FBI foils drone-and-sniper plot targeting UFC White House event and 80,000 attendees

The FBI announced Tuesday that it had thwarted a terrorist plot targeting the UFC White House event held on June 14, which was attended by President Donald Trump, approximately 4,300 on-site guests — including 1,200 active-duty military members — and a further 80,000 people at a watch party at the nearby Ellipse Park.

According to reports, the alleged plan involved using explosive-laden drones to force an evacuation, directing crowds toward a pre-positioned sniper kill zone. A “second wave” within the group reportedly planned to storm the White House gate in the chaos that followed.

As of Monday, five people were in custody, with 23 individuals in total identified as part of the alleged plot. Among those arrested was 19-year-old Tycen Proper of Danville, Ohio, who faces charges in U.S. District Court in Columbus including conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, attempted murder of a federal officer or employee, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and receipt or transfer of a firearm used to commit a felony.

Federal prosecutors have identified Proper as one of the group’s leaders. Court documents allege he spent $3,000 of graduation money on equipment for the attack, including “an estimated thousands of rounds of ammunition, two plate carriers with AR-style magazines, an AR-style rifle and a bullpup rifle painted with an American flag.” It was Proper’s own mother who alerted authorities after growing concerned about her son’s behaviour. In a sworn affidavit submitted to the FBI, she stated her son had been in contact with a group claiming to be former military and “Christian-based,” which expressed “ultra-religious and anti-government sentiments, specifically citing grievances about government corruption, the handling of the Epstein files, data centers taking up all the water in communities and other government actions.”

The FBI said it first learned of the threat on June 10 and worked alongside the Department of Justice, the Secret Service, and other law enforcement partners to disrupt the alleged conspiracy before the event took place.

“While the result represented the best of investigative work, it was also nothing out of the ordinary for this law enforcement team,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. “We are built to detect, respond to, and bring to justice those who threaten the lives of American citizens — particularly during large gatherings like the historic UFC 250 fight. That’s exactly what we did here.”

President Trump, whose birthday falls on June 14, said he had not been informed of the planned attack. “I haven’t heard about it,” Trump said in a subsequent interview.