Mike Baker

And if you watched the fights or saw any pictures or videos, you already have a sense of the scale.

The event was held as part of the broader celebration, marking America's 250th anniversary.

It also coincided with President Trump's 80th birthday.

Now, before we get into the details of the alleged plot itself, it's worth starting with how authorities say they uncovered it.

According to FBI Director Kash Patel, the federal investigators became aware of the threat on the 10th of June after a team of FBI and Secret Service personnel uncovered communications discussing a potential attack.

Patel, in a post on X, wrote that the individuals involved were operating outside the Washington area, triggering a multi-state investigation involving federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

Patel posted, quote, the allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold, end quote.

Now, court documents reveal this wasn't a case of someone just making a reckless comment online.

Authorities believe those arrested spent months communicating, discussing targets, travel plans, weapons, and what they believed would happen after the attack.

At the center of the case is 19-year-old Tyson Proper of Ohio, who investigators say admitted to helping plan a coordinated attack against government officials during the fights.

According to investigators, Propp are first connected with others now in custody through a TikTok chat called Vanguard of the Old, before conversations migrated to the encrypted messaging app Signal.

And that's where the allegations become particularly alarming.

In the court filings, members of the group allegedly planned to meet in Fredericksburg, Virginia, before traveling to Washington and staging a demonstration near the White House.

Now, that may not sound unusual.

Political demonstrations occur in Washington all the time.

But prosecutors say that demonstration was never intended to be the main event.

Instead, investigators allege it was meant to serve as cover for a much larger attack involving explosive-laden drones, panic inside the crowd, and gunmen to target so-called high-value attendees toward predetermined evacuation routes as they fled.

Court documents indicate those high-value targets included politicians and wealthy attendees.

Proper allegedly told authorities the ultimate goal was to, quote, jumpstart a revolution.

Federal investigators say messages recovered from Proper's phone included discussions expressing hostility toward lawmakers who accepted money from AIPAC.