The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States, Kash Patel, announced this Tuesday that authorities have managed to neutralize an alleged plot to attack the White House by taking advantage of the celebration of an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event, the well-known American mixed martial arts promoter.
"On June 10, the FBI and our law enforcement partners became aware of a potential threat against the UFC America 250 event in Washington. Thanks to the swift action of the FBI (...) multiple individuals are now in custody and the alleged attack plans were stopped in their tracks," he stated in a statement released on social media.
Patel stressed that, although the outcome reflects "the best of investigative work," it is also "not out of the ordinary for law enforcement teams, who 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 is exactly what we did here. I want to thank our great agents and partners; this work is ongoing and we will continue to inform the public as permitted," added the FBI official, who included a link to information from Fox News detailing that the plan contemplated the use of "explosive drones."
According to that information, there are five arrests—Tycen Proper, from Ohio; Daniel Eskridge, from Missouri; Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, from Nebraska; and Bryan Omar Roa and Michael Alan Thomas, from California—out of a total of 23 people allegedly involved in the project to attack during the event held over the weekend in the South Lawn of the White House.
Sources cited by the network indicated that the alleged plan consisted of launching drones loaded with explosives against buildings near the venue, forcing a mass evacuation, and directing the crowd towards a group of previously positioned snipers. A second phase would have included an attempt to storm the White House gate.
The United States Secret Service has confirmed that it collaborated closely with the FBI in this case. "In the days leading up to this weekend, our special agents, mission support personnel, and technical security teams worked tirelessly to identify those responsible and hold them accountable," explained Secret Service Director Sean Curran in an official statement.
"Equally important to our protective mission is ensuring accountability through the judicial system. Therefore, our formal statements on the details of this case will be presented before the relevant court," Curran specified.
As part of the investigation, agents found conversations on the Signal application in which several individuals allegedly discussed a possible attack against the event. An initial analysis of one of the defendants' iPhones allowed for the identification of at least 23 Signal users who were exchanging messages about these activities, according to authorities.
One of the suspects reportedly stated that the intention was to attack "capitalist elites," "billionaires," or political figures linked to donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
In particular, Tycen Proper, 19, informed his alleged collaborators on May 13 that one of the targets should be the senator from Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn, considering that she had "received money from the pro-Israel lobby" and supported Israel.
"On May 31, 2026, Proper sent messages that began with the text: 'These are the people we are going to focus on,' followed by images of U.S. Senator Jim Justice, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore, U.S. Senator Carol Miller, and U.S. Representative Riley Moore," according to the affidavit cited by CBS News.
The four photographs of the congressmen came from the AIPAC website and included data on the amounts of money each had allegedly received from the organization. During the investigation, police also interviewed Proper's family members, who expressed concern because the young man had posted antisemitic messages on social media and shown support for Adolf Hitler.