The Justice Department announced today charges against five men for an alleged plot to carry out an attack to kill government officials and others attending the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Freedom 250 event held at the White House last Sunday.
The FBI launched an investigation into the plot and identified a group of conspirators who procured weapons and made plans to carry out the attack. The FBI made arrests over the weekend in Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska, and California. The investigation remains ongoing.
“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,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “We will take immediate and aggressive action to identify and prosecute those who incite and plan acts of violence.”
“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,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “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. 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.”
“Protecting the President of the United States and the White House grounds is priority number one for the U.S. Secret Service,” said Director Sean M Curran of the U.S. Secret Service. “The landscape has changed, and as a result we have seen a dramatic rise in threats against our protectees. I am proud of the men and women of the Secret Service that vigorously monitor, investigate, and arrest those that plot to interfere with our protective mission. We are grateful for our extraordinary partnerships we share with DHS, DOJ, Acting Attorney General Blanche, FBI-JTTF, Park Police, and DC Police.”
According to the charges, Tycen C. Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio; Bryan Omar Roa, 24, of Calimesa, California; Michael Alan Thomas, 32, of Pinon Hills, California; Daniel K. Eskridge, 32, of Kidder, Missouri; and Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, of Omaha, Nebraska, conspired to plan and execute a mass casualty event targeting U.S. officials in attendance at UFC Freedom 250 hosted on the White House grounds. The conspirators allegedly planned to deploy drones armed with explosives in and around the UFC Freedom 250 event in order to force an evacuation of the event and then planned to deploy snipers to fire upon “high value targets” within the fleeing crowd.
Tycen Proper
According to filed complaints in the Southern District of Ohio, the Western District of Missouri, the District of Nebraska, and the Central District of California, investigators interviewed Proper at a medical facility on June 11. During the interview, he allegedly said he had planned with others a coordinated attack against the U.S. government during the UFC event at the White House. He said members of the group who wanted to participate in the attack began communicating with each other around March. More serious members of the group, including Proper, moved their communications to an encrypted chat app. They planned to fly small drones with explosives to detonate over the north side of the UFC arena, forcing high value targets to evacuate the premises; the group would then act as snipers and shoot these individuals. Before executing the plan, Proper and other conspirators allegedly planned to rendezvous in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Screenshot of messages and maps on Proper’s phone, from the complaint filed in the Central District of California.
Screenshot of messages and maps on Proper’s phone, from the complaint filed in the Central District of California.
Proper allegedly amassed firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and tactical gear at his home in Ohio, and he identified potential targets, including multiple members of Congress.
A photo of Proper’s gun, from the complaint filed in the Central District of California.
Bryan Roa
According to the complaint filed in the Central District of California, law enforcement executed a search warrant of Roa’s residence and vehicle where they allegedly seized a rifle, handgun, tactical belt, ammunition and a rifle magazine, a two-way radio, and an infrared laser target pointer. A search of Roa’s phone allegedly found messages in a group with Thomas, Proper, and others discussing an attack at the UFC event at the White House, with some users discussing using drones rigged with explosives to initiate the attack, with rooftop snipers killing individuals. Law enforcement also allegedly found Instagram videos Roa had posted of himself shooting guns.
Roa’s Instagram post of him shooting guns, from the complaint filed in the Central District of California.
Michael Thomas
According to the complaint filed in the Central District of California, Thomas allegedly participated in a group chat planning an attack at the UFC event at the White House. In a group chat, on June 7, he allegedly wrote “$1300 gets us the drones and the charges. Yes we should all pitch in and we need it asap…”
In another group chat, Thomas, under a pseudonym, allegedly described “tiers” of operators within their anti-government group, with tier 1 being operators on the ground, tier 2 being drivers and drone operators, tier 3 being logistical suppliers, and tier 4 being social media influencers. “Tier one status is not something to take lightly. … We will make sure they have…All the tier 2 support we can provide. We will try to break them out of jail if we need to.” In the same group chats, Thomas discussed meeting with Roa in person in Southern California in order to conduct “marksmen training” and reflected that the group needed to train for “gorilla style warfare.”
In a June 13 search warrant, FBI agents allegedly seized from Thomas’ residence a rifle, 30-round extended magazines for the rifle, 180 of rounds of ammunition, and a pistol.
Daniel Eskridge
Eskridge was charged with conspiracy to commit murder on White House grounds. According to an affidavit filed in the Western District of Missouri, the FBI identified Eskridge while reviewing electronic communications on Proper’s cell phone. The co-conspirators had electronic chats on encrypted social media platforms. In those chats, members of the group allegedly discussed assassinating several U.S. Senators, Representatives, and prominent business executives. Members of the group targeted some legislators based on the group’s perceived belief that the legislators accepted money from pro-Israel lobbies. When discussing potential targets, Eskridge indicated that the target was “big and someone a majority of the country knows.” In the discussions, power grids were also identified as potential targets. On May 22, Eskridge distributed a picture of tactical equipment, including a rifle, helmet, and ballistic vest. The photograph is below.
Photo of tactical equipment from Eskridge, from the affidavit filed in the Western District of Missouri.
Also according to the affidavit, in a separate chat group, a conversation took place in early June when Eskridge and some of the other chat group members discussed their plan to attack the UFC Freedom 250 event. Specifically, Thomas stated, “Pensilvania [sic] avenue.” Eskridge said the group should obtain $1,300 in U.S. currency and they needed “5 teams of 3 each team consisting of 1 sniper, 1 tier one operator as support/ look out, [and] one drone operator.” Eskridge said the money would provide them the funding to purchase “drones and charges,” and encouraged the group to all “pitch in.” On June 13, law enforcement officials executed a federal search warrant of Eskridge’s residence. Agents recovered rifles, a shot gun, pistol, and other tactical gear.
A photograph of the equipment from the June 13 search is below:
Tactical gear recovered by the FBI from a June 13 search of Eskridge’s residence, from the affidavit filed in the Western District of Missouri.
Abraham Alvarez
According to the charges filed in Nebraska, the FBI identified Alvarez as the individual using the name “Shepherd” in an encrypted chat app that was used to plan an attack on the UFC Freedom 250 event scheduled to be held at the White House on June 14. The FBI assessed that Alvarez, also known as “Shepherd,” was responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the planned attack, based on conversation excerpts in June when Shepherd posted, “This is the best action I see. Position your teams in the purple dots (counter sniper and drones) Long range (circled area) (great shot) Easy out into the river.” Shepherd also allegedly posted other messages including replying to another member on making drones with explosives, “As many and as deadly as we can get.”; that he was working on drones; and had one drone and was working on more.
The complaint further alleges that Shepherd provided a picture and directions for a safe zone at an old church in Nebraska. He instructed the other members to take back roads or the river down to the “pick up location.” Later that same evening, Shepherd also provided locations in the area for drone launch points and sniper positions.
Screenshot of a church, sent by Alvarez, “Shepherd,” to encrpyted chat group, from the complaint filed in the District of Nebraska.
If convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. Conspiracy to commit violence on White House grounds carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
A criminal complaint merely contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.