Overview
- Alexander Iniguez Mercado, 20, was arrested this week and federally indicted on a one‑count obstruction charge for allegedly uninstalling the Signal app after an FBI call about online threats.
- Prosecutors say an FBI agent phoned Mercado on June 13 to ask whether he planned to travel to Washington, D.C., for the June 14 UFC Freedom 250 event and that Mercado denied plans and later removed Signal from his phone.
- Federal filings and earlier arrests allege conspirators planned to use small drones loaded with explosives to force an evacuation and then shoot fleeing attendees toward pre‑positioned snipers.
- Mercado is the eighth person charged in the probe and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted as investigators in multiple states work toward further arrests and prosecutions.
- Law enforcement officials said the FBI Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Secret Service disrupted the plot before anyone was seriously hurt and warned that encrypted apps that store messages locally can be erased by uninstalling the app, removing evidence for investigators.