Two more men have been arrested since Friday in connection with what authorities say was a plot targeting this month’s Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House lawn, prosecutors said Monday.
William Lee Spartacus Falkner was arrested in Washington state Friday, and Jordan W. Rincker was arrested in Missouri on Sunday, the Justice Department said.
The new arrests bring the total connected to the alleged plot to seven. No one was injured at the event, and no attack was carried out.
Federal prosecutors have said conspirators in the alleged plot discussed flying drones loaded with explosives over the event and then shooting into the fleeing crowd.
Falkner and Rincker have each been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder, the Justice Department said.
According to the Justice Department, Falkner is trained in how to use drones and is alleged to have discussed how to use them with explosives in online communications.
Rincker is accused of taking $1,200 from another person previously arrested to give to others involved, the Justice Department alleges.
Rincker is also alleged to have met that man in Omaha, Nebraska, and given him a 12-gauge pump shotgun, according to federal officials. The Justice Department said the man gave Rincker a ballistic plate, a 3D printer and other items.
Investigators on Sunday found two rifles, a 9 mm pistol and a 3D-printed Glock-style handgun, a gas mask, ballistic plate and a plate carrier, a shield and other items at his home and in a storage container, the Justice Department said.
Both men have been charged by criminal complaint, which is different from an indictment returned by a grand jury.
Online federal court documents Monday did not show whether Falkner or Rincker have entered pleas.
A federal public defender listed as representing Falkner did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment, and records did not appear to show an attorney for Rincker on Monday afternoon.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship event, known as UFC Freedom 250, was June 14 — President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday — in a venue erected on the White House lawn. It was said by the administration to mark America’s 250th anniversary.
Trump, administration officials and VIPs who included Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg were among those who attended the live event.
