The FBI says it busted an explosive drone terror plot targeting President Trump's UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House, according to details emerging Tuesday. The plan allegedly involved drone-borne explosives aimed at buildings, a pre-staged sniper team, and a second wave to storm the White House gate. A network of nearly 24 suspects has been identified, with at least five in custody.
The FBI has now specified that the foiled multi-stage plot directly targeted President Trump's UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House, according to details released Tuesday afternoon. The bureau's latest update at 17:34 Jerusalem confirms that the plan included explosive-packed drones aimed at buildings, a pre-staged sniper team, and a second wave of attackers to storm the White House gate, involving a network of nearly 24 suspects with at least five in custody.
Earlier Tuesday, at 15:46 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported the FBI's broad outline of the conspiracy — more than 20 suspects, drones, snipers, and a second-wave assault — with five arrests confirmed. That account followed a series of reports beginning at 14:07 Jerusalem, in which the FBI first disclosed a multi-stage attack timed for the UFC event on President Trump's birthday. The earliest thread items cited Israeli media citing U.S. sources; by 14:07 the bureau had confirmed the drone-and-sniper plot, the involvement of over 20 suspects, and the five arrests. Later updates at the same hour added that drone components had been imported from Russia and China for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The FBI has not disclosed whether any of the suspects were present at the venue or how close the plot came to execution. Further details on the identities and affiliations of the suspects remain under investigation.
What remains open: the bureau has not released the identities of the suspects nor confirmed the extent to which the plot was operational. The exact timing of the intelligence that led to the arrests has not been specified in this update.
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Source and signal
- Internal intake