A plot to unleash explosive drones and sniper fire at the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House was meant to “jump-start” a revolution by killing President Trump and other top political figures, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
U.S. authorities said the plotters also meant to kill Vice President J.D. Vance, technology magnate Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Republican lawmakers who support Israel.
Court documents charged five people in the foiled attack: Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez of Nebraska, Daniel Eskridge of Missouri, Tycen Proper of Ohio, and Bryan Omar Roa and Michael Alan Thomas of California.
Each of the five is accused of conspiracy to commit murder. Mr. Alvarez and Mr. Proper face additional charges of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, and Mr. Proper has been charged with weapons violations.
It was not clear how close the plot came to being carried out. The motivations cited in court documents include anger over the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files, fury about the U.S. alliance with Israel and resentment about the influence of wealthy elites, some of whom attended the White House event.
Mr. Vance said Tuesday that there was “more violent rhetoric coming from the left than the right these days.”
Mr. Proper’s parents, however, told police that their son quit his job and had been preparing to connect with people he met online who claimed to be ex-military and Christian radicals, according to court documents.
The individuals expressed anti-government sentiments online, blaming data centers for depleting communities’ water supplies and for corruption.
The filings identified Mr. Alvarez, who was known as “Shepherd” in encrypted group chats, as the leader of the plot. He is accused of picking out the targets for the attack and laying out sniper positions and drone launch locations.
Authorities were tipped off to the scheme by Mr. Proper’s parents, with whom the 19-year-old lives in their home in Knox County, Ohio.
For at least three months before the planned attack, the filing said, Mr. Proper spent $3,000 to stockpile weapons, ammunition and tactical gear and began exercising to get in shape for the attack.
He helped plan the scheme to use explosive-laden drones and sniper ambushes to disrupt Sunday’s mixed martial arts showcase on the White House’s South Lawn, prosecutors said.
“The members of the group stated that they wanted to protect the United States, which they believed was headed in the wrong direction,” the charging documents read. “Members of the group believed that the United States needed to be torn down so that it could be rebuilt.”
The FBI said 23 other co-conspirators are linked to the thwarted attack, which was intended to use kamikaze drones to force a mass evacuation at the UFC fight and thereby allow snipers to open fire on the crowd. A second wave of attacks would have then hit the White House gate, prosecutors said.
In group chats, Mr. Proper specifically identified Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, as a target because “she’s taken money from the … pro-Israel lobby and supports them,” and named a quartet of West Virginia Republicans — Sens. Jim Justice and Shelley Moore Capito, and Reps. Carol Miller and Riley Moore — as targets because of their ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
“It is incredibly chilling that this suspect named me as a potential target along with other lawmakers,” Ms. Blackburn posted on X. “I will not let maniacs like this one deter me from celebrating or serving this great nation, and I am grateful to law enforcement for keeping us safe.”
It was unclear how many of those politicians attended the historic cage-fighting spectacle at the White House complex on Sunday, which was also Mr. Trump’s 80th birthday.
The president was joined by Mr. Vance and several other Cabinet members, celebrities and active-duty service members in the 4,300-person crowd to watch the UFC fight card. Another 85,000 fans gathered on the White House Ellipse for a viewing party.
“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,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement.
The filing said Mr. Proper’s parents alerted Knox County authorities about their son’s behavior on June 10, four days before the attack was to be launched.
Mr. Proper’s mother noticed him looking at maps northwest of the District and frequently talking on the phone with group members.
“When she asked Proper what he was doing, he said he couldn’t tell her exactly what he was doing, but that they were looking at multiple different locations and intended to conduct ‘recon’ as well as ‘hit and run missions,’” the filing stated. “Proper’s mother believed ‘hit and run missions’ meant conducting shootings and then leaving.”
Mr. Proper was admitted to a hospital for homicidal ideations at the direction of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, the court documents said, and his family surrendered an AR-style rifle, a “bullpup” rifle, thousands of rounds of ammunition and armor plating to investigators.
Authorities said they also executed a search warrant on his phone, which turned up detailed maps of the Washington area that included sniper locations, potential drone launch locations and other tactical notes for the planned attack.
Mr. Proper admitted in an FBI interview to planning an attack against the U.S. government, the affidavit said. He also said he joined a TikTok group called “Vanguard of the Old” and that he was one of the leaders of the group linked to the terrorist plot.
Group members were supposed to meet in Fredericksburg, Virginia, either Friday or Saturday, and Mr. Proper said some of the members were “intent on violence.”
The plan was to stage a protest on the north side of the White House while other members detonated small drones over the UFC fight stage, the court documents said. Mr. Proper told FBI agents that a crew of snipers would shoot at fleeing attendees and “high-value targets,” such as wealthy people and politicians, as they exited the south side of the complex.
The group discussed potential escape routes along the Potomac River and even a possible safe house in which to hide after the attack, the filing said.
Mr. Eskridge offered up his Missouri home as a hideout after the attack, according to an affidavit. Mr. Eskridge said he was building a bunker under the floorboards of his shed.
Mr. Eskridge wanted to target the power grid and congressional lawmakers. Federal agents seized two rifles, a shotgun, a handgun and tactical equipment from his house when they raided it over the weekend.
The investigation spanned at least 12 FBI field offices outside of the National Capital Region. Federal security was crawling all over the White House complex throughout the weekend, with blocked roads and wraparound fencing to create a hardened perimeter around the event.
Mr. Patel said that as “this work remains ongoing,” the FBI will “continue to update the public as permitted.”
In a statement on social media, Secret Service Director Sean Curran said a team of special agents, mission support personnel and technical security teams “worked around the clock to identify those responsible and hold them accountable.”
“Equally important to our protective mission is ensuring accountability through the justice system,” he said.
Mr. Trump, who flew to France to attend the annual Group of Seven summit after the UFC fights, said Tuesday that he had not been briefed about the plot.
“The attack I watched were the fighters,” he joked.
When asked why the president wasn’t briefed about the potential attack, a White House spokesperson referred to an X post by press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“President Trump and the entire administration are grateful to the @FBI, @SecretService and every heroic member of law enforcement who works tirelessly to keep us safe,” she wrote. “Thanks to their efforts, UFC Freedom 250 will be remembered as one of the greatest sporting events in history.”
The plot was the latest in a string of threats aimed at Mr. Trump.
In April, a gunman opened fire in a hotel hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, with the president in attendance.
Cole Thomas Allen has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate the president.
In 2024, Mr. Trump faced two assassination attempts. A gunman opened fire during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounding Mr. Trump and killing a Trump supporter.
Months later, a man aimed a rifle through the bushes at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Mr. Trump was golfing. The Secret Service spotted the gunman, Ryan Wesley Routh, and arrested him. Routh was convicted of trying to assassinate the president and sentenced to life in prison.
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