A bizarre conspiracy theory has taken off after a suspected assassination attempt linked to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, with some online users attempting to tie the suspect to time travel.
In the wake of the weekend’s shooting, news outlets and investigators have been scrambling to piece together the alleged gunman’s identity, what may have motivated him, and where he is from.
Cole Thomas Allen, 31, has been charged with attempted assassination of the President of the United States, using a firearm during a crime of violence, and transporting a firearm across state lines with intent to commit a felony.
His next court appearance is scheduled for April 30. The hearing will address detention and determine whether he will remain in custody ahead of trial.
Alongside the official developments, a far stranger narrative has gained momentum online after users dug up a cryptic post from an inactive X account.
The account, registered under the name “Henry Martinez,” posted just once—on December 21, 2023—sharing only the name “Cole Allen.” That single message is both the first and last post from the profile.
After the post resurfaced, amateur investigators online began spinning theories, with some arguing the message was evidence that Allen had been “predicted” long before the alleged attack—leading a few to claim it points to time travel.
Users have been trying to identify who “Henry Martinez” might be, whether there is any real connection to the suspected shooter, and how the name could have appeared online so far in advance.
Replies under the post have included claims that “time travel is real” and: “I hope everyone is creeped out as I am,” as the speculation continues to spread.
Another commenter argued that ‘it smells like this attack against Donald Trump had been planned for years.. so many coincidences’.
It’s important to note that there is no evidence supporting that claim.
Others have pushed back, saying the post is more likely an eerie coincidence than anything else.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, cybersecurity expert James Knight said there was no indication the X post had been altered after the fact, adding that the platform does not allow a post’s timestamp to be retroactively changed.
He said: “It is not possible on X to manipulate or backdate an existing post to make it appear years older than its actual creation date. Also, there are no known hacks or third-party tools for backdating.
“I believe that this is just a coincidence with someone guessing [or] posting a common name of ‘Cole Allen’ in 2023.”
As the theory snowballed, the previously quiet X account surged in popularity, gaining roughly 23,000 followers. The lone “Cole Allen” post has also accumulated around 54 million views.
Name data has also been pulled into the discussion. According to Social Security and census-related information, “Cole” has historically been relatively uncommon, often ranking outside the top 150 boys’ names.
By contrast, “Allen” is among the most common surnames in the US, generally appearing near the top 30 nationwide.
Adding to the confusion, there is also an actor named Cole Allen from Texas, who appeared in the 2019 film Round of Your Life and the 2018 series Kidding.
Online sleuths have also highlighted what they describe as another unsettling overlap involving the names Cole Allen and Henry Martinez.
Allen previously interned at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California during the summer of 2014.
That same year, NASA published a research paper about the Orion spacecraft—later used in a lunar mission—authored by an aerospace engineer named Henry Martinez.