On Sunday, I wrote about the accelerationist movement — the part of it, that is, that believes that AI will take over (and that there is no human future). There is another part, as I noted then, and maybe several.

Yesterday, a different fragment of the movement hit the headlines when a number of suspects were arrested in a plot to attack the UFC Freedom 250 spectacle at the White House last Sunday night:

During an FBI interview, [suspect Tycen] Proper admitted to coordinating a planned attack on the government during the UFC, according to the affidavit. Investigators said Proper communicated with fellow conspirators on the messaging app Signal after meeting online in a TikTok group called Vanguard of the Old.

The group planned to pose as protesters and assemble near the White House, bringing weapons, ammunition, tactical vests, and ballistic plates, Proper allegedly told investigators. During the demonstration, the group planned to deploy and detonate a drone carrying explosives over the UFC event to prompt an evacuation.

Some of the co-conspirators planned to act as snipers and target politicians and wealthy individuals among the crowd fleeing the explosion, according to the affidavit. Signal messages identified Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn; Jim Justice, R-W.V.; and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V.; along with Reps. Carol Miller, R-W.V.; and Riley Moore, R-W.V.; as specific individuals to target during the attack.

Christina Grube, “Alleged terror plot against UFC White House event thwarted, FBI says,” World, June 16, 2026

Overall, the group comes off as amateurish. It was 19-year-old Proper’s mother who tipped off investigators about her son’s increasingly unsettling behavior. Then, according to People, “Investigators later searched Proper’s phone and discovered Signal chats discussing plans for an attack in Washington, D.C..” But amateurism alone would hardly prevent a group from inflicting considerable harm among crowds fleeing a venue.

The link to accelerationism?

At Yahoo News, Michael Ramsey cites former Secret Service agent Paul Eckloff:

The alleged terror plot against Sunday’s UFC event at the White House is hard to pin down, but “accelerationists” were likely trying to spark a broad revolution across the political spectrum, a security expert says…

“They were looking to find targets that would appeal to both people in Democratic and Republican circles so that they could rally the most people to their cause,” former Secret Service agent Paul Eckloff told “CUOMO” on Tuesday…

He said the goal was to trigger an upheaval — the hallmark of “accelerationism.”

“Accelerationism has existed for decades,” Eckloff said. “It’s people that believe society is irredeemable, whether it’s capitalism, whether it’s other things, and they believe if they accelerate the end of it, it can be reborn, it can be rebuilt in the image that they want.”

“‘Accelerationists’ behind foiled drone attack at White House: Expert,” June 16, 2026.

The plot was not far advanced before investigators began monitoring it; they swooped on June 10, reporting only after the White House event was over. As of yesterday evening, five people had been arrested.

Understanding accelerationism

We surely have not have heard the last of accelerationism, which attracts a variety of adherents — nerd geniuses through harmless cranks down to racists and amateur terrorists. Unfortunately, our information about the movement seems deficient. For example, a Haverford University site aimed at political science students advises,

What is Accelerationism?

Aside from the theoretical definition, a concept of “militant accelerationism” has developed. Militant accelerationism involves the acceleration of elements in a system through means of violence in order to destruct the existing system (Parker 2020). Ultimately, this accelerationism is an indirect process for creating change: the terrorist attacks lead to a cycle of response and further attacks to collapse the existing system. This is different from traditional methods of terrorism that employ more direct processes for creating change. In understanding what accelerationism is, it is important to note that accelerationism is not an ideology but rather a strategy. Proponents of several ideologies could subscribe to accelerationism (Kriner n.d.). However, most of the research on militant accelerationism has had a particular focus on far-right extremist militant accelerationism.

Ceci Cohen, January 12, 2024

If strategy is more important than ideology for accelerationists, that is probably because their aims are incoherent and their groups fragment easily. If they all just want to attack someone or something, they need only agree on a specific target and method. A unifying ideology is not necessary.

But what about the accelerationists being “far right” extremists? The term seems overused these days. If it includes militants who hate billionaires, especially Donald Trump, and want to destroy capitalism, it is proving increasingly useless except as invective.

The story will doubtless be updated and the Haverford political science students will need to update their website and maybe their terminology. The rest of us need to ponder the impact of some of the unexpected changes that AI is bringing about.