In the United States, a federal grand jury has indicted eight men for an alleged conspiracy to attack a mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House lawn in June, on the birthday of U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, reports UNN citing Reuters.
Details
Last month, the FBI said it had prevented a planned attack on the UFC event at the White House.
All eight men were charged on Thursday with two counts in an indictment issued in Columbus, Ohio. The first arrest took place in Ohio. The Department of Justice said the remaining defendants were also arrested.
They were between 19 and 32 years old.
The indictment charges all of them with two conspiracies: "conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists" and "conspiracy to commit murder on federal government territory and murder of a federal official," the Department of Justice statement said.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the defendants allegedly planned to kill U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, American officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, billionaire Elon Musk, and "other senior officials" at the event.
Trump attended the event, which passed without incident on his 80th birthday, alongside several senior Republican lawmakers, donors, and administration officials to mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. Netanyahu was not present at the event.
According to the Department of Justice, the eight individuals allegedly participated in online chats and forums on Signal, SimpleX, Discord, TikTok, and Instagram.
According to an FBI statement made last month, the plan involved using drones packed with explosives to strike the north side of the White House in order to direct attendees toward an exit, where snipers planned to open fire on fleeing politicians and other individuals.