Eight People Charged with Planning Attack on the White House to Assassinate Trump, Vance, and Netanyahu

SadaNews - The U.S. Department of Justice stated in a release late Thursday to Friday that a federal grand jury has issued an indictment against eight individuals for allegedly planning to carry out an attack at a mixed martial arts event at the White House in June, according to Reuters.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced last month that it had thwarted a planned attack on the event at the White House.

The eight men face two charges stemming from a grand jury indictment issued in Columbus, Ohio, where the first arrests took place. The Justice Department announced that the remaining defendants have also been arrested since then.

The ages of the defendants range from 19 to 32 years. The indictment against all of them includes two charges: "conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to commit murder on federal land and to kill a federal official."

The Justice Department clarified that the defendants planned to assassinate President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, American officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, billionaire Elon Musk, and "other significant targets" during the event.

Trump attended the event, which did not witness any incidents coinciding with his 80th birthday, alongside several Republican lawmakers, donors, and administration officials to celebrate the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, while Netanyahu did not attend the event.

The Justice Department stated that the eight men are believed to have participated in chat groups and forums on apps such as Signal, Discord, TikTok, and Instagram.

The FBI indicated last month that the conspiracy involved planning to use drones loaded with explosives to bomb the northern side of the White House, aiming to direct attendees towards an exit where snipers planned to shoot at politicians and others as they fled.