A Southern California family says an ordinary tutoring appointment turned into a moment of disbelief after they recognized a familiar face tied to the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump.
Nathania Miranda and her father Joaquin Miranda had been heading to a tutoring session in Torrance when Joaquin Miranda spotted a photo of Cole Tomas Allen doing the rounds, ABC7 Eye Witness News reported.
“I screenshot the photo of him, and I showed her like, ‘Do you know this guy?’ I know this guy because I talked to him just once. I talked to him like two weeks ago,” Miranda told the outlet.
Allen is facing federal charges for attempting to assassinate Trump during the White House Correspondents’ dinner in Washington, DC on Saturday.
“When I went in the car, my dad showed me a photo of him, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I know him. He tutored me three times,’” teenager Nathania recounted. “He didn’t make me really nervous. He just was like a regular tutor.”
Federal prosecutors say Allen is now facing multiple federal charges that could result in a life sentence. Back in Torrance, the realization has left parents shaken.
“It’s scary. It’s scary, very scary,” Joaquin said. “Because you bring your kids … and it was like an assassin guy.”
According to the family, there were no obvious warning signs during Nathania’s tutoring sessions. She described Allen as calm and focused on his work, even occasionally talking about a video game project he was developing.
“He was talking about his video game, and yeah, he was talking about it when he was tutoring me, too,” Nathania told the local affiliate.
The unsettling discovery has raised concerns among families who entrusted the tutoring center with their children’s education.
Some parents say they are now demanding answers about how someone accused of such serious crimes was able to work so closely with students.
“I have a lot of questions. That’s why I was going to go talk to them,” Joaquin Miranda said.
Allen is described by those who knew him as highly educated, with a background in engineering and computer science.
He attended the California Institute of Technology, where he studied mechanical engineering, and later earned a graduate degree from California State University, Dominguez Hills.
He also worked as a tutor at C2 Education, helping students prepare for exams — a role that placed him in direct contact with families like the Mirandas.
“We were shocked to hear the news of the horrifying incident that transpired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“We are cooperating fully with law enforcement to assist them in their investigation. Violence of any kind is never the answer,” C2 education said in a statement.
According to California voter registration records, Allen did not have any party affiliation but had donated $25 to the Kamala Harris presidential campaign.
The California Post reached out to the former vice president’s office for comment, which has not issued any public statements since the alleged assassination attempt, the third on Trump since his 2024 presidential campaign.
The alleged shooter also had a manifesto where he said he was expressing rage at “a pedophile, rapist, and traitor.” His social media activity also shows he opposed Trump’s policies when it came to the war in Iran and ICE.
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