US justice department charges five men over alleged plot to attack White House UFC event | US crime
US federal officials said law enforcement had thwarted an attempt to attack the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) cage fighting event held at the White House on Sunday with weapons and explosives-laden drones, and several people were in custody.
The Justice Department has charged five people for allegedly planning an attack to kill government officials and other attendees at Sunday’s “UFC Freedom 250” event.
It was stated that the FBI made arrests in Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska and California over the weekend and the investigation continues.
The justice department alleged that the five men “conspired to plan and carry out a mass casualty incident” and “planned to place drones equipped with explosives” in and around the White House event. The ministry claimed that they “planned to deploy snipers to fire on ‘high value targets’ within the fleeing crowd.”
The men were identified as Tycen C Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio; Bryan Omar Roa, 24, of Calimesa, Calif.; Michael Alan Thomas, 32, of Pinon Hills, Calif.; Daniel K Eskridge, 32, of Kidder, Missouri; and Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, of Omaha, Nebraska.
“While the outcome represents the best of investigative work, it was also not out of the ordinary for this law enforcement team; we are designed to detect, respond to, and bring to justice those who threaten the lives of American citizens, especially during large gatherings like the historic UFC 250 fight,” said FBI director Kash Patel. “That’s exactly what we did here.”
Federal court records in Cincinnati, Ohio, reviewed by the Guardian, identified Proper as one of the suspects arrested. Proper’s mother called police on June 10 to report concerns about her son’s behavior, purchasing a firearm and communicating with individuals online, court records said.
According to the federal criminal complaint filed against him, Proper said he had been in contact with people online since March. His mother said they claimed to be ex-military and of Christian origin.
Local police later hospitalized Proper for homicidal thoughts and contacted the FBI. In an interview with a caseworker who was there, Proper told authorities that online members of the group believed the United States was heading in the wrong direction. Proper also said some people don’t want people involved in the business of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (Donald Trump’s former friend) running the country.
Proper allegedly said he and others first planned to stage a demonstration in front of the White House on Sunday, as it would host a mixed martial arts demonstration on the South Lawn. Proper was accused of saying that while this was happening, the group would remotely fly drones “packed with unspecified explosives” over the conflicts and detonate them.
The explosions would apparently “force the crowd attending the event and high-value targets to evacuate,” at which point the attackers would open fire on them with weapons, Proper claimed.
The criminal complaint against him said, “According to Proper, this attack was designed to ‘accelerate’ a revolution in the United States.”
Patel said in a post on X on Tuesday morning: “Quick action by the FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation” resulted in multiple arrests while stopping the planned violence “coldly.”
Trump, who celebrated his 80th birthday at a UFC event on Sunday, tried to tie the fights to larger celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Fox News reported It was stated that investigators identified 23 people who were potentially involved in the attack plan. Officials told the network that the alleged plan involved using explosive-laden drones and snipers, and possibly even attacking the White House gate.
Patel tweeted a link Fox’s story That said, the plot came to the FBI’s attention on June 10, four days before the UFC event at the White House, triggering the first arrest in Cincinnati.
Fox cited a statement from the Secret Service on Tuesday.
“In the days leading up to this weekend, our special agents, mission support personnel and technical security teams worked around the clock to identify those responsible and hold them accountable,” Secret Service director Sean Curran said. “Equally important to our protective mission is ensuring accountability through the justice system. To that end, our official comments on the details of this case will be made through court filings.”
Associated Press contributed reporting
