Feds reveal details of alleged plot to attack White House UFC event with explosive drones

Washington — The FBI said Tuesday that it disrupted an attempt to attack Sunday's UFC America 250 event at the White House. Court records detail an alleged plot to use small drones carrying explosives and then snipers to target senior government officials and wealthy attendees.

Five people have been charged for their alleged roles in the scheme: Tycen Proper of Ohio, Daniel Eskridge of Missouri, Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez of Nebraska, and Bryan Omar Roa and Michael Alan Thomas of California. 

Proper, 19, faces four charges, including attempted murder of a federal officer and conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S., according to court filings. He has been ordered to remain in custody pending a detention hearing Wednesday, according to court records.

Investigators laid out details of the alleged scheme across four separate affidavits accompanying criminal complaints in federal courts in those states. Federal investigators became aware of the alleged plot based on a tip from Proper's mother, who was concerned about his recent behavior, according to an affidavit submitted by an FBI agent in his case.

The White House hosted the UFC fight series on Sunday — President Trump's 80th birthday — as part of the celebrations of the nation's 250th anniversary. Thousands turned out to watch the fights on the White House South Lawn, where Mr. Trump sat in the front row.

The alleged plot

Proper was interviewed by federal investigators last Thursday and admitted to planning, with others, a coordinated attack during the UFC event, according to the affidavit.

Proper told investigators that he began communicating with others via a TikTok group called "Vanguard of the Old" in March, whose members all said they wanted to protect the U.S. and believed the nation was headed in the wrong direction, according to the affidavit.

Communications among the group members continued on the encrypted messaging app Signal, where the FBI said they planned the attack for the UFC fight.

According to the affidavit, Proper described a plan in which members of the group would leave their homes on Friday or Saturday to meet up in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and travel to Washington, where they would stage a "demonstration" on the north side of the White House.

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," according to the filing.

When the drones exploded, the group then planned to force attendees of the UFC event and "high value targets" to evacuate to the south, the affidavit said. Proper told investigators that the plan was for group members to "act as snipers and additional shooters," shooting fight attendees and the "high value targets" as they fled from the explosions.

The affidavit said the "high value targets" were "wealthy people" and politicians. Proper allegedly told investigators the goal of the attack was to "jumpstart" a revolution in the U.S.

The FBI and local law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at the home of Proper's parents, where he lives, on Thursday. Investigators said they found a "large quantity" of ammunition and tactical clothing.

Investigators spoke with Proper's father and grandmother, who said he spent most of his time online talking to others, according to the filing.

Proper's family also became concerned with statements he had made in recent months, including "sympathetic comments about Adolf Hitler" and antisemitic content posted on his social media, according to the affidavit. 

CBS News' Pat Milton reported earlier that law enforcement became aware of the threat after a relative contacted them, concerned that a family member was talking about doing something nefarious in Washington, D.C.

An FBI review of Proper's phone messages with alleged co-conspirators revealed his desire to target lawmakers for taking money from AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group, including Sens. Jim Justice and Shelley Moore Capito, and Reps. Carol Miller and Riley Moore, who are all from West Virginia, the affidavit said.

During a search of Proper's cell phone and Signal chats, investigators identified group chats consisting of between four and five people that were based on "role assignments and locations," such as shooters at different spots, according to the affidavit. Members of the group also discussed the location of a potential "safe house" and possible escape routes following the attack, according to the affidavit.

The FBI said some group members planned to escape along the Potomac River.

The search of Proper's phone also revealed chats in the encrypted messaging app SimpleX, investigators said. In one chat in May, Proper wrote, "I got a possible target Marsha Blackburn is senator for Tennessee," and later said she had taken money from the "pro Israel lobby," according to the affidavit.

The investigation into Proper began last Wednesday, when his mother contacted local law enforcement because of concerns about how he was acting, including his firearms purchases and online communications, according to the FBI. 

Proper's father told police the 19-year-old had been planning "recons" with people he met online and had been planning to meet up with them over the weekend, the affidavit states. Proper's father also said his son had recently obtained camping gear, food, ballistic plates, a new shotgun, rifle, ammunition, magazines and plate carriers, the FBI said. Agents alleged Proper spent roughly $3,000 of graduation money to buy the equipment. 

An FBI agent also spoke with Proper's mother on Thursday, who said he had begun communicating online with a group of people who expressed "ultra-religious and anti-government sentiments," including grievances about government corruption, the handling of files from the federal case involving convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and data centers.

FBI Director Kash Patel revealed the existence of the alleged plot earlier Tuesday.

"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 — 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 were stopped cold," Patel wrote in a post on X. 

"It was a serious threat," U.S. Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn said during a briefing Tuesday morning. He said he could not provide too many details because it remains an active investigation, but said, "They were planning to attack the Freedom 250. ... There are still suspects at large, and we're going to work it until everyone's been identified."

Quinn added, "The event itself, I am confident in saying, was never at risk due to the great investigative work."  

Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in a statement that the agency had worked "closely with the FBI throughout this investigation," and their "formal comments regarding the specifics of this case will be made available in court filings."

Patel praised the FBI, saying the result "represented the best of investigative work" and was "nothing out of the ordinary for this law enforcement team."

"We are built to detect, respond to, and bring to justice those who threaten the lives of American citizens — particularly during large gatherings like the historic UFC 250 fight," Patel said. "That's exactly what we did here." 

The alleged plot comes after a gunman was killed by U.S. Secret Service officers late last month after opening fire on a checkpoint near the White House and in the wake of an April 27 shooting that targeted the White House Correspondents' Dinner.