The New York Post has revealed details of a foiled attempt to carry out a major attack and disrupt a UFC mixed martial arts tournament held recently in front of the White House, which President Donald Trump and other senior officials attended over the weekend.
Federal sources told the New York Post that the conspiracy to attack the White House's "UFC Freedom 250" event on Sunday involved at least 12 suspects across the United States who subscribe to an "accelerationist" ideology and had hoped to bring down American capitalism.
The sources told the newspaper that the FBI thwarted their plans by infiltrating a Signal app group chat that was planning the explosive attack, after a parent of a child present on the messaging platform reported it to police.
The suspects are located in at least four states: California, Ohio, Missouri, and Nebraska. According to the sources, they were planning to gather in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to launch an attack using explosive drones on the White House and surrounding buildings, before attempting to storm the White House gates.
The suspects, members of a group of 23, espoused a far-right "accelerationist" ideology — a nihilistic belief also embraced by the perpetrators of last month's shooting at a San Diego mosque.
The sources stated that further arrests are likely and that authorities are preparing to issue additional search warrants, noting that one of the suspects had been planning the alleged attack while residing in a mental health facility.