FBI Says They Thwarted A Drone and Sniper Attack Targeting White House UFC Event

A multi-state terror plot aiming to assassinate top politicians and billionaires at a star-studded White House event was intercepted just days before it could be carried out, federal authorities revealed on Tuesday.

The plan targeted Sunday's outdoor Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight night, held on the White House South Lawn to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary and President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday.

According to federal court documents, the group intended to coordinate a chaotic, multi-layered assault to spark a modern revolution. The plan relied on flying drones rigged with explosives into the north side of the White House grounds. The plotters hoped the resulting explosions would panic the crowd of thousands, forcing high-profile attendees toward specific exits where hidden sniper teams were waiting to open fire.

Following the initial ambush, a secondary group of attackers was ordered to storm the White House gates. Maps recovered by investigators highlighted designated drone launch points, sniper nests, and local power grids.

The group's hit list allegedly included President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and several other politicians. One of the suspects focused heavily on targeting lawmakers who accepted campaign funding from pro-Israel groups, sharing targeted images of members of Congress like Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn.

Five men have been arrested across four states in connection with the conspiracy:

Tycen C. Proper, 19, of Ohio

Bryan Omar Roa, 24, of California

Michael Alan Thomas, 32, of California

Daniel K. Eskridge, 32, of Missouri

Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, of Nebraska

The suspects face severe federal charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Investigators reveal the men connected in March 2026 through a TikTok group called "Vanguard of the Old" (also referred to as "Vanguard of the Old Republic") before transitioning to encrypted messaging channels. The network allegedly grew to include up to 23 people divided into specialized operational units, such as shooters and drone handlers.

Court documents show the group subscribed to accelerationism, which is an extremist ideology dedicated to speeding up the collapse of modern society. Their encrypted message history outlined an array of anti-government complaints, including anger over how the government handled investigative files regarding sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, conspiracy theories about data centers consuming local water supplies, and claims that political elites were sacrificing babies.

Eskridge allegedly acted as the ringleader, messaging the group that his goal was “to get at least 3 trigger event ops fully planned and manned” to signal that “we are waging war.” Meanwhile, Thomas openly discussed his desire for “gorilla style warfare” and future prison breaks, while Alvarez handled the logistics of building custom drones designed to bypass standard law enforcement signal jamming.

The sophisticated operation collapsed thanks to a mother's intuition. On June 10th, Tycen Proper’s mother contacted local authorities in Ohio, expressing deep concern over her son's massive firearms purchases and radical online interactions.

Local police took Proper to a hospital due to homicidal ideations, and subsequent searches of his home uncovered a massive tactical cache bought with his high school graduation money, including ballistic plates, plate carriers, ammunition, an AR-15 style rifle, and a bullpup rifle painted with an American flag.

When interviewed by the FBI on June 11th, Proper confessed to his involvement, exposing his co-conspirators and allowing law enforcement to arrest the remaining suspects before they could travel to Washington, D.C.

While the high-profile fight night went off safely on Sunday, the details of the plot have sparked political waves. Vice President JD Vance emphasized that a group of this size couldn't orchestrate a mass terror plot without substantial coordination and funding. "That's not a few guys doing crazy stuff, that is a coordinated planned terrorist plot," Vance stated. Meanwhile, speaking from the G7 summit in Evian, France, President Trump remarked, “I haven’t heard about it.”

Though the operation successfully protected thousands of spectators, it has exposed severe infighting between the partner agencies involved.

Secret Service and FBI investigators were reportedly furious with FBI Director Kash Patel, who took to social media early Tuesday morning to announce that the "multi-state operation" had been completed. Patel posted on X that the “Allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold,” an announcement that bypassed federal judges' schedules to unseal the official warrants.

"To put it out and just selfishly tweet it is just poor form," an anonymous Secret Service official told reporters, noting the agency was blindsided by the early leak of the news.

Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn took a sharp, public jab at the FBI Director during a Tuesday press conference. "I’ll tell you a phrase I learned early in my career in the New York field office and that’s ‘Don’t choke on your own smoke,’" Quinn told reporters. He emphasized that the Secret Service chose not to leak information early specifically to protect the integrity of the active, ongoing investigation.

A preliminary hearing for the suspects has been scheduled for June 29th.