5 arrested in alleged plot targeting UFC event
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President Trump stands at the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn of the White House in the early hours of June 15. Photo: Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images
Five people were arrested after the FBI disrupted an alleged plot targeting President Trump's White House UFC event, officials said Tuesday.
The big picture: There have been several attempts on Trump's life, including a recent shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, as law enforcement reckons with a period of elevated political violence.
The latest: A criminal complaint alleges that one suspect used coded terms in encrypted chats to describe targets investigators believe were likely Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- Another suspect appeared to have identified as targets elected officials including U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and U.S. Reps. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) and Carol Miller (R-W.Va.).
Driving the news: The FBI made arrests in Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska and California, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.
- Federal officials and law enforcement partners learned of a potential threat from people outside the Washington, D.C., area on June 10, FBI Director Kash Patel said on X.
- He said that "thanks to the rapid action of this FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold."
Zoom in: An FBI official said in a complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio that 19-year-old Tycen Proper admitted to planning a coordinated attack during the event.
- Members of the group allegedly planned to leave their homes and travel to Fredericksburg, Virginia, which is roughly 50 miles outside D.C., per the criminal complaint.
- An FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force officer alleged in the complaint that Proper told agents the group planned to fly small, explosive-laden drones to detonate over the arena, forcing an evacuation toward staged snipers.
- The attack was designed to "jumpstart" a revolution, Proper allegedly said.
- Proper allegedly named Blackburn as a "possible target" and sent photos of Justice, Capito, Miller and Moore that "appear to have been taken from the website 'TrackAIPAC.com,'" per the complaint, and seem to include information about how much money they received "from pro-Israel PACS."
Zoom out: Accused co-conspirators Bryan Roa, Michael Thomas, Daniel Eskridge and Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez were also arrested.
Catch up quick: The president, along with members of his administration and family, attended the spectacle on White House grounds Sunday that coincided with his 80th birthday.
- Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in a statement that his agency worked closely with the FBI throughout the investigation.
- Fox News was the first outlet to report on the alleged plot.
Between the lines: The UFC Freedom 250 event was one of several mass gatherings planned around the nation's 250th anniversary, including a July Fourth celebration that the president has pitched as "the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all."
- D.C. security is ramping up accordingly, Axios D.C.'s Cuneyt Dil reported. The Secret Service is taking the lead on the Fourth of July, designating it a national special security event, a label usually reserved for occasions like a presidential inauguration.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details throughout.
