A US federal grand jury on Thursday indicted eight defendants who plotted an attack against a White House event last month targeting Israel-linked politicians, US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The plot targeted a mixed martial arts event held on the White House lawn that Netanyahu did not actually attend. The primary targets were members of Congress who had received funding from the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.

The alleged conspirators planned to dispatch small, explosive-laden drones that would detonate over the event, forcing an evacuation.

Attackers armed with rifles, stationed near an evacuation point, would shoot their victims as they fled the UFC event, according to the plan described by federal prosecutors.

The defendants were named as Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez of Nebraska, Daniel Eskridge and Jordan Rincker of Missouri, William Falkner of Washington, Tycen Proper of Ohio, Chandler Scaggs of West Virginia, and Michael Thomas and Bryan Roa of California. They range in age from 19 to 32.

They were charged with two conspiracies — conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, and conspiracy to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official. They face up to life in prison.

The indictment said that the........

© The Times of Israel