The individual accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen. Meanwhile, Pakistani propaganda accounts on social media are claiming that the accused, Cole Tomas Allen, has an Indian wife named Priyanka Rao. Users are sharing a picture of Cole and Priyanka along with what is claimed to be Priyanka’s passport.
Sharing these images, one user wrote: The perpetrator of the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, 31 year old Cole Tomas Allen, with his Indian wife, Priyanka Rao.
Additionally, the same photos have been circulated by other users with similar claims, which can be seen here and here
Fact Check:
The DFRAC team’s investigation found that the claim that Cole Tomas Allen has an Indian wife named Priyanka Rao is false. Our investigation revealed that the viral passport is fake and appears to have been generated using AI. We identified several inconsistencies in the passport that are commonly seen in AI-generated content.
Upon closer examination, we found multiple errors: The name “Cole Thomas Allen” is written in the “Nationality” column, which should instead contain the name of a country. This is a basic and glaring error that would not occur in an official document.
Furthermore, the use of Hindi in the document is highly erroneous and unnatural. For example:
Nationality” is written as “Rashtriyay
Date of Birth” is written as “Panasisi
Place of Birth” is written as “Jaana Syan
Issue” is written as “Pyari
Even the “Date of Expiry” is not written in Hindi
These words are not only incorrect but also suggest that the text was generated through automated methods (such as AI or OCR) that lack proper language understanding. Another major discrepancy is that in the “Name of Spouse” section, “Priyanka Rao’s” own name is listed, which further undermines the document’s credibility.
Additionally, when we analyzed the viral photos and the passport using AI detection tools, we found that both images are AI-generated.
To verify further, we searched for information about Cole Tomas Allen’s wife but found no mention of Priyanka Rao in any official statements or credible media reports. Several reports list his family members as his brother, Gabriel, and his sisters, Stephanie and Avriana. Statements from officials also confirm that the investigation is still ongoing.
In an official statement on its X handle, the FBI stated: The FBI Washington Field Office’s National Capital Response Squad responded to a shooting at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. The subject is in custody.
For additional verification, we consulted AI expert Mayank Sharma, who confirmed that the viral images are clearly AI-generated. He noted that an official passport would never contain such significant linguistic errors, which are typical of AI-generated content.
Conclusion:
DFRAC’s fact-check confirms that the claim that Cole Tomas Allen has an Indian wife named Priyanka Rao is false. The viral passport and images are AI-generated.
