Federal authorities arrested a 20-year-old Chicago man on charges of obstruction of justice for allegedly destroying evidence tied to the thwarted plot to attack the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House. Alexander Iniguez Mercado is now the latest defendant swept up in a widening domestic terror investigation that has produced eight arrests across multiple states.
The Department of Justice confirmed the indictment Friday morning. Fox News reported that Mercado was taken into custody Thursday and scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes in federal court in Chicago at 3 p.m. that day. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
The charge centers on a single act: Mercado allegedly uninstalled the Signal encrypted messaging app from his phone immediately after an FBI agent called to question him about online threats, a move prosecutors say rendered critical evidence unavailable to investigators.
The indictment lays out a tight sequence. One day before the White House event, the FBI contacted Mercado by phone to discuss online threats connected to the planned attack. A special agent asked whether Mercado intended to travel to Washington, D.C., to participate. Mercado denied any such plans and refused to meet with law enforcement.
Then, immediately after hanging up, he allegedly deleted Signal from his device.
Prosecutors say Mercado had served as both an administrator and a member of Signal messaging groups used to coordinate the violent plot against the June 14 event. Deleting the app, they allege, destroyed the message data investigators needed to build their case. The obstruction charge flows directly from that alleged destruction.
U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros framed the gravity of the charge in blunt terms. As Just The News reported, Boutros stated:
"Obstructing justice in a law enforcement investigation into a planned violent domestic attack is a profoundly serious offense."
That statement signals the DOJ views evidence destruction in terror cases as more than a procedural footnote, it treats it as an act that directly endangers public safety.
Mercado's arrest did not happen in isolation. He is one of eight suspects charged in connection with the alleged conspiracy targeting the UFC Freedom 250, a marquee event held at the White House as part of America's 250th anniversary celebrations. The FBI operation that foiled the plot has revealed an alleged scheme far more elaborate than a lone-wolf fantasy.
Unsealed court documents identified two additional suspects, Jordan W. Rincker of Missouri and William Lee Spartacus Falkner of Washington state, bringing the total number of publicly identified defendants to seven. Fox News reported that the conspiracy allegedly involved explosive-laden drones, prepositioned shooters, and a planned second-wave attack targeting the White House gate.
Falkner allegedly discussed procuring drones capable of carrying heavy explosive payloads and participated in a Telegram channel called "D Ops" dedicated to drone operations. Rincker allegedly accepted $1,200 in cash from the alleged ringleader, transferred a shotgun to him, and sent $100 to help fund another co-conspirator's drive from California to Washington.
FBI Deputy Director Chris Raia described the ongoing nature of the investigation:
"We made a bunch of probable cause arrests before the (UFC) event, we assured the event was safe. We were watching a whole bunch of others to ensure that nobody had come to DC. But we're continuing to make those cases. And so that's why you're seeing folks get kind of picked off."
Investigators are also examining whether the group discussed a future attack at a FIFA World Cup match in Kansas City on July 3, a detail that suggests the ambitions of the alleged conspirators may have extended well beyond a single event.
The same Friday morning that brought the DOJ's confirmation of Mercado's indictment also brought the arrest of Tycen Proper, a 19-year-old from Ohio. Proper allegedly used $3,000 of his graduation money to amass an arsenal of weapons and tactical gear.
Criminal complaints and sheriff's office reports describe what investigators found: an AR-15 rifle, an American flag-painted 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, ballistic plate carriers, a tactical bump helmet, a loaded battle belt, knives, a hatchet, and medical trauma gear.
It was Proper's own mother who called 911 to report his online activities and weapons purchases. She also removed guns and ammunition from his room. That call helped crack open the broader investigation, a fact that should give pause to anyone who doubts the role ordinary citizens play in preventing mass violence.
The political dimensions of this case are impossible to ignore. The alleged ringleader of the plot has been identified by DHS as an illegal immigrant from Mexico, a fact that has intensified scrutiny of border enforcement and the vetting failures that allowed him to operate inside the country.
Rep. Lance Gooden, a Texas Republican, said he is "very fearful" of terror threats in the wake of the UFC plot. Gooden argued that the United States is still paying for the Biden administration's border policies, a claim that gains weight when the central figure in an alleged mass-casualty conspiracy against the White House turns out to be someone who should never have been in the country.
Eight suspects across multiple states. Encrypted messaging groups. Drones designed to carry explosives. Prepositioned shooters. A second-wave attack plan. And a ringleader who entered the country illegally. The scope of the alleged conspiracy dwarfs the kind of lone-actor threat that dominates most domestic terror coverage.
The case also raises hard questions about encrypted communications platforms. Signal's end-to-end encryption is designed to protect user privacy, a legitimate purpose. But when a suspect allegedly uses that same encryption to coordinate a mass-casualty attack and then deletes the app to destroy evidence the moment the FBI comes calling, the tension between privacy and public safety becomes more than theoretical.
Significant gaps remain. The identities of all eight charged suspects have not been fully disclosed. The specific content of the Signal group messages, the operational details of the alleged plot, has not been made public beyond what court filings describe in summary. What motivated these individuals to allegedly target a celebratory event marking America's 250th anniversary has not been stated by prosecutors.
Nor is it clear whether Mercado's deletion of Signal actually succeeded in permanently destroying the evidence, or whether investigators recovered the data through other means. The FBI's ability to reconstruct encrypted communications after deletion varies, and the indictment's focus on obstruction suggests the data loss was real enough to warrant a standalone charge.
The case also fits a pattern of security threats targeting high-profile White House events that has tested federal law enforcement repeatedly in recent months.
Whether Mercado was a central planner or a peripheral figure in the conspiracy, the obstruction charge sends a clear message: destroying evidence in a terror investigation is itself a serious federal crime. The DOJ appears determined to make that point stick.
When the FBI calls to ask if you're planning to attack the White House and your first move is to delete the app, you've told investigators everything they needed to know, and given prosecutors everything they needed to charge you.
