About two months before Alexander Iniguez Mercado was arrested and charged with obstructing an investigation into a planned attack on President Donald Trump\u2019s Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House Lawn, federal prosecutors allege that he shared his intentions in a Signal group.<\/p>\n
\u201cMentally preparing,\u201d he wrote, according to federal law enforcement, \u201cnever known what it\u2019s truly like to kill a man, but definitely know the aftermath of what damage I can do, I\u2019m (expletive) ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes cited that purported statement and others Tuesday as he ordered Mercado, 20, held pending trial on a charge that he deleted the encrypted messaging app Signal after a brief phone call with FBI agents who were investigating the never-executed attack. Fuentes also referenced Mercado\u2019s alleged statement that he would be up for \u201ctargeting DHS and taking them out while they sleep or ambushing them in their hotel rooms,\u201d as well as announcements made within the encrypted messaging groups about plans for a second attack to take place July 4.<\/p>\n
Mercado is the first Chicago-area person to be charged in connection with the scheme. Seven others in other states such as Washington, Ohio, Arkansas and California have also been accused in the sprawling investigation, most facing far more serious charges like conspiracy and attempted murder.<\/p>\n
According to charges filed in the case, the group began planning violence in March and eventually coalesced around a scheme to fly explosive-laden drones over the arena and deploy snipers to shoot \u201chigh-value\u201d targets as they fled.<\/p>\n
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly Moheb alleged that Mercado was an administrator of messaging groups where the attack was planned, helping to \u201cvet\u201d potential members and advertise their activities using TikTok flyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I\u2019ll tell u this much,\u201d Mercado allegedly wrote to another person who wanted to join the Signal group. \u201cPeace ain\u2019t an option.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moheb also alleged that Mercado had sent other group members links to \u201cThe Anarchist Cookbook,\u201d which provides instructions for producing explosives.<\/p>\n
But Mercado\u2019s lawyer, assistant federal public defender Johanathan Brooks, argued that \u201cwhat the government is doing is basically high-level guesswork.\u201d He also pointed out that while many of the other defendants appear in different complaints, none of the other criminal complaints mentioned Mercado.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is not someone who harbors the beliefs of these other men,\u201d he said. Moreover, he added, Mercado become largely inactive about two months before the plans would have been set into motion.<\/p>\n
Brooks said his client\u2019s main interest as a member of the chat groups whose contents Moheb presented at the hearing was as a fantasy role player.<\/p>\n