The FBI thwarted a plot to attack the White‑House UFC event on Sunday, the Justice Department said on Tuesday. Five men were arrested across Ohio, California, Missouri and Nebraska, and charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Investigators say the plan involved detonating drones loaded with explosives near the event and firing on “high‑value targets” such as President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. A second wave of attackers was allegedly slated to storm the White‑House gate after the drones and snipers created chaos.
The conspirators, who were linked through a TikTok group called Vanguard of the Old Republic, expressed anti‑government sentiments and ultra‑religious rhetoric in encrypted messages. The plot was discovered when a mother in Ohio called police after seeing her son’s large firearms purchases and his online communication with the group.
The suspects were identified as Tycen C Proper (19, Ohio), Bryan Omar Roa (24, California), Michael Alan Thomas (32, California), Daniel K Eskridge (32, Missouri) and Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez (31, Nebraska). Prosecutors say Proper, the arrest lead, admitted to planning the attack at an FBI interview and that Alvarez was the mastermind, handling drones and mapping out sniper and drone launch sites.
Court filings list potential targets, including Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and tech mogul Elon Musk, though most did not attend the UFC event. The conspirators apparently wanted to “jump‑start a revolution” by targeting wealthy individuals and politicians while they had grievances over government corruption, data‑center misuse and the Epstein files.
Each suspect faces up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of conspiracy to murder. Proper also faces an additional charge of conspiracy to commit violence on White‑House grounds, carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 29 June.
The White‑House hosted the UFC matches on its South Lawn in celebration of Trump’s 80th birthday and the nation’s 250th‑anniversary celebrations. The event followed a shooting at the White‑House Correspondents Dinner two months prior and a Secret Service shooting at a checkpoint one month earlier.
