Magistrate Judge Faruqui Apologizes to Suspected Trump Assassin Cole Allen for Jail Treatment

Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui apologized to Cole Allen, the man accused of trying to kill President Donald Trump, for his treatment at a Washington, D.C. jail during a Monday emergency hearing.

"To me, it's extremely disturbing that he was put in five-point restraints, a person with no criminal history," Faruqui said. He added that Allen is presumed innocent. Faruqui compared Allen to suspects from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. "It's troubling. I never heard of one Jan. 6 defendant who was put in five-point restraints or in a safe cell," he said. "If the only way to keep him safe is the most punitive thing, that's a problem."

"Pardons may erase convictions, but they don't erase history," Faruqui continued. "They were hanging gallows outside."

"What am I to say to Allen that this is going to be a fair process if we're putting him in a safe cell when he's not supposed to be in there?" Faruqui asked. "At a minimum I should be apologizing to him. We are obligated to make sure he's taken care of. Mr. Allen, I'm sorry that things have not been the way they are supposed to."

Allen's defense team filed a motion Sunday for an emergency hearing on his jail conditions. They withdrew it later that day after learning Allen was no longer under the jail's suicide protocol, which required the safe cell. Faruqui still called the defense, prosecution and a Department of Corrections attorney to court Monday.

Faruqui has clashed with the Trump administration multiple times. He drew praise from the Washington Council of Lawyers in a 2023 letter supporting his appointment to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The letter noted his "deep commitment to pro bono representation, public interest law, fairness, and diversity" and said he has "devoted much of his career to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts." It cited his work on criminal justice reform twice.

Last year, Faruqui criticized federal agents' arrest of Venezuelan national Christian Enrique Carías Torres, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2023 and faced a final removal order. "I'd say we live in a surreal world right now," Faruqui said at a hearing, per The Washington Post. "This is not consistent with what I understand the United States of America to be. You should be treated with basic human dignity. We don't have a secret police."

In August, Faruqui opposed Trump's deployment of federal law enforcement to combat D.C. crime. He refused local indictments in at least seven cases after federal grand juries declined them. He called the effort a "constitutional crisis" and said "the rule of law is being flushed down the toilet," according to The Washington Post. "I am afraid right now, and that's not what this country is founded on," he added. "What makes America great is the rule of law. It will not, on any of the judges in this courthouse, be broken down." In another case, he described the situation as "some sort of bizarre nightmare," per Newsweek.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, a Trump appointee, criticized Faruqui last August. "This judge has a long history of bending over backwards to release dangerous felons in possession of firearms and on frequent occasions he has downplayed the seriousness of felons who possess illegal firearms and the danger they pose to our community," she said.

In September, after Faruqui said her office had "no credibility left," Pirro responded at a news conference. "Judge Faruqui has never really met someone with an illegal gun that he hasn't found some compassion for," she said. "I'm not into going back and forth with judges. I was a judge. That's not what I did as a judge. So, we need to leave politics out of it. I'll do my job. He should do his job as a judge and leave politics out of it."

In a 2022 Zoom talk with the D.C. Rotary Club, Faruqui supported eliminating cash bonds. "We try not — we should not — incarcerate poverty, right?" he said. He called the lack of cash bonds in the federal system "frustrating" but noted courts use conditions like removing internet access, third-party custodians, Ring cameras and bedroom doors for home incarceration.

Faruqui also described consulting family and neighbors on bail releases. "It's not as simple as a sort of mathematical equation, two plus two is four," he said. "We're getting art, right, and we're trying to see that and everyone views art differently, and I bring my life experiences to bear when I am trying to make predictive decisions. I've been constantly amazed by the sacrifices people are willing to make for not just their immediate family, but for friends and neighbors as well."

Faruqui became a federal magistrate judge on Sept. 14, 2020, after 12 years as a prosecutor in St. Louis and D.C. He previously worked as a litigation associate at a private firm and graduated from Georgetown University Law Center. Magistrate judges handle pretrial matters but not felony trials. His office did not respond to a request for comment.