Five people detained for alleged ‘planned attacks’ on White House UFC cage fighting show
Law enforcement officials disrupted “planned attacks” meant to target the UFC cage fighting show staged at the White House this past weekend, and multiple people were in custody, said Kash Patel, the FBI director.
Law enforcement officials disrupted “planned attacks” meant to target the UFC cage fighting show staged at the White House this past weekend, and multiple people were in custody, said Kash Patel, the FBI director.
The nature of the potential threat was not immediately disclosed, with additional details expected to be released once charges are unsealed later Tuesday.
Five people were arrested from states including Ohio, Missouri and California, said a law enforcement official familiar with the matter. The official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss information that was not yet public.
The FBI learned about the possible threat on 10 June, four days before the mixed-martial arts extravaganza on the White House’s South Lawn, “and thanks to the rapid action of the FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold”, Patel said in a post on X on Tuesday morning.
Donald Trump, who celebrated his 80th birthday at the UFC event on Sunday, sought to tie the fights to larger celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Fox News reported that five people had been arrested and were in custody and that investigators had identified 23 people potentially involved in a plot to attack the event. Officials told the network that the alleged plan involved using explosive‑laden drones and snipers and even possibly storming the White House gate.
There was no indication of how realistic or advanced the plot had become. Patel tweeted out a link to the Fox story which said the plot had come to the FBI’s attention on 10 June, triggering the first arrest in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Fox quoted a statement from the Secret Service.
“In the days leading up to this weekend, our special agents, mission support personnel, and technical security teams worked around the clock to identify those responsible and hold them accountable,” said Sean Curran, the Secret Service director. “Equally important to our protective mission is ensuring accountability through the justice system. To that end, our formal comments regarding the specifics of this case will be made through court filings.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
