The FBI thwarted a plot involving explosive-carrying drones and snipers targeting the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House Sunday night, FBI Director Kash Patel said.
Patel revealed on Tuesday that the FBI first became aware of the plot on June 10 before arresting five suspects in the lead-up to the UFC event. Officials told Fox News that the plot involved using explosive-laden drones targeting buildings to herd people in front of a group of snipers. An apparent “second wave” would have then targeted the White House, an official said.
Those arrested included 19-year-old Tycen Proper, Bryan Omar Roa, and Michael Alan Thomas, Fox News reported. Proper was arrested in Ohio, and Roa and Thomas were arrested in California and charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Proper was accused of four criminal charges including conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, attempted murder of any 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, according to a criminal complaint viewed by The Daily Wire.
The FBI complaint said that local law enforcement showed up at a home in Knox County after Proper’s mother called them on June 10 at 9:18 p.m. “concerned about her son, identified as PROPER, due to his recent conduct, including firearms purchases and communicating with certain individuals online.”
Proper’s parents told law enforcement that their son had recently quit his job and started communicating online with unknown individuals about “missions” and “recons.” He also used $3,000 of graduation money to buy “several boxes of ammunition (estimated by law enforcement to be in the thousands of rounds of ammunition), two plate carriers with AR-style magazines, an AR-style rifle, and a bullpup rifle painted with an American flag,” according to the complaint. That equipment was turned over to law enforcement.
Proper was then admitted to a local hospital based on “homicidal ideations,” and local law enforcement contacted the FBI. Proper’s mother alleged to the FBI that he joined a group that “expressed ultra-religious and anti-government sentiments, specifically citing grievances about government corruption, the handling of the Epstein files, data centers taking up all the water in communities, and other government actions.”
On June 11, a search warrant was executed on Proper’s phone that found Signal chats “that laid out detailed plans to conduct an attack in Washington D.C.,” and “detailed imagery of the National Capitol Region and maps of the area,” according to the complaint. The maps highlighted “sniper locations, potential drone launch locations, and other detailed tactical planning,” according to the complaint.
That same day, the FBI interviewed Proper, who “admitted to planning with others a coordinated attack against the United States government during the UFC event scheduled to take place on the White House lawn,” according to the complaint.
He “stated that the plan was for members of his group to act as snipers and additional shooters, preferably with long guns, staged at or near the southern evacuation point to conduct shootings of members of the crowd and [high value targets] as they fled from the explosive devices which had just been detonated. The [high value targets] included both wealthy people and politicians. According to Proper, this attack was designed to ‘jumpstart’ a revolution in the United States,” the complaint found.
One of the potential targets was Senator Marsha Blackburn because “she’s taken money from the Israel pro Israel lobby and supports them,” according to a text message included in the complaint. Other purported targets included Senator Jim Justice, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Rep. Carol Miller, and Rep. Riley Moore. Their images appeared to be taken from the website “TrackAIPAC.com,” according to the complaint.
“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 said.
A total of 23 individuals were reportedly investigated over suspected ties to the plot. One suspect was arrested in Cincinnati, Ohio, and others planned to travel to Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the days leading up to the UFC event, the official told Fox News. Plans for the attack were found in Signal chats, investigators said.
One suspect allegedly told officials that he wanted to target “capitalist elites,” billionaires, and politicians who received donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Over 4,000 people showed up to the event, including President Donald Trump, key administration officials, and prominent businessmen like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
“While the result represented the best of investigative work, it was also 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 added. “That’s exactly what we did here. I want to thank our great agents and partners, this work remains ongoing and we will continue to update the public as permitted.”
The attack was allegedly planned after a recent surge in Left-wing violence with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, attacks targeting Trump and administration officials, and the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The man accused of starting the Lachman and Palisades fires was reportedly inspired by Luigi Mangione, who is accused of murdering Thompson.
