Chicago man charged in alleged plot to attack White House UFC event

Federal prosecutors have charged Alexander Iniguez Mercado, 20, of Chicago, in an alleged White House attack plot that investigators say moved from Signal chats to weapons planning and interstate travel. Court filings and Justice Department statements place Mercado inside encrypted messaging groups tied to the scheme, which federal officials described as aimed at the UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House South Lawn.

The event was held on Sunday, June 14, 2026, and was billed as part of America’s 250th-anniversary celebrations, landing the same day as President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. Federal officials said the FBI began investigating on June 10 after learning of a potential threat, and prosecutors said the case remains active as charges broadened across multiple states. Court documents describe a plan that included explosive-laden drones intended to draw a mass evacuation, followed by a possible “second wave” attack at a security checkpoint.

Mercado was not alone. The Justice Department said seven other people from multiple states have been charged in connection with the planning, and the first five defendants were named on June 16: Tycen C. Proper of Danville, Ohio, Bryan Omar Roa of Calimesa, California, Michael Alan Thomas of Pinon Hills, California, Daniel K. Eskridge of Kidder, Missouri, and Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez of Omaha, Nebraska. Two more men were arrested on June 22 in Washington and Missouri, bringing the total to seven defendants at that stage.

Investigators say the case also exposed familiar warning signs that often surface long before violence: online communications, firearms purchases, and travel. One complaint says Proper’s mother contacted authorities on June 10 over concerns about his firearms purchases and online communications, and investigators interviewed him at a medical facility the next day. Separate filings say some alleged conspirators traveled to Fredericksburg, Virginia, on June 12 or 13, and a federal agent contacted Mercado on June 13 to ask whether he planned to travel to Washington, D.C., to help with the attack.

Officials had already called the UFC fight an “attractive symbolic target,” and the crowd on the South Lawn underscored the security stakes. NBC News reported more than 4,000 spectators attended, including Trump officials, active military members and VIPs such as Mark Zuckerberg. The case now sits as a test of how quickly federal investigators can interrupt a mix of internet-native grievance, encrypted coordination and real-world mobilization before it reaches a protected public event.