Arrest of Calimesa Man on Terror Charges Shocks Neighbors

A Calimesa man is among five individuals across the country charged with plotting an attack using explosives-laden drones during Sunday's Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the White House, according to federal prosecutors.
   Bryan Omar Roa, 24, of Calimesa is charged with conspiracy to commit murder for allegedly colluding in online chats to carry out the criminal offenses.
   ``The FBI, our law enforcement partners and our U.S. attorneys did what they do every day to make America safe through quick response and
vigilance in investigating, disrupting and dismantling this alleged plan before it could be carried out,'' Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday.
``We will take immediate and aggressive action to identify and prosecute those who incite and plan acts of violence.''
   The other defendants are from Ohio, Missouri, Pinon Hills in San Bernardino County and Nebraska.
    The conspirators allegedly concocted the plot after joining an online chat group titled ``Vanguard of the Old Republic,'' accessible via TikTok and
Signal, according to the U.S. Department of Justice complaint.

Roa's neighbors told NBC Palm Springs' Alondra Campos they were stunned to learn of his alleged involvement in a terror plot.
   Sunday's UFC Freedom 250, hosted on the White House lawn, became the conspirators' focus barely over a month ago, though several of them may have been communicating going back to February, according to the complaint.
   None of the individuals charged in the plot had met personally, except possibly Roa and the man from Pinion Hills.
Thomas, documents indicated. The two were additionally carrying on conversations via an internet chat room, the complaint said.
  Roa allegedly suggested ``how someone could hypothetically use drones armed with explosives to bomb buildings near the White House, which would cause mass panic with limited deaths at UFC Freedom 250,'' according to the Justice Department's narrative.
 FBI agents were tipped off to the group's alleged plot, which had not drawn any member to the nation's capital, on the night of June 10, when the Ohio suspect's mother, whose identity was not disclosed, reported to the Danville, Ohio Police Department that the young man had purchased about $3,000 in firearms, camping gear and other equipment and wouldn't tell her why. However, she suspected his recent chats with ``individuals online'' was behind the activity, according to the FBI.
All of the defendants were taken into custody without incident at
their respective residences at the end of last week.

Thomas and Roa made a joint initial court appearance Monday at U.S. District Court in Riverside. Roa is now due for arraignment on July 7, and
Thomas on July 21. They're being held at a federal detention facility.