TORONTO (AP) — A request for FIFA President Gianni Infantino to be given a police escort while in Vancouver, British Columbia, for FIFA meetings has been denied, the Vancouver Police Department said Wednesday.
"Formal motorcades where traffic is stopped are reserved for heads of state," Deputy Chief Don Chapman said in a statement.
"As the FIFA executive do not meet Internationally Protected Person (IPP) standards that would warrant such an escort (closing roads, intersections, not adhering to traffic devices, etc.), the request was declined," Chapman said.
A FIFA spokesperson said soccer governing body's "never requested a specific level of police motorcade for the FIFA President” and that the “FIFA President was not aware of, or involved in, any requests with authorities in relation to his transportation and security matters for the 76th FIFA Congress.”
The spokesperson said the request was made by FWC26 Canada, as local organizers, and said that is in line with previous arrangements for such events.
FIFA is holding meetings this week in Vancouver, one of the 16 sites of World Cup matches in a tournament co-hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
FIFA’s Congress, a meeting of representatives from all its members, is scheduled for Thursday.
A spokesperson for Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said the police department confirmed “there will be no motorcade proceeding through traffic signals, and no Emergency Response Team assigned in the manner described.”
"Any transportation arrangements that are made will be appropriate, measured, and consistent with how Vancouver safely hosts major international events," Sim's office said in a statement.
Toronto Police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer said the force does not have plans to provide escorts for VIPs at the World Cup.
“Any such request would be considered on a case-by-case basis,” Sayer said. “We will be providing escorts for teams and certain officials where there are clear public safety needs, for example, to prevent large crowds from gathering around team vehicles.”
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FILE - FIFA President Gianni Infantino follows an international friendly soccer match between Iran and Costa Rica, in Antalya, southern Turkey, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Riza Ozel, File)
The man charged with trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and kill President Donald Trump took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes earlier, outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife, authorities said Wednesday in a new court filing.
Cole Allen wore black pants, a black shirt and a red tie as he snapped the image in his room at the Washington Hilton, where Trump and hundreds of journalists were meeting for a gala Saturday night, authorities say.
The 31-year-old from Torrance, California, was captured when he tried to race past security barricades near the hotel's ballroom, prompting an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service agents tasked with safeguarding the event, investigators say.
New details emerged in a court filing made by prosecutors who want Allen to remain in custody. A hearing is set for Thursday.
The government said Allen repeatedly made online checks to keep track of Trump’s status that night, including live coverage of the president exiting his vehicle at the Hilton hotel. Investigators said preset emails with an “Apology and Explanation” attachment were sent at approximately 8:30 p.m.
“He intended to kill and fired his shotgun while trying to breach security and attack his target. Put simply, the defendant poses an uncommonly serious danger to the community if released pending trial. The defendant’s lack of criminal history and other personal circumstances do not alter this conclusion,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones wrote.
Trump, a Republican, was uninjured. A Secret Service officer wearing a bullet-resistant vest was shot in the vest and survived.
Allen appeared in court on Monday and was charged with the attempted assassination of the president as authorities suggested an attack that disrupted one of Washington’s glitziest events had been planned for at least several weeks. Tezira Abe, a member of the defense team, said he “is presumed innocent at this time.”
Meanwhile, ahead of the Thursday hearing, a magistrate judge ordered a District of Columbia jail to allow Allen to have unrestricted visits with his lawyers. The attorneys complained that they hadn't been able to meet him privately.
“Mr. Allen was forced to sit inside of a locked cage in full, five-point restraints, and speak over a phone — of which there is only one — to be able to confer with counsel,” Abe and co-counsel Eugene Ohm said in a court filing. “Counsel were forced to sit in an open lobby area with jail staff and other attorneys standing nearby who could overhear the entirety of counsel’s side of the conversation.”
An FBI affidavit filed Monday revealed other details about the planning behind the hotel assault, with authorities alleging that Allen on April 6 reserved a room for himself at the Hilton where the event would be held weeks later under its typical tight security. He traveled by train cross-country from California, checking himself into the hotel a day before the dinner with a room reserved for the weekend.
Trump was rushed off the stage by his security team Saturday night and appeared at the White House two hours later, still in his tuxedo.
“When you’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone,” the president said. “They seem to think he was a lone wolf.”
This enhanced version of an image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows Cole Tomas Allen, inside his hotel room, on Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington, using his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror. (Department of Justice via AP)
This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows Cole Tomas Allen, left, inside his hotel room, on Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington, using his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror. (Department of Justice via AP)
This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows some of the weapons and shotgun ammunition that Cole Tomas Allen possessed, Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington. (Department of Justice via AP)
This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows Cole Tomas Allen, left, inside his hotel room, on Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington, using his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror. An enhanced version of the image is right. (Department of Justice via AP)
This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows Cole Tomas Allen, left, inside his hotel room, on Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington, using his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror. An enhanced version of the image is right. (Department of Justice via AP)
