Inside the alleged plot to kill Trump, Musk, Netanyahu at UFC White House fight

Eight men in the United States face conspiracy to commit murder and terrorism charges, accused of planning a drone and shooting attack and aiming to kill Donald Trump at the UFC event held on the lawn of the White House in June.

The indictment lodged before a federal grand jury in the US state of Ohio charges the men with two separate conspiracies.

The group is accused of providing material support to terrorists, planning to commit murder on US government territory, including of a government official.

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

FBI director Kash Patel last month confirmed the plot had been intercepted, while at least five people were taken into custody and 23 others identified as part of a potential network of co-conspirators.

The indictment documents detailed how the alleged plot developed. Here is what we know.

Alleged assassination plot included 'explosives, drones and armour'

The documents accused eight men, aged between 19 and 32, of taking part in the alleged plot to kill the US president, Vice-President JD Vance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, billionaire Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk and "other high-value targets" at the UFC Freedom 250 event on June 14.

Those alleged co-conspirators were named as Abraham Alvarez, Daniel Eskridge, William Falkner, Tycen Proper, Jordan Rincker, Bryan Roa, Chandler Scaggs and Michael Thomas.

The indictment claims the group began to form the alleged plan in May, when they began amassing money, firearms, ammunition, body armour, explosives, drones, medical equipment, communications equipment and other items.

Using online and social media platforms such as Signal, SimpleX, Discord, TikTok and Instagram, the group is accused of creating "a 'tier' system to classify participants" according to their alleged role in the plot, the documents show.

"Tier one" participants were tasked with "committing to put themselves in harms [sic] way, break the law, and potentially go into hiding", and the group allegedly agreed to kill any US government agency employee who was working at the UFC Freedom 250 event.

The group also agreed to travel from their homes in Nebraska, Missouri, Washington DC, Ohio, West Virginia and California to the White House, as well as an agreed-upon method of escaping after the attack, the indictment says.

Mr Roa and Mr Thomas are accused of undergoing marksmanship and combat training in California in May, the documents show.

Prosecutors claim Mr Eskridge kept mobile phone notes on the tier system, which included personal details of each participant, while Mr Falkner contacted at least one person on Instagram to request they 3D-print "drone frames" for money.

The documents alleged Mr Roa began driving from California to Washington, DC on June 11 but ran into "car trouble" the day after.

Mr Alvarez met with Mr Rincker to provide him with a 3D printer in Omaha, Nebraska on June 12. In exchange, Mr Alvarez allegedly received body armour, night-vision goggles, a face shield, a shotgun and a bandolier ammunition belt.

How police stopped the attack

The latest court documents were lodged after the US Justice Department (DOJ) last month announced a series of criminal complaints in different districts across the US in connection with the alleged plot.

Police learned of the potential threat to Mr Trump and the UFC event on June 10, four days before the cage-fighting show was scheduled to take place.

An earlier court document filed on June 15 showed police were first called to a home in Knox County, north-east of the state capital Columbus, by Mr Proper's mother because she was concerned he had been speaking with people online and recently bought weapons.

Mr Proper's father allegedly told police the 19-year-old had been planning "recons" and "hit and run missions", and spent at least $US3,000 ($4,323) on camping gear, food, body armour and "lots of ammunition".

Officials said the group harboured fringe conspiracy theories and hoped the attack would destabilise the US government.

Mr Proper's mother told authorities he had been speaking with people who claimed to be Christian and former military servicemen.

"They expressed ultra-religious and anti-government sentiments, specifically citing grievances about government corruption, the handling of the Epstein files, data centers taking up all the water in communities, and other government actions," the court document shows.

Mr Proper later told investigators the group communicated via a TikTok group named the "Vanguard of the Old".

He then told police the names of Mr Roa and Mr Thomas, whose homes were raided by the FBI on June 13.

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

Mr Trump attended the UFC fight, which went ahead without incident on the president's 80th birthday, along with several other Republican politicians. Mr Netanyahu was not in attendance.

Mr Proper and four others were arrested and charged in Missouri, Nebraska and California the weekend of the UFC event. Two others were charged and arrested by the FBI a week later in Washington, DC and Missouri.

The DOJ said Mr Scaggs, 21, was the eighth person charged this week after being arrested in West Virginia and accused of being assigned as a sniper in the alleged attack plot.

Mr Scaggs's lawyer, Eric Brehm, said his office was thoroughly reviewing the allegations and declined to comment further.

Conspiring to provide material support to terrorists is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and conspiring to commit murder carries a penalty of up to life in prison.

ABC/AP