Cole Allen (31), the suspect in the White House Correspondents Association dinner shooting, is said to have sent a statement to his family just before the act describing his motives. In the statement, Allen reportedly listed the names of officials in the U.S. administration of Donald Trump he had targeted, ranking them by priority from higher to lower office.

According to a statement obtained and published by the New York Post on the 26th (local time), Allen wrote of his motive: “I am a U.S. citizen, and the actions of my representatives reflect me,” adding, “I will no longer allow pedophiles, rapists, and traitors to dirty my hands with their crimes.”

Citing a copy it obtained, CBS likewise reported that the statement listed, in order of priority, the names of Trump administration officials he had selected as assassination targets. He stated, however, “Patel is excluded,” which appears to refer to Kash Patel, director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Allen wrote that law enforcement officers, hotel staff, and event attendees were not targets, but that he might attack them to reach administration officials, adding, “I sincerely hope that does not happen.” He also wrote, “To minimize harm, I will use buckshot instead of slugs,” and, “I hope the Secret Service or the National Guard are wearing body armor.” In fact, the Secret Service agent shot by Allen was wearing a ballistic vest and has been discharged from the hospital.

Allen anticipated criticism of his actions and set out rebuttals. To the hypothetical criticism, “As a biracial person, you should not do this,” he answered, “There is simply no one else to step in.” He also identified himself as a Christian and argued that his act did not violate Christian values. He acknowledged a potential criticism that, “As a Christian, if someone strikes one cheek you must offer the other,” but advanced the counterargument that one must not turn a blind eye to the oppression of others, listing people he said were suffering because of the Trump administration.

He wrote, “I am not the fisherman executed without trial, the student killed by bombing, the starving child, or the teenage girl abused by the countless criminals of this administration,” and argued, “Offering the left cheek while someone else is being oppressed is not what a Christian does. That is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.”

Allen also anticipated the rebuttal that “Now is not the right time,” but justified his actions by asking, “Do you think we should simply pass by, watching someone be raped, killed, and abused, just because it is ‘uncomfortable’ for someone who is not the victim?”

Allen also mentioned lax security. He wrote, “Security is very weak while in transit, at the hotel, and at the venue,” asserting, “No one would have noticed even if Iranian operatives brought in a machine gun.”

The New York Post reported that Allen sent the statement to his family ten minutes before the act, and that Allen’s sibling living in Connecticut reported it to local police. The paper said the statement was signed, “Friendly federal assassin.”

In the statement, Allen apologized for coming to Washington after lying to his parents that he had an interview and to his friends that an emergency had arisen, writing, “By the time someone reads this e-mail, I may really need to go to the emergency room, but that would be my own doing.” The siblings who received the statement by e-mail reportedly contacted Connecticut police immediately. Investigators also said they found the document in a tenth-floor room at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner was held.

Allen’s family told CBS that he often said he would “do something.” Allen’s younger sister testified that he frequently made “radical” remarks and said he would step forward to solve social problems.

Meanwhile, contrary to Allen’s claim that his actions accorded with Christian values, President Trump said Allen’s motive had an anti-Christian bent. In a phone interview with Fox News on the 26th, the President said, “If you read his manifesto, it is a fact that he hates Christians.” He added, “He carried deep hatred in his heart for a long time. It was a religious matter. It was strongly anti-Christian.”