{"id":707937,"date":"2026-06-16T18:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T18:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/707937\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T18:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T18:31:12","slug":"fbi-disrupts-planned-attack-on-white-house-ufc-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/707937\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI disrupts planned attack on White House UFC show"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Law enforcement officials disrupted a planned attack targeting the UFC cage-fighting show<\/a> staged at the White House this past weekend, according to court papers unsealed Tuesday that say plotters disgruntled with the direction of the country spoke of flying explosives-laden drones and shooting panicked crowd members as they fled.<\/p>\n

The FBI obtained encrypted text messages between roughly 20 participants who shared detailed maps of the area and discussed the need for a \u201csafe house\u201d and escape routes after the attack, the documents show. It was unclear from the court records how close the would-be attackers could have come to being able to carry out their plan had it not been thwarted last week.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Diego<\/p>\n

Diego Lopes celebrates during a featherweight bout against Steve Garcia during UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein)<\/p>\n

Diego Lopes celebrates during a featherweight bout against Steve Garcia during UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein)<\/p>\n

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FBI agents learned about the possible threat on June 10, four days before the mixed martial arts extravaganza<\/a> on the White House\u2019s South Lawn, \u201cand thanks to the rapid action of the 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,\u201d Director Kash Patel said in a post on X on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n AP AUDIO: Multiple arrests as FBI disrupts \u2018planned attacks\u2019 targeting White House UFC show, director says\n <\/p>\n

AP correspondent Haya Panjwani reports on arrests in connection with the UFC show at the White House.<\/p>\n

Five people were arrested from states including Ohio, Missouri and California, said a law enforcement official familiar with the matter. The official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss information that was not yet public.<\/p>\n

Among those arrested was Tycen Proper, a 19-year-old Ohio man whose mother contacted local law enforcement last week with concerns about his firearms purchases and online communications, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case. <\/p>\n

An assistant federal public defender assigned to represent Proper, who\u2019s charged with firearms offenses and crimes including attempted murder of an officer or employee of the United States, did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Proper made an initial court appearance Monday in Columbus and faces a detention hearing on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Proper admitted in an interview with law enforcement that he participated in the planning of an attack, according to the affidavit, which says some members of the group began communicating with each other last March through a TikTok group called \u201cVanguard of the Old.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe members of the group stated that they wanted to protect the United States, which they believed was headed in the wrong direction,\u201d the affidavit says. \u201cMembers of the group believed that the United States needed to be torn down so that it could be rebuilt. Some expressed a desire that people who were involved with Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> should not govern the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Security<\/p>\n

Security at the White House looks through a pair of binoculars during the UFC Fan Fest on the White House Ellipse ahead of Sunday\u2019s fight on the South Lawn, June 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Allison Robbert, File)<\/p>\n

Security at the White House looks through a pair of binoculars during the UFC Fan Fest on the White House Ellipse ahead of Sunday\u2019s fight on the South Lawn, June 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Allison Robbert, File)<\/p>\n

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The logistics of the planned attack were discussed via Signal, an app that uses end-to-end encryption<\/a> for its messaging and calling services, through a primary chat of \u201capproximately 19 individuals\u201d and smaller side chats, authorities said. <\/p>\n

Messages obtained from Proper\u2019s phone show he discussed the plot with others and highlighted several lawmakers he said should be targeted because of their support for Israel, the affidavit said.<\/p>\n

Proper told law enforcement officials that he had been planning to drive with weapons and body armor to a meet-up spot in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where the group was set to gather, it said. He said that though he did not intend to shoot people at the White House, others in the group did, the affidavit said.<\/p>\n

The plan called for the use of drones that would be detonated over the north side of the White House, prompting a rushed evacuation into the line of fire of waiting snipers in an attack that Proper said was designed to \u201cjumpstart\u201d a revolution in the U.S., authorities said.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump, who celebrated his 80th birthday at the UFC event on Sunday, was friends with Epstein many years ago but has said he ended their relationship before the disgraced financier\u2019s crimes became known. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump attends UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump attends UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n

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Speaking to reporters Tuesday in \u00c9vian-les-Bains, France, where he was attending the Group of Seven summit<\/a>, Trump, a Republican, said he had not been briefed on the thwarted plot.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in \u00c9vian-les-Bains, France, and Michael Kunzelman in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Law enforcement officials disrupted a planned attack targeting the UFC cage-fighting show staged at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":707938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,1927,3072,2356,2302,3506,3505,12,41865,88,793,14825,48296,4381,6747,9602,3,12303,6454,4382,267317,28387,795,21,19,22,20,25,24,800],"class_list":["post-707937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-ap-top-news","tag-assault","tag-california","tag-courts","tag-dc-wire","tag-district-of-columbia","tag-donald-trump","tag-email-and-messaging","tag-entertainment","tag-general-news","tag-jeffrey-epstein","tag-kash-patel","tag-law-enforcement","tag-missouri","tag-mo-state-wire","tag-news","tag-oh-state-wire","tag-ohio","tag-shootings","tag-trump-hub","tag-u-s-federal-bureau-of-investigation","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-washington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}