AFP: Plot to target sporting event at the White House last month involved drones and firearms
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced on Friday that a plot previously uncovered by authorities, which included an attempt to assassinate government officials and participants in the UFC Fight Night 250 mixed martial arts event at the White House grounds in mid-June, involved the use of drones and firearms to target fleeing individuals.
This came during a press conference held by Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Cromarty, a day after the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled a new indictment in the case. Cromarty stated, “We learned that the group planned to carry out an attack that would result in a large number of casualties using drones loaded with explosives and firearms aimed at shooting fleeing individuals in the crowd.”
The U.S. Department of Justice had issued an indictment on Thursday charging eight individuals with “conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to commit murder within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, and conspiracy to murder federal government officials.” According to federal prosecutors, the conspiracy began in May last year when the defendants started raising funds and acquiring firearms, ammunition, body armor, explosives, drones, medical supplies, and communication equipment.
Authorities reported that the suspects coordinated their activities online using the Signal encrypted messaging app, the Discord platform, and a TikTok group named “Vanguard of the Old.” Prosecutors noted that the group adhered to anti-government conspiracy theories and expressed a desire to “destroy” the United States in order to rebuild it according to their own ideology.
It is worth noting that the U.S. Department of Justice announced on June 16 last year that it had charged five individuals with conspiring to carry out an attack targeting the assassination of government officials and others during the UFC Fight Night 250 event held at the White House grounds. At that time, the department revealed that the suspects were arrested in Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska, and California after “conspiring to plan and execute an attack that would result in a large number of casualties by deploying drones armed with explosives to force attendees to evacuate, followed by the deployment of snipers to shoot high-value targets among the fleeing crowd.”
