FBI says foiled drone and sniper plot at Trump’s White House fight night
Five suspects charged in alleged plot designed to launch explosives during the president’s 80th birthday gala
US law enforcement said it had foiled an alleged plot to attack the White House during a crowded mixed martial arts event attended by US President Donald Trump.
“Multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold,” FBI Director Kash Patel said on Tuesday.
The Department of Justice announced charges against five men and said the plotters planned to fly drones armed with explosives over the event, forcing an evacuation when snipers would fire on “high value targets” in the fleeing crowd.
One of those arrested, according to a criminal complaint, was Tycen Proper, 19, who was taken into custody on June 10 in Ohio after his mother informed police he had been communicating online with an extremist group. He was charged with conspiracy to commit crimes against the government, attempted murder of a government employee, and weapons offences.
Proper “allegedly amassed firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and tactical gear at his home in Ohio, and he identified potential targets, including multiple members of Congress,” the DOJ said.
Four other co-conspirators, Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez of Nebraska, Daniel Kenely Eskridge of Missouri, Bryan Omar Roa of California, and Michael Alan Thomas of California, have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.