Eight men are now facing federal murder and terrorism conspiracy charges following their alleged involvement in a foiled plot to carry out a drone and sniper attack on a UFC cage-fighting event that took place at the White House in June.
Court documents do not make clear how close the suspects may have gotten to actually executing the plan before it was stopped by authorities.
In a separate but significant development Thursday, the United States launched new airstrikes against Iran. Tehran responded by striking U.S.-allied nations in the Middle East. The scale of Thursday’s military exchange appeared larger than previous back-and-forth attacks between the two sides — exchanges that have increasingly put a fragile ceasefire at risk.
Also Friday, the White House confirmed that the president removed members of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission, a federal body that distributes grants to states, oversees the testing of voting equipment, and manages national voter registration forms. The ousted members had resisted the president’s push to require people to prove U.S. citizenship before registering to vote.
The move is part of a broader effort by the Republican president to extend White House influence over how American elections are run. It follows a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that granted the president expanded authority to remove members of independent agency boards.
Adding to the confusion overseas, a series of airstrikes hit Iran on Thursday — strikes that have not been claimed by any party — just as the country prepared to hold burial services for late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The attacks struck areas across southern Iran. While Iran’s government has not officially blamed any specific nation, one Iranian lawmaker issued a warning to the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of providing support to the United States during its campaign against Iran.
Gulf Arab nations, which have repeatedly been targeted by Iran since the war began on February 28, had not responded to requests for comment as of Friday. Both those nations and the United States have stressed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to maritime traffic.
