As World Cup soccer fans cheer for their teams in Los Angeles and stadiums across the nation, FBI agents are working in command centers, watching out for unauthorized flying objects.
It’s a nerve-racking race against time, and one week into the World Cup, the counter-unmanned aircraft centers have been busy.
“We have a short period of time to determine if it is a threat,” said FBI Special Agent James Peaco, the weapons of mass destruction and counter-unmanned aircraft system coordinator for the bureau’s Los Angeles office, who is overseeing counter-drone operations. “The drone threat is here, and it is real.”
The FBI has cited scores of drone pilots for interference in World Cup games, though a precise national total was not available. Their names have not been released, and law enforcement sources said they were hobbyists who do not appear to be intent on causing harm.
In the last week in Inglewood, where New Zealand and Iran have faced off and so have the Americans versus Paraguay, the FBI said it has intercepted at least 28 drones around SoFi Stadium and the fan festival at the L.A. Coliseum.
Some drone operators are spotted by the federal eyes in the skies, but most commonly, ground interception teams of the FBI and local law enforcement at each venue make physical contact with the drone pilot. Most pilots are very surprised when agents swoop down on them and give them a federal citation.
The stakes of the operations became clear over the weekend when federal authorities arrested several people — including two men from California — in what they described as a plot to kill government officials and others at the UFC cage-fighting show staged at the White House last weekend.
The five co-conspirators appeared to have been motivated by antigovernment ideology, authorities said.
According to court records, co-conspirators allegedly discussed using drones to drop explosives on the north side of the White House to create panic and funnel event attendees toward locations where they would have snipers ready to kill certain high-value targets.
But none of that ever came to pass. Federal agents became aware of the alleged plot on June 10, four days before the UFC fight, after one suspect’s mother reported concerns about her son’s recent conduct, including firearms purchases and communications with people online, which kick-started the investigation, according to the criminal complaint.
Drone reconnaissance has become a part of anti-terror efforts in recent years, especially around high-profile targets.
Peaco has worked on drone interdiction programs since 2018, when he began with the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl.
Authorities rely on an electronic arsenal of radio frequency scanners, radars, and listening and optical devices and jammers, as well as their own set of drones, to track down drone operators below.
Apparently the repeated warnings of massive fines, citations and possible federal charges for operators are being ignored.
The Federal Aviation Administration prohibits all aircraft operations, including drone flights, within a 3-nautical-mile radius and up to 3,000 feet above ground level around certain stadiums hosting World Cup matches. Peaco said the onus is on drone operators to check restrictions.
More than once, drones have gotten close enough to the massive stadium in Inglewood to be taken over and brought to the ground by the FBI. That ability, according to a white paper by one of the manufacturers, is possible through technology that allows an agent to communicate with the drone and substitute themselves as the operator, take it over and ground it.
“The capability exists to bring that drone down into a safe location away from the grounds,” said FBI Assistant Director Patrick Grandy, who oversees the L.A. office, in days before the games.
It is a scenario that’s been repeated daily and may likely continue as the 78 World Cup games unfold. Just last week, agents seized 21 drones in Atlanta.
Generally, the FBI does not like to discuss all the tools it uses in its antidrone defenses.
At the most basic level, radio frequency sensors monitor airspace, identifying drone activity the moment it enters a coverage zone. That drone’s communication protocols identify the aircraft make, model, and registered operator and pinpoint the drone’s take-off location.
Federal agents have radar, acoustic sensors to detect the distinct noise signature of a drone’s motors and propellers and thermal and optical detection.
But there are more elaborate systems out there.
One maker of a counter-drone tool in the hands of the federal authorities explains that their technology can interact and communicate directly in the drone’s language, enabling it to be taken over.
Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security awarded a contract to a company that makes a drone with massive nets to ensnare other drones.
Strategic military resources go even further with advanced sensors, directed energy, electronic warfare, and kinetic interceptors to detect, track, and neutralize unmanned threats, whether a single drone or a swarm. A top FBI official recently revealed that the bureau does have the authority to make such intercepts.
The alleged plot to attack the White House was decidedly lower-tech and it remains unclear how close it actually came to fruition.
Michael Alan Thomas, 32, was arrested in San Bernardino County’s Piñon Hills on Saturday, charged with conspiracy to commit murder, according to officials and records from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Bryan Omar Roa, 24, was arrested the same day about 50 miles south in Riverside County’s Calimesa, and was also charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
In messages exchanged on an encrypted messaging application called SimpleX, Thomas and Roa communicated in a chatroom titled “Vanguard of the Old Republic,” according to the complaint. There, Thomas told Roa he was “up the hill behind LA,” clarifying he was in Piñon Hills, to which Roa responded that he was in Yucaipa. Yucaipa is located right next to Calimesa, where officials said Roa was arrested.
According to the complaint filed in federal court in California, Roa and Thomas had been in touch virtually, but had met up at least once in the last month to practice marksmanship and tactics.
Authorities said Thomas later admitted to helping plan the attack and encouraging others to take part. In an interview with FBI agents, Thomas allegedly told authorities the aim of this attack and future ones was to create enough chaos to bring about the overthrow of the U.S. government, according to the criminal complaint.
Authorities said he indicated his belief that the U.S. government is run by an elite group of individuals who sacrifice and consume infants. According to the complaint, Thomas also mentioned the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex-trafficking girls and young women, and said Epstein’s associates are now protected by President Trump.
The court filings said that Roa denied any involvement in the conspiracy.
Roa later told authorities that he had planned to attend the UFC event only as a protester, but his vehicle malfunctioned and he had to return home. His family members, however, told law enforcement that Roa said one day they would wake up and he would be gone, and that he intended to travel to Washington, where “something big” would happen.
Neither could be reached for comment.
Staff writers Brittny Mejia and Grace Toohey contributed to this report.
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