FBI disrupts a planned attack on the White House UFC cage-fighting show, court papers say

Law enforcement officials disrupted a planned attack targeting the UFC cage-fighting show staged at the White House this past weekend, according to court papers unsealed Tuesday that say plotters disgruntled with the direction of the country spoke of flying explosives-laden drones and shooting panicked crowd members as they fled.

The FBI obtained encrypted text messages between roughly 20 participants who shared detailed maps of the area and discussed the need for a “safe house” and escape routes after the attack, the documents show. It was unclear from the court records how close the would-be attackers could have come to being able to carry out their plan had it not been thwarted last week.

FBI agents learned about the possible threat on June 10, 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,” Director Kash Patel said in a post on X on Tuesday.