Five men charged with plot to attack White House UFC fight

(CN) — The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that several people were arrested over the weekend for their reported involvement in a plot to attack the UFC America 250 event held on the White House South Lawn on Sunday.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced in a post on X the arrest of “multiple individuals” in connection with a plot to use small drones carrying explosives and snipers to target senior government officials and wealthy attendees.

“On June 10, FBI and our law enforcement partners became aware of a potential threat to the UFC America 250 event in Washington, D.C., involving individuals outside of the National Capital Region,” Patel wrote. “And thanks to the rapid action of this FBI, our partners and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks are stopped cold.”

The Justice Department charged five people across the country over their connection to the scheme, including Tycen Proper of Ohio, Daniel Eskridge of Missouri, Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez of Nebraska and Bryan Omar Roa and Michael Alan Thomas of California.

“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 in a statement. “We will take immediate and aggressive action to identify and prosecute those who incite and plan acts of violence.”

According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Proper is 19 years old and faces four charges: conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, attempted murder of any officer of the United States, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and transfer of a firearm used to commit a felony.

According to an FBI affidavit, Proper’s mother called the local police department on June 10 over concerns regarding her son’s firearms purchase and online communications. When police arrived, Proper’s parents said he had recently met random people online and began planning “missions” and “recons” with them, and purschased approximately $3,000 worth of camping gear, food, ballistic plates, a shotgun and rifle, ammunition, extra magazines and plate carriers.

When investigators obtained a search warrant of Proper’s cellphone, they reportedly found Signal chats that laid out detailed plants to conduct an attack in Washington, with detailed imagery of the National Capital Region and maps of the area that highlighted sniper locations and potential drone launch locations.

Prosecutors say Proper admitted to the planned attack on the UFC event in an interview with investigators.

“According to Proper, the plan as he knew it was to stage a demonstration on the north side of the White House,” the FBI says. “While the demonstration was taking place, the group would fly small, unmanned aircraft (i.e. drones) laden with unspecified explosive devices which would detonate over the north side of the UFC arena. When the unmanned aircraft detonated, the intent was to force the crowd attending the UFC event and high value targets to evacuate to the south.”

Certain members of the group would then begin firing on the group with snipers and other long-range guns as they evacuated.

“According to Proper, this attack was designed to ‘jumpstart’ a revolution in the United States,” the FBI says.

A search of Proper’s phone revealed a large Signal group chat made up 19 individuals engaged in planning the June 14 attack. The members reportedly discussed potential escape routes, including leaving the area surrounding the White House to the Potomac River to escape.

Prosecutors say Proper and the others also discussed the chat on SimpleX, where Proper and the co-conspirators also discussed targeting other politicians such as Senator Marsha Blackburn, Senator Jim Justice, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Representative Carol Miller and Representative Riley Moore.

When another member asked Proper why he suggested targeting Blackburn on May 13, Proper reportedly said, “She’s taken money from the Israel pro Israel lobby and supports them.”

Proper’s case was assigned to Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King, who ordered he be detained until a detention hearing on Thursday and a preliminary hearing for June 29.

Eskridge was charged in the Western District of Missouri, Roa and Thomas in the Central District of California and Alvarez in the District of Nebraska.

If convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, each individual faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted of conspiracy to commit violence on White House grounds, they face five years in prison.

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