JUST IN: Chicago Man Charged in Connection to White House UFC Terror Plot

An eighth White House terror plot suspect, 20-year-old Alexander Iniguez Mercado of Chicago, has been arrested for his involvement in planning a drone and sniper attack on the UFC Freedom 250 event earlier this month. 

Two more arrests were made this week. The plot reportedly involved 23 people as part of the network.

“The conspirators allegedly planned to deploy drones armed with explosives in and around the UFC Freedom 250 event in order to force an evacuation of the event and then planned to deploy snipers to fire upon ‘high value targets’ within the fleeing crowd,” the DOJ said in a press release earlier this month.

Mercado was arrested on Thursday for his role in plotting the attack as an administrator in a group chat on the encrypted messaging app, Signal. He has also been charged with obstruction of justice after allegedly deleting his Signal app and destroying the evidence.

He now faces up to 20 years in prison.

According to the Department of Justice:

Alexander Iniguez Mercado, 20, of Chicago, was allegedly an administrator and member of Signal messaging groups that included members who appeared to communicate with others regarding the planning of a violent attack targeting the UFC event at the White House on June 14, according to an indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Seven other individuals from multiple states have been charged in connection with the planning of the violent attack. More information about the other defendants charged as part of this investigation is here and here.

According to the indictment against Mercado, the day before the UFC event, a special agent from the FBI spoke with Mercado by telephone. The agent informed Mercado that he was calling to discuss online threats regarding the UFC event, and he asked whether Mercado planned to travel to Washington, D.C., to help with the attack, the indictment states. Mercado allegedly denied those plans and advised the agent that he did not want to meet with the agent. Mercado then uninstalled the Signal application on his phone, which caused the data on his phone relating to those messages to become unavailable, the indictment states.

Mercado is charged with obstruction of justice. If convicted, the maximum penalty is 20 years in prison. Mercado was arrested on Thursday. He is scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Chicago today at 3:00 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes for the Northern District of Illinois.

The FBI disrupted the plot days before the historic White House UFC fights after learning of the threat around June 10. A concerned parent reportedly alerted authorities, helping thwart what could have been a devastating attack on a patriotic gathering celebrating America’s 250th anniversary and President Trump’s milestone birthday.

According to an FBI agent’s affidavit, the group “expressed ultra-religious and antigovernment sentiments, specifically citing grievances about government corruption, the handling of the Epstein files, data centers taking up all the water in communities, and other government actions.”

As The Gateway Pundit reported, it was discovered that the plot was orchestrated by a Mexican illegal alien who remained in the country under Obama’s controversial Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

MORE:

CONFIRMED: White House Terror Plot Ringleader is an Illegal Alien Who Was Granted DACA by Obama, DHS Says

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