{"id":1039,"date":"2026-07-22T21:09:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T21:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=1039"},"modified":"2026-07-22T21:09:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T21:09:22","slug":"capitol-police-anticipated-drone-plot-against-ufc-a-month-before-it-was-uncovered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=1039","title":{"rendered":"Capitol Police Anticipated Drone Plot Against UFC a Month Before It Was Uncovered"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The U.S. Capitol Police anticipated a drone attack on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Freedom 250 event at the White House before the FBI broke up a plot to do exactly that, documents obtained by <\/span>Reason<\/span><\/i> show. An intelligence assessment on May 20 mentioned the possibility of “nefarious actors plotting to use weaponized drones” or to fire from “high vantage points” against UFC spectators. A month later, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd <\/span>announced<\/span> the first arrest in “a plot to murder members of the federal government” with a combined drone and sniper assault.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Trump administration has used the alleged attack plot as an argument for a $600 million expansion to the White House. (Despite the administration’s claims, about <\/span>half the cost<\/span> will come from American taxpayers.) “This Project will support a highly sophisticated Drone Port and Sniper Nests atop the Ballroom that would destroy any effort to launch such an attack,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate wrote in a <\/span> to the D.C. Court of Appeals, which is hearing a lawsuit by the National Trust for Historic Preservation against the project. But the FBI announcement and the newly disclosed Capitol Police document show that old-fashioned police work\u2014not expensive defensive works or mass surveillance\u2014was enough to protect the White House.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Charlie Kirk’s <\/span>alleged assassin<\/span>, the suspected drone attackers were caught because a family member proactively went to the authorities. In its <\/span>, the government says it caught wind of the drone plot on June 10, when an Ohio woman called the police over her 19-year-old son’s “firearms purchases and communicating with certain individuals online.” The FBI searched the house and interrogated the son, who admitted to plotting a mass assassination of politicians with friends from a TikTok group. Authorities have arrested a total of <\/span>eight suspects<\/span> across the country, some of whom allegedly bought weapons and made travel plans. Two have pleaded not guilty so far, and others haven’t had time to enter a plea.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Capitol Police intelligence assessment wasn’t based on any special foreknowledge of the plot. (<\/span>Reason<\/span><\/i> obtained it from a fusion center, a liaison office between the Department of Homeland Security and local police, under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act.) The intelligence bureau simply deduced something that was obvious: “High-ranking government officials attending [250th anniversary] events present attractive targets for violent extremist attacks and ideologically-motivated disruptions.” Noting that “drone incursions during such special events are most likely to come from unwitting operators,” the assessment cited several failed “nefarious actors plotting to use weaponized drones” in the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Where Can the Data Centers Go?<\/a><\/p>\n