The FBI said Tuesday that it disrupted an attempt to attack Sunday’s UFC America 250 event at the White House. Court records detail an alleged plot to use small drones carrying explosives and then snipers to target senior government officials and wealthy attendees.
When the drones exploded, the group then planned to force attendees of the UFC event and “high value targets” to evacuate to the south, the affidavit said. Proper told investigators that the plan was for group members to “act as snipers and additional shooters,” shooting fight attendees and the “high value targets” as they fled from the explosions.
The affidavit said the “high value targets” were “wealthy people” and politicians. Proper allegedly told investigators the goal of the attack was to “jumpstart” a revolution in the U.S.
They Are Hunting Down Other Suspects
A law enforcement source told CBS News that five people are in custody so far. At least one suspect, 19-year-old Tycen Proper, was arrested in the Southern District of Ohio on Monday and faces four charges, including attempted murder of a federal officer and conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S., according to court filings.
There were about two dozen on the Signal Chat discussing the plan.
Proper told investigators that he began communicating with others via a TikTok group called “Vanguard of the Old” in March, who all said they wanted to protect the U.S. and believed the nation was headed in the wrong direction, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit said the “high value targets” were “wealthy people” and politicians. Proper allegedly told investigators the goal of the attack was to “jumpstart” a revolution in the U.S.
Proper’s family also became concerned with statements he had made in recent months, including “sympathetic comments about Adolf Hitler” and antisemitic content posted on his social media, according to the affidavit.
“It was a serious threat,” U.S. Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn said during a briefing Tuesday morning. He said he could not provide too many details because it remains an active investigation, but said, “They were planning to attack the Freedom 250. … There are still suspects at large, and we’re going to work it until everyone’s been identified.”
