00:00The FBI said it thwarted an alleged drone attack plot targeting Sunday's UFC event at the White
00:06House and has arrested five men. Part of the plan allegedly involved striking nearby buildings with
00:11explosive-laden drones and firing on high-value targets with sniper rifles. One suspect was
00:17arrested in Ohio last week, where investigators reviewed encrypted messages involving other
00:22alleged conspirators. Joining me for more on this week is former U.S. Secret Service agent
00:28Barry Donadio. Barry, good to get your thoughts today. And we understand the revelation that this
00:34plot was in play. It came by a mother in Ohio that called the police. Did that surprise you?
00:41Well, we're awfully lucky that she did. It's my understanding, based on the court documents that
00:46I'm seeing in the U.S. Magistrate Court there, the Knox County Sheriff's Department, as well as the
00:52Danville Police Department in Ohio, were called to a disturbance at the home. And this was a call
01:00from the mom that was concerned about her son. And it's our understanding that he has spent thousands
01:06of dollars of his graduation money from high school to purchase ammunition weapons and other equipment
01:13in preparation for this attack. Which, make no mistake about it, this attack is a very, very serious attack,
01:20which, according to the court document, was supposed to trigger and jumpstart a revolution here in the
01:28United States. Not only to shoot innocent people at this event, shoot some senators, potential other
01:37politicians, even potentially the president of the United States. So nobody here is taking this lightly.
01:43It is a very, very serious matter.
01:45And has there been any sort of revelation as to the motive behind this sort of attack?
01:51You know, I suspect this is a group of young men that were manipulated by whether it's media or the
01:57internet. And we know that the younger generation today are manipulated very easily by what they see
02:03on social media or the internet. So I think they are victimized by this as well. They got the best
02:12taken of them. And now they're going to make some time in jail. Unfortunately, they threw their lives
02:18away for what appears to be an opportunity to feel special or feel part of a group that was going
02:26to
02:26literally try to overthrow the government. And I'm here to say, if you're planning or you think this way,
02:32you're never going to be a hero by taking a gun and killing innocent people to change a political
02:38ideology. So this is a horrible event. And not only did these young people throw away their lives,
02:45because they're going to be in jail for a very long time, but their families are going to be
02:49suffering too. And, you know, thank God.
02:52Yeah, Barry, I do want to ask you just sort of about the security matter around the White House,
02:55though, and the South Lawn. Is it defensible against, you know, attacks of this nature?
03:01Yes, absolutely. I think the U.S. Secret Service emergency response team, the counter-assault team,
03:07and the counter-surveillance team would have made quick work of them. But we don't need to get to
03:12that point. And that's the problem. So the White House is a fortress and Washington, D.C. is a fortress
03:20in itself. So I don't see how the plan would have succeeded in any grand way that it would have
03:29been
03:29successful in the eyes of the beholders that are partaking the attack. But we shouldn't have had
03:36to get to this point. And thank God that the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI also are involved
03:42in
03:42the matter and put it to an end. Yeah. And a big thanks to the mother as well in Ohio.
03:47Barry,
03:47thanks very much for your thoughts. Barry Donadio, former U.S. Secret Service agent.
