The US Department of Justice has At least five people charged in connection with an alleged conspiracy Court records were unveiled Tuesday, targeting the Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the White House over the weekend.
The FBI became aware of the plot on June 10, four days before a mixed martial arts event was to be held on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate Donald Trump’s 80th birthday.
“And thanks to the prompt action of the FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and the allegedly planned attacks have been stopped,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote to X.
According to an FBI affidavit filed in the case, law enforcement became aware of the alleged plot when the mother of one of the accused first contacted local police.
The FBI subsequently identified a group of conspirators who purchased weapons and made elaborate plans to carry out the attack.
The FBI said the investigation is ongoing and has made arrests so far in Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska and California.
Court documents reveal plan to attack UFC event
One of those charged is 19-year-old Tysen P., whose mother contacted law enforcement officials with concerns about his firearms purchases and online communications.
Tysen P. discussed a plan with others that called for flying drones that loaded explosives and shooting panicked crowd members as they fled the White House.
Officials said logistics were discussed through Signal, an app that uses end-to-end encryption for its messaging and calling services, through a primary chat of “approximately 19 individuals” and smaller side chats.
After Tysen P was arrested, he identified usernames of people in encrypted chats, authorities said.
Members in the chat groups had varying views, ranging from anti-government sentiment to anger over the way the Trump administration handled the Jeffrey Epstein files to conspiracy theories about powerful elites sacrificing and consuming children.
Messages obtained from Tysen P.’s phone show that he focused on anti-Semitic grievances and identified the names of several Republican lawmakers, saying they should be targeted because they were pro-Israel.
Trump says he was not informed about the alleged conspiracy
Asked about the alleged plot at the Group of Seven summit in France, Trump told reporters he had not heard about the attack.
“The attacks I saw were fighters,” he said, referring to UFC participants.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery
*Editor’s note: DW adheres to the German Press Code, which emphasizes the importance of protecting the privacy of people involved in criminal proceedings.