Eight indicted in thwarted attack on UFC's White House event - ESPN

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Eight men were indicted on murder and terrorism conspiracy charges Thursday for their alleged roles in a thwarted drone and sniper attack on the UFC Freedom 250 event staged at the White House in June.

The indictment, returned in Ohio, charges all eight in two separate conspiracies, one to provide material support to terrorists and a second to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official.

It remains unclear from the court records how close the would-be attackers could have come to carrying out the plan had it not been thwarted.

According to the new indictment, the plot began in May, when the group began amassing money, firearms, ammunition, body armor, explosives, drones, medical equipment, communications equipment and other items.

It was on June 10 that law enforcement officials learned about a possible threat to the UFC's White House event, four days before the mixed martial arts extravaganza was scheduled to take place.

The Justice Department announced federal charges against seven people last month from across the country, including from Ohio, Missouri, Washington, Nebraska and California. Officials said the group members harbored fringe conspiracy theories and hoped the attack would destabilize the government.

One of the defendants told investigators that they planned to fly explosive-laden drones into the event and then shoot panicked crowd members as they fled, according to a federal affidavit.

Tycen C. Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio, and four others were arrested and charged in Missouri, Nebraska and California the weekend of UFC Freedom 250. Two more defendants were charged and arrested by the FBI about a week later in Washington and Missouri. The