The suspects arrested for plotting to attack the White House during a mixed martial arts event attended by US President Donald Trump and other top officials over the weekend were seeking to harm politicians linked to Israel, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday.

FBI Director Kash Patel said that US law enforcement had disrupted the attempted attack, calling the plot a “multi-state operation” planned by “multiple individuals” who had discussed using drones and gunfire to attack Sunday’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event on the White House lawn.

The “UFC Freedom 250” event fell on Trump’s 80th birthday and was meant to kick off this year’s festivities for the 250th anniversary of US independence.

One of the suspects, Tycen Proper, 19, told his co-conspirators on May 13 that the assailants should target US Sen. Marsha Blackburn, according to the criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent investigating the case.

“I got a possible target Marsha Blackburn is senator for Tennessee,” Proper said in a chat.

Asked why the group should target Blackburn, Proper said, “She’s taken money from the Israel pro Israel [sic] lobby and supports them,” according to the complaint.

Two weeks later, Proper said in a text message, “These are people we’re going to focus on,” alongside images of US Sen. Jim Justice, US Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, US Rep. Carol Miller, and US Rep. Riley Moore.

The images appeared to have been taken from the website “TrackAIPAC.com” and included information about how much money each lawmaker had received from “pro-Israel PACS,” the complaint said.

During the investigation, police spoke with Proper’s father and grandmother, who said that Proper had recently made statements in support of Adolf Hitler and posted antisemitic comments on social media, according to the complaint.

Proper was charged with offenses related to conspiracy, attempted murder and firearms.

Family’s tip foils plot to........

© The Times of Israel