Fox News Digital cited unidentified sources as saying the alleged plot involved using explosive-laden drones to hit buildings near the event.
"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," FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement posted on X.
Patel did not specify how many people were in custody after the multistate operation on the alleged planned attacks.
Five people were in custody and 23 were identified as part of a network of plotters, Fox News Digital reported.
Update at 3:00 p.m. EDT from the New York Post: First round of arrests
The plot to attack the UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House South Lawn Sunday night involved at least 12 suspects across the US who adhered to an "accelerationist" ideology and hoped to bring down American capitalism, according to federal law enforcement sources.The FBI foiled their plans by infiltrating a Signal chat group planning the devastating attack — with the parent of one suspect reporting him to local police, sources told The Post.
The suspects are charged in at least four states — Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, Ohio, Missouri and Nebraska — and intended to kill multiple politicians.
Tycen Proper, 19, was arrested on June 10 in Ohio after his mother notified the Danville Police Department and Knox County Sheriff’s Office of concerns about her son’s "recent conduct, including firearms purchases and communicating with certain individuals online," according to a federal affidavit.
| Those persons "claimed to be ex-military and Christian based," the mother later said in a phone interview with an FBI task force officer. Their "grievances" included "government corruption, the handling of the [Jeffrey] Epstein files, data centers taking up all the water in communities, and other government actions," per the affidavit. |
Their "grievances" included "government corruption, the handling of the [Jeffrey] Epstein files, data centers taking up all the water in communities, and other government actions," per the affidavit.
"PROPER’s mother detailed that talking with these individuals online has caused PROPER to lean heavily into his religion, and she believed that those individuals were using religion to manipulate and influence her son."
Proper’s mother had overheard him speaking with some by phone and mentioning that he was undergoing physical training for "recon" and "hit and run missions," which she understood to mean "conducting shootings."
In a private chat group, the suspects debated targeting Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) as well as West Virginia GOP Reps. Carol Miller and Riley Moore.
| Who had nothing to do with the MMA fights, surely. |
Proper — who denied he was planning to commit violence to Sherlocks — also sent a May 31 message that stated, "these are the people we’re going to focus on," followed by images of Justice, Capito, Miller and Moore.
Each image was lifted from the website TrackAIPAC.com, which opposes the lobbying work of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and records how much money politicians receive from pro-Israel contributors.
When executing a search warrant on the home where Proper lived with his parents, FBI agents and local law enforcement found a "large quantity of boxes of spent ammunition," spent cartridge casings" and "other tactical clothing.Family members also drew the authorities’ attention to comments Proper had made online expressing sympathy for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler
...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like...
as well as other antisemitic statements.
| Will they turn out to be followers of Nick Fuentes (the vapidly hateful former “Conservative” who now advises his followers to vote Democrat) and Tucker Carlson? |
Proper confessed to Sherlocks in a June 11 interview that he had been planning a "coordinated" attack with others to "jumpstart" a revolution in the US, "which they believed was headed in the wrong direction" and "needed to be torn down so that it could be rebuilt."
Some allegedly involved in the plot had initially connected on a TikTok group called "Vanguard of the Old" but later transitioned to communicating via the private messaging app Signal, the affidavit shows.
Unsealed affidavits also show Michael Alan Thomas and Bryan Oma Roa were both arrested in Southern California in connection with the scheme and been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Proper faces charges of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, attempted murder of an officer or employee of the United States, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and receipt or transfer of a firearm used to commit a felony.
Abraham Hermosillo Alvaraz was taken into custody in Nebraska, while Daniel Eskridge was arrested in Missouri, per other affidavits.
Sources said more arrests are possible, and authorities are preparing additional search warrants.
The suspects were plotting to gather in Fredericksburg, Va., and from there travel to DC to launch the explosive drone attack — and then attempt to storm the gates of the executive mansion, according to sources.
Sources said it is not yet clear how prepared the plotters were to actually carry out the attack, noting that one suspect was allegedly involved in the plans while in a mental health facility.
| Fascinating. |
From Skidmark’s updated Fox News link:
The FBI first learned of the threat on June 10 and worked with partners to secure probable cause for an arrest in Cincinnati, where one suspect was taken into custody. Court documents identified the suspect as 19-year-old Tycen Proper.His father told officers that Proper had quit his job to meet up with people he had met online to conduct "missions" and "recons," according to the complaint.
Eskridge's wife told investigators he described himself as a recruiter for the group and had amassed tactical gear, including a rifle, ammunition and other equipment, in recent months. She also said he built a firearms range on his property about three weeks before his arrest and that she was aware of his Signal communications through messages that appeared on a shared tablet.
Alvarez allegedly operated under the online moniker "Shepherd" and served as a key organizer of the plot, using a Signal chat to direct staging locations, sniper and drone positions, escape routes and communications protocols," according to court documents. Prosecutors say he also discussed coordinating with other groups and urged participants to obtain additional explosive-capable drones, writing: "As many and as deadly as we can get."
Multiple sources told Fox News that those in custody are American citizens, and a foreign nexus was not involved.
The U.S. Secret Service said it "worked closely" with the FBI during the investigation.
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