. However, a 2019 law that allowed local school boards to deny charter applications reduced new charter openings from 80 in 2014 to 12 in 2023. Similarly, New York has imposed limits on school choice. Statewide, charter schools enroll about 7% of students, with higher concentrations in major cities like Buffalo (25%) and New York City (16%), where the number of charter schools has been capped. This gap may widen next year as states decide whether to participate in the Federal Scholarship Tax program, which offers taxpayers a $1,700 dollar-for-dollar federal tax reduction for donations to scholarship-granting organizations. Participation requires states to opt in, and neither California Governor Gavin Newsom nor New York Governor Kathy Hochul has done so. As two of the top states in federal tax payments, their nonparticipation could result in California losing $3 billion and New York losing $1.5 billion in potential donations from their residents that will benefit low-income kids in the other 27 states that have already opted in, according to Democrats for Education Reform. On Tax Day, all four senators from California and New York joined 30 Democrats to propose repealing the program. Differences in how states allocate the $1 trillion on education resources will continue to influence where families live and how many students can access high-quality education. As David Shor, head of a major Democratic consulting firm, told the New York Times, “education has gone from being basically one of the best issues for Democrats to basically neutral now.” As red states continue to expand family choice in education spending, Democrats will inevitably face challenges in explaining to voters policies that limit educational options for families. Danyela Souza Egorov is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

Today is May Day, and we begin hot with nationwide protests in our schools. This shouldn’t come as a surprise — the past few weeks have been a whirlwind of political events. From the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to the indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, there is no shortage of political controversy. What is May Day, you might ask? For months, teachers’ unions and high-profile left-wing nonprofits have geared up for mass mobilizations and boycotts to honor the socialist holy day and to flex their political power. Part of the preparation efforts include training and organizing children to engage in school walkouts and protests. While left-wing activism is not new itself, what is relatively new is the degree to which the education system has been corrupted to engineer new generations to activists. These May Day protests are a feature, a byproduct really, of an education system steeped in radical ideologies designed to mobilize far-left activism and a “political revolution.” Nor are these protests the end. They are an opening act for what the professional agitators and activists intend to be an ongoing affair leading up to the 2028 elections. K-12 schools are strategic collateral damage. This pattern is visible in the series of student walkouts since January, many of which focused on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Less visible to the public, however, is the role of the teachers’ unions and nonprofit allies in these protests. For American children, the learning experience is a constant barrage of heavily lopsided political messaging meant to train the youngest kids to see the world through a warped oppressor-oppressed framing and to engage in action or activism to stop the perceived “injustice.” Whether through state standards and guidance, such as New Mexico Public Education Department’s Social Studies “Instructional Scope” or ethnic studies courses, students are being conditioned to be political actors from the earliest ages. For example, a free lesson produced by the University of Minnesota’s “Ethnic Studies Initiative” teaches sixth-grade students about the Black Lives Matter movement through the creation of “protest art.” The middle school students are then required to produce their own social justice protest art. Such indoctrination is not only reserved for ethnic studies. It has permeated into our school system through Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programming. SEL is no less a political tool than ethnic studies. In 2019, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) mainstreamed “transformative” SEL, which integrates anti-racism and activism into its framework. Second Step, a popular SEL company that utilizes CASEL’s platform, went further and aligned its curriculum with Learning for Justice’s Social Justice Standards, focusing specifically on action and activism. Learning for Justice is a program of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). As students, teachers’ unions, and left-wing activist organizations take to the streets this May Day to champion policies and an ideology that the majority of Americans reject, the public needs to understand that this is the starting gun, not the finish line. Left-wing actors desperately want a “political revolution” and have no problem using other people’s children to achieve their goals. They have no issue turning the K-12 education system into a far-left activist pipeline. What we’re seeing now is just the beginning. * * * Rhyen Staley is a researcher for Defending Education. He holds a master’s degree in elementary education and has over a decade of classroom experience in both public and private schools. He has over 25 years of coaching experience from junior high to Division I.

The search for a missing Oklahoma state Senate candidate came to a tragic conclusion Thursday after authorities discovered the body of 54-year-old Barry Christian in a remote wildlife management area. Christian, a Republican candidate for Senate District 38, had been the subject of an intensive search after failing to appear for a scheduled meeting on Tuesday. According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), Christian was last seen in Sayre, Oklahoma, driving a 2024 charcoal gray Ram pickup truck. BREAKING: Oklahoma State Senate candidate Barry Christian (R) found dead in his car after being reported missing pic.twitter.com/Ps6JEbD2O6 — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 30, 2026 The breakthrough in the case came Thursday morning when a deputy from the Beckham County Sheriff’s Office, patrolling the Sandy Sanders Wildlife Management Area, was flagged down by a hunter. The witness reported seeing a vehicle that had crashed off a high ridge overlooking Fish Creek. Upon reaching the scene, investigators confirmed the vehicle belonged to Christian and discovered his body inside. The OSBI has since taken over the investigation, and Christian’s remains have been transported to the medical examiner’s Office to determine the official cause and manner of death. Christian, a staunch conservative who launched his bid for the state Senate last year, had built his platform on traditional values, including border security, energy independence, and the protection of constitutional freedoms. His campaign gained attention through his apparent friendship with musician Kid Rock, who appeared in an Instagram video on Christian’s page, calling him a candidate with “common sense and a voice for the people.” Only days before his disappearance, Christian was reportedly seen at the Mangum Rattlesnake Derby. In a heartbreaking statement released to KOCO, Christian’s daughter, Brooklyn, expressed the family’s shock and grief. “Our world is upside down right now,” she said. “We are still not sure of everything that happened, so please act with grace and treat my dad’s legacy with dignity.” She also expressed gratitude to the volunteers and media outlets that assisted in the search. His youngest daughter also shared a tribute via News 9, describing her father as a man who “lived only for his kids” and “wanted nothing more than to provide and protect his family.” As the investigation continues, the tight-knit community of Erick and the broader Oklahoma political landscape are left mourning a candidate whose life and campaign were cut short. Authorities have not yet indicated whether foul play is suspected.