Authorities Thwart Planned Attack on UFC Event at the White House

Authorities have prevented an attack targeting the UFC cage fighting event at the White House over the weekend. According to court documents released on Tuesday, conspirators unhappy with the country’s direction discussed using explosive-laden drones and shooting at fleeing crowds. The FBI intercepted encrypted text messages between approximately 20 participants, who shared detailed maps of the area and discussed the need for a ‘safe house’ and escape routes after the attack.

The court documents do not disclose how close the attackers came to implementing their plan before it was thwarted last week. The FBI became aware of the potential threat on June 10, four days before the mixed martial arts event at the White House’s South Lawn. ‘Thanks to the swift action of the FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, several individuals are now in custody and the planned attacks have been stopped,’ said the agency’s director, Kash Patel, in a post on X on Tuesday morning.

Five people were arrested in states such as Ohio, Missouri, and California. This information comes from a law enforcement official familiar with the matter who spoke with The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss information not yet public. Among those arrested was Tycen Proper, a 19-year-old man from Ohio. His mother contacted local law enforcement last week with concerns about his firearms purchases and online communications. Proper, charged with firearms-related offenses and attempted murder of a U.S. official, has a federal public defender assigned to his case who has not yet responded to messages seeking comment.

Proper appeared in court in Columbus on Monday for the first time and faces a detention hearing on Wednesday. According to an FBI affidavit, he admitted to participating in planning an attack. The affidavit states that some group members began communicating through a TikTok group called ‘Vanguard of the Old’ last March.

Group members declared they wanted to protect the United States, which they believed was heading in the wrong direction, the affidavit states. They believed the U.S. needed to be brought down for rebuilding, and expressed that individuals associated with Jeffrey Epstein should not govern.

The attack logistics were discussed via Signal, an app using end-to-end encryption for messaging and calls, with a main chat of about 19 individuals and smaller secondary chats, authorities said. Messages from Proper’s phone reveal discussions about the plot, highlighting legislators he believed should be targeted due to their support for Israel.

Proper told law enforcement he planned to drive with weapons and body armor to a Fredericksburg, Virginia, meet-up point. Although he claimed he did not intend to shoot people at the White House, others in the group did, according to the affidavit. The plan involved using drones detonated over the north side of the White House, causing a hurried evacuation into sniper fire designed to ‘spark’ a revolution in the U.S.

President Donald Trump, who celebrated his 80th birthday at the UFC event on Sunday, was once friends with Epstein years ago but ended their relationship before Epstein’s criminal activities became known. Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Speaking to reporters in Évian-les-Bains, France, where he attended the G7 Summit, the Republican president said he was not informed about the thwarted plot.

Darlene Superville in Évian-les-Bains, France, and Michael Kunzelman in Washington contributed to this report. This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of generative artificial intelligence.