UFC Freedom 250 Attempted Attack Planner To Remain In Federal Custody

After Monday’s hearing, the suspected ringleader of the group that was planning an attack at the White House during UFC Freedom 250 is expected to remain in federal custody.

UFC Freedom 250 took place earlier this month on the South Lawn of the White House and featured Justin Gaethje achieving the upset victory and dethroning Ilia Topuria as lightweight king in the main event. Following the event, information emerged surrounding a planned drone attack at the White House during the show, targeting high-ranking government officials, including President Donald Trump. While the attack was planned to occur during the event on June 14th, FBI Director Kash Patel stated that officials knew about the strike by June 10th, which put them in an opportune position to prevent things altogether.

Abraham Alvarez, 31, claims to be the lead planner for the attack and carried out orders to other contributing members of the group through a Signal chat. It was also reported that in Alvarez’s home he was in possession of multiple firearms, a military-grade drone, a flamethrower, and detailed plans for the attack. While during the hearing on Monday Alvarez’s lawyer pointed to the fact that his client called off the planned attack in an effort to gain leniency, the judge did not take that information into account, citing Alvarez only called off the plan after he became aware of the FBI’s knowledge.

Despite the fact that the accused also has no prior criminal record, the judge ruled that evidence of this nature is far too concerning to release Alvarez under any condition.