DOJ charges five men over alleged plot to attack White House UFC event

The Justice Department has charged five men over an alleged plot to attack a UFC event on the White House South Lawn, according to court papers and an FBI affidavit described in published reports.

The case centers on UFC Freedom 250, a high-profile event held at the White House over the weekend. Law enforcement says it disrupted the threat before the event took place.

Investigators allege the plan involved explosive-laden drones meant to create panic, followed by gunfire aimed at people fleeing the scene. The reporting says the alleged plot was treated as a multi-state federal case because of the location and the scale of the threat.

FBI Director Kash Patel said investigators learned of the possible threat on June 10, four days before the event. The arrests were reported from Ohio, Missouri and California.

One of the defendants has been identified in reporting as Tycen Proper, a 19-year-old Ohio man. According to AP, Proper’s mother contacted local law enforcement last week after becoming concerned about his firearms purchases and online communications.

AP also reported that Proper admitted in an interview that he participated in planning an attack. The affidavit cited in that report says he was among the people under investigation as authorities examined how the alleged plot developed.

How investigators say the group formed

According to the affidavit cited by AP, some participants began communicating last March in a TikTok group called "Vanguard of the Old." The conversations later moved to Signal.

The affidavit says the main Signal chat included about 19 people, along with smaller side chats. Investigators say those communications were part of the planning process.

The reporting also says some members of the group targeted lawmakers they believed supported Israel and expressed a desire to tear down and rebuild the United States. Those claims have been described in the affidavit, but not all of the underlying charge details for every defendant have been publicly laid out.

Why the event mattered

UFC Freedom 250 was held on the White House South Lawn and was tied to Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. That gave the event unusual public visibility and security sensitivity.

Any attack at that location would have posed risks not only to spectators but also to officials and security personnel at a federal site. The White House setting also raises the stakes for any investigation involving drones, firearms and crowd panic.

Trump said on the sidelines of the G7 summit that he had not been briefed on the alleged plot. The FBI and Justice Department have not yet publicly laid out the full charge sheet for each defendant in the reporting reviewed so far.

What remains unknown

Public reporting has not yet identified all of the other arrested suspects. It also remains unclear how many people were part of the broader alleged network beyond the five arrested.

Federal officials have not publicly said whether investigators recovered any weapons, drone parts or other devices. Further court filings could clarify what evidence was seized and how investigators say the plan was being advanced.

The case is expected to move next through detention hearings and additional filings. A DOJ or FBI briefing could also add named charges, venue details and more information on the scope of the investigation.

For now, the case stands as a federal prosecution tied to a planned attack on a uniquely sensitive presidential event, with investigators saying they intervened before the UFC crowd gathered.