D.C. judge apologizes to Cole Allen, man charged with trying to assassinate Donald Trump

Magistrate judge Zia Faruqui.

A Washington, D.C., magistrate judge on Monday apologized to the suspect being held for allegedly trying to assassinate President Donald Trump late last month at the White House Correspondents dinner, telling the alleged would-be assassin that he was sorry he was placed under suicide watch.

According to Politico, magistrate judge Zia Faruqui made the comments at a hearing Monday, and also blasted jail officials for the treatment Allen has received while incarcerated there as he awaits further hearings, and ultimately a trial. Faruqui said the suicide watch was punitive and unjustified.

Allen had reportedly been put under suicide watch, meaning he was confined to a padded room that's lit 24 hours of the day and has no access to phones or books and does not provide an inmate with recreation time, after federal authorities say he told them he didn't expect to survive his attempt to assassinate Trump and members of his Cabinet. Faruqui said he had "grave concerns" about why Allen, 31, was being held in what amounted to solitary confinement, according to CBS News. CBS News reported that the jail was following standard protocol for a suspect who made such a remark.

Allen is charged with attempted assassination of the President of the United States as well as two other related firearms violations, and has still yet to enter a plea in the case. Security footage released late last week showed Allen had a brief encounter with a K-9 officer at the Washington Hilton just seconds before he stormed through a metal detector firing his shotgun at a Secret Service agent from point-blank range. The agent returned fire as Allen was seen running out of frame, and he was restrained by other agents on the scene before he could reach the ballroom where the gala was being held.

Faruqui closed Monday's hearing by apologizing to Allen that he hasn't been held in fair and dignified conditions. The judge also demanded jail officials update him by Tuesday about plans to incarcerate Allen in less restrictive conditions. The news of the apology struck Fox News anchor Larry Kudlow as bewildering behavior. 

"If he had gotten another couple of yards, he would've sprayed the the whole audience [with bullets] in the [White House] Correspondents' Dinner, and would've killed God knows how many" Kudlow said. "And they would've marched up and taken a shot over the whole audience at the president. And we're apologizing to this guy? I don't get it." Watch a clip from Fox News below.