The US Department of Justice (DOP) has said that the FBI managed to prevent an attack on The White House, all during the recent UFC 250 event that was held on the property's south lawn. As per BBC News, it's claimed that a group was planning an attack on the event, using snipers and explosive drones, all in a bid to fire upon "high value targets".
It's mentioned that five individuals have been arrested, with the FBI picking up on the situation by coming across encrypted messages that supposedly involved other conspirators, with the involved individuals said to have "expressed ultra-religious and antigovernment sentiments". The tip off came from one of the individual's mother, who was concerned about the large amount of firearms they were purchasing.
The DOP has since named the arrested individuals as 19-year-old Tycen C Proper, 24-year-old Bryan Omar Roa, 32-year-old Michael Alan Thomas, 32-year-old Daniel K Eskridge, and 31-year-old Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez. The five men were arrested across four states (Ohio, California, Missouri, and Nebraska) and have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
According to the FBI, the group was planning to use the explosive drones to spark panic and feed the crowd into a sniper team, while another group stormed the White House with firearms. The group claims to be motivated by protecting "the United States, which they believed was headed in the wrong direction," with some members adding that they thought the "United States needed to be torn down so that it could be rebuilt."