Seven Charged in Alleged Plot to Launch Explosive Drone Attack on White House UFC Event

A foiled mass-casualty plot, now seven defendants wide

The FBI has charged seven people in connection with an alleged plot to launch explosive drone strikes and sniper fire on the UFC Freedom 250 event held June 14 on the White House South Lawn — a gathering of thousands of fight fans that also drew President Trump and members of Congress.npr Two of the latest defendants, Jordan W. Rincker, 28, of Missouri, and William Lee Spartacus Falkner of Belfair, Washington, were arrested over the weekend and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, bringing the total number of federal defendants to seven.abcnews Federal investigators say they are examining roughly 23 individuals who may have been involved in the wider network.nypost

How investigators unraveled the network

The FBI learned of the threat on June 10 — four days before the event — after the mother of 19-year-old Ohio man Tycen Proper contacted police about her son's sudden accumulation of firearms and alarming online conversations.npr Proper told investigators the group planned to fly explosive-laden drones into the crowd and then have snipers shoot people fleeing the scene.npr A journal recovered from Proper's room contained a list of approximately 46 names, including celebrities and politicians.abcnews

Prosecutors allege the group communicated through encrypted apps including Signal and Telegram, sharing detailed maps and aerial photographs of the White House grounds and discussing safe houses and escape routes.npr The latest defendant, Falkner, allegedly boasted in Telegram chats that he could fly up to 40 drones simultaneously and discussed rigging them with 155mm artillery shells, claiming each would have "an effective kill radius of 50 meters."abcnews Court documents indicate the plotters were still working to acquire drones and explosives when the FBI disrupted the scheme.npr

The alleged ringleader and immigration politics

Federal authorities identified Abraham Alvarez, 31, a Mexican national who came to the United States as a child and later received protection under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, as the alleged ringleader.nypost DHS said Alvarez's B-2 visa had expired in 2001 and he had been living in the country illegally before obtaining DACA status.nypost He was arrested June 14 at an old church in Western, Nebraska, which prosecutors say he intended to use as a safe house for himself and co-conspirators.nypost

"From his home here in Nebraska, Alvarez allegedly directed and recruited others across the country to conduct a horrific attack against government officials in a mass casualty event," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel.nypost Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the arrests demonstrate that "law enforcement continues to do what it does — move to disrupt and hold accountable those allegedly plotting to do harm on the White House Grounds."npr Those convicted of conspiracy to commit murder face possible life sentences and a $250,000 fine.nypost