The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has foiled a bomb plot focusing on ‘UFC Freedom 250,’ a mixed martial arts event held on the White House grounds on Sunday, June 15, FBI Director Kash Patel announced on X on Tuesday.
The high-security, invitation-heavy event was part of the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary as well as U.S. President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday.
Court documents and statements describe plans involving drones entering the area with explosives, intended to force an evacuation through routes where the fleeing attendees could then be targeted by snipers. Plotters reportedly discussed grievances over “government corruption” and other issues in encrypted Signal group chats, with the targeted attendees described as “capitalist elites.” At least 23 people were involved in these chats, and media on Tuesday night said five people had been arrested.
British The Guardian reported that court records identified one of the suspects as 19-year-old Tycen Proper, saying that his mother had called the police on June 10 with concerns about her son’s behavior, acquisition of firearms, and online chats. Proper allegedly admitted to being involved in planning the attack in an interview at a medical facility on June 11.
The FBI acquired messages sent between participants in the plot, where maps of the area and a need for a “safe house” to hide out in after an attack were shared. It’s unclear from court documents how close to putting their plan in action the would-be terrorists were.
“Anyone that believes that case was worked in a bubble is naive,” Matt Quinn, deputy director of the Secret Service, told the media on Tuesday. “I’ll tell you the Secret Service led that investigation from the beginning. I’ll tell you that it’s ongoing. In order to maintain the integrity of the investigation and the security plan, we chose not to leak it. … It was a serious threat; it was an active plot, and it is ongoing.”
Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with Fox News,
This is what happens when people turn the rhetoric up so loud that disagreeing with someone is a cause for violence. … You see more violent rhetoric coming from the left than the right these days. I think a lot of my democratic colleagues have to ask why so much of the violence is coming from our side of the spectrum?
Lebanese-American social media personality Mario Nawfal quoted Vance as saying, “Twenty-three people do not get to the point of committing a mass terror incident without serious funding and serious coordination. That is a coordinated, planned terrorist plot. “
