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The FBI foiled an alleged plot to attack Sunday’s UFC fight at the White House, FBI Director Kash Patel said Tuesday morning in a post on X.
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“On June 10, FBI and our law enforcement partners became aware of a potential threat to the UFC America 250 event in Washington, D.C. involving individuals outside of the National Capital Region — and thanks to the rapid action of this 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 the post.
The FBI director shared a story from Fox News, which reported that a group allegedly planned to use drones with explosives to hit buildings near the fight and target the crowds as they fled with a sniper team. Fox News also reported that other alleged perpetrators then planned to storm the White House gate. NBC News has not confirmed the details of the alleged plot.
A senior law enforcement official told NBC News that the plot was “quite serious.”
Vice President JD Vance said in an interview on “Fox and Friends” that he believed the FBI was informing the public “because the scale of the planned attack is so significant,” adding that he had only just heard about the foil plot this morning.
Asked at the Group of Seven summit in France about the alleged plot, President Donald Trump said, “I haven’t heard about it.”
“The attack that I watched was the fighters,” he added.
Reached for comment, an FBI spokesperson referred NBC News to Patel’s post. The Justice Department declined to comment, and the White House did not immediately provide comment.
In a statement on X, Secret Service Director Sean Curran said that his agency “worked closely with the FBI throughout this investigation.”
“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,” Curran wrote. “Equally important to our protective mission is ensuring accountability through the justice system.”
The Secret Service’s “formal comments” on plot details would be made through court filings, he said.
There was an enormous visible law enforcement presence in and around the White House complex over the weekend. Law enforcement officials blocked off roads, used fencing to control crowds and deployed hundreds of federal, state and local law enforcement officers to the crowd of thousands of people who were at or near the White House.
The motives of the alleged planners have not been released.
A string of acts of political violence and attempted attacks have rocked the country in recent years.
In April, a man allegedly armed with guns and knives ran through a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate the president.
In 2024, Trump faced two assassination attempts when a gunman opened fire during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and months later, when a man aimed a rifle through bushes at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump was playing golf.
Last year, a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were killed in what authorities called a “politically motivated” attack. The suspect, Vance Boelter, has pleaded guilty to the crime. Months after those shootings, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a political event.
Lawmakers too, are facing a spike in threats. The U.S. Capitol Police said they investigated nearly 15,000 “concerning statements, behaviors, and communications” targeting lawmakers, their families, staff or the Capitol last year. The prior year, police investigated more than 9,000 potential threats.
Megan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC News.
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