It started with a phone call from a worried mother. It ended with the FBI saying it had stopped a plot to turn a White House celebration into a massacre.
On June 10, 2026, a woman in Knox County, Ohio, called local authorities about her 19-year-old son, Tycen Proper. She told them she was concerned about his recent conduct, including firearms purchases and communicating with certain individuals online. By that night, deputies had taken Proper to a hospital for emergency admission “based on homicidal ideations,” according to court documents. By Tuesday, federal officials say they had uncovered something far bigger: an alleged plan to attack the UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House South Lawn.
A Mother’s Concern Led to a National Security Operation
The event, held Sunday, June 14, doubled as a celebration of President Trump’s 80th birthday. Trump and family members attended, along with Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
According to court records, what looked like a troubled young man’s crisis turned into a multi-state investigation. Proper’s mother told law enforcement that her son had recently begun interacting with a group online that claimed to be made up of ex-military and Christian-based individuals. That group, investigators say, called itself “Vanguard of the Old.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau first learned of the threat that same week. “On June 10, FBI and our law enforcement partners became aware of a potential threat to the UFC America 250 event in Washington, D.C. involving individuals outside of the National Capital Region,” Patel wrote in a public statement. “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.”
Drones, Snipers, and a “Second Wave”
Court documents describe a layered plan. Conspirators allegedly discussed flying drones loaded with explosives over the event and then shooting into the fleeing crowd. The plan would force a mass evacuation and steer crowds toward a pre-staged sniper team, with a “second wave” allegedly planned to storm the White House gate.
Investigators say the group organized in tiers. One message described “Tier 1 operators” who “may be asked to put themselves in harms way, break the law, and potentially go into hiding,” while “Tier 2 would consist of get away drivers, drone operators, and direct support.”
Five men have been charged so far: Tycen Proper of Ohio, Daniel Eskridge of Missouri, Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez of Nebraska, and Bryan Omar Roa and Michael Alan Thomas of California. Investigators say the network may run deeper. According to officials, dozens more people may have been part of the broader chat groups where the plan allegedly took shape, though no additional arrests had been confirmed as of this writing.
“Headed in the Wrong Direction”
What drove the alleged plot, according to court filings, wasn’t a single grievance but a tangle of them. Members reportedly 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.”
Proper allegedly told investigators the goal went beyond the UFC event itself. He said the coordinated attack was intended to “jumpstart” another American revolution. Charging documents describe a belief shared among the group that the United States needed to be torn down so that it could be rebuilt.
Prosecutors say the alleged target list extended well beyond the event itself, naming Vice President JD Vance, technology magnate Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Republican lawmakers who support Israel as people the plotters wanted dead.
Why This Matters
This case lands at the intersection of three things that already unsettle Americans: the speed at which online radicalization can move from a TikTok chat to an alleged assassination plan, the growing accessibility of weaponized drones, and the fragility of security around major public events. Investigators say they identified suspects partly by requesting user information from TikTok, a reminder of how ordinary social platforms have become staging grounds for extremist organizing. It’s also a story about a parent’s instinct. A mother flagged her son’s behavior before any device left the ground, and that single decision is what federal officials credit, at least in part, with giving investigators the lead time they needed.
The case is still unfolding. Proper made his initial court appearance in Columbus and faces a detention hearing, while officials say the investigation into the wider network remains active. As Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn put it at a Tuesday news conference: “There are still suspects at large and we’re going to work it until everyone has been identified.”
