A federal grand jury in Ohio has indicted eight men on murder and terrorism conspiracy charges for their alleged roles in a foiled plot to fly explosive-laden drones into a UFC cage-fighting event on the White House South Lawn and gun down panicked crowd members as they fled. The targets, prosecutors say, included President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk, and other senior officials.
The two-count indictment consolidates a sprawling, multi-state investigation that began with criminal complaints filed in Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska, California, and Washington. It charges all eight defendants with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, carrying up to 15 years in prison, and conspiracy to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official, which carries up to life.
The indictment, first reported by the Daily Mail, was returned on a Thursday. It names Tycen C. Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio, and Chandler D. Scaggs, 21, of Chapmanville, West Virginia, among the defendants. Six additional co-conspirators were charged but not publicly identified in the filing.
Federal prosecutors allege the conspiracy took shape in May, when the group began amassing firearms, ammunition, body armor, explosives, drones, medical equipment, and communications gear. A federal affidavit states that one defendant told investigators the plan was to fly explosive-laden drones into the UFC "Freedom 250" event, then shoot crowd members as they scattered.
The event took place on the White House South Lawn on Trump's 80th birthday. Law enforcement learned of the threat on June 10, just four days before the show. Despite the looming danger, the event went forward, delayed over an hour by lightning and severe weather but running smoothly from a security standpoint. Trump and Vance sat cageside. UFC chief Dana White and Donald Trump Jr. were also in attendance.
Officials stated the group harbored fringe conspiracy theories and hoped the attack would destabilize the government. Newsmax reported that one defendant, Michael Alan Thomas of Pinon Hills, California, told federal agents he believed "the objective of the UFC Freedom 250 operation and future attacks was to create enough chaos to bring about the overthrow of the U.S. government."
That admission, drawn from a federal affidavit, lays bare the scope of what prosecutors say they prevented.
The takedowns came fast. Five defendants, including Proper, were arrested the weekend of the event in Missouri, Nebraska, and California. The FBI charged and arrested two more roughly a week later in Washington and Missouri. Scaggs, described as the eighth man charged, was taken into custody in West Virginia this week.
The affidavit alleges Scaggs was assigned to serve as one of the snipers. He was supposed to be picked up by Proper and driven to Washington, but lost contact after Proper's arrest. Rather than stand down, Scaggs allegedly signaled to the group that he was still willing to participate and arranged to travel to the event with another co-conspirator.
Eric Brehm, Scaggs' attorney, said his office was reviewing the allegations and declined to comment further.
How close the plotters actually came to executing the attack remains unclear from the court records. But the infrastructure they allegedly assembled, drones, explosives, sniper positions, body armor, communications equipment, suggests this was not idle talk in a group chat.
The Ohio indictment is designed to streamline the case, knitting defendants from scattered federal districts into a single conspiracy prosecution. But the investigation extends well beyond these eight men.
Fox News reported that the FBI's investigation spanned at least 12 field offices and identified a network of 23 potential plotters, all American citizens with no foreign nexus. FBI Director Kash Patel said the disruption was the result of rapid, multi-state coordination:
"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."
Just The News reported that investigators believe up to 16 additional suspects may still be identified through encrypted communications. The New York Post reported that the group coordinated through TikTok and Signal, with a suspected ringleader identified as Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez urging participants to obtain drones that were "as many and as deadly as we can get."
A U.S. Secret Service assistant director, Matt Quinn, told reporters: "There are still suspects at large and we're going to work it until everyone's been identified."
The alleged attack blueprint was chillingly layered. Explosive-laden drones would strike the event first, forcing a mass evacuation. Fleeing attendees would be funneled toward pre-staged sniper positions. The Washington Examiner reported that a planned "second wave" would involve storming the White House gate itself.
The targets were not random. Prosecutors allege the group specifically planned to murder the president, the vice president, other federal officials, the Israeli prime minister, and Musk, along with unnamed "other high value targets." Netanyahu and Musk did not ultimately attend the event, despite pre-event speculation that they would.
Fox News reported that 19-year-old Proper spent $3,000 of his graduation money on weapons and ammunition. His mother was the one who first alerted authorities.
That detail says something about the nature of this threat. These were not seasoned operatives with foreign backing. They were young American men, radicalized through online channels, motivated by a stew of anti-government grievances, anti-Israel sentiment, and hostility toward billionaires and what they called capitalist elites. Their youth and domestic origin make the plot no less dangerous, and arguably more alarming.
The indictment raises as many questions as it answers. The full names and details of six of the eight defendants have not been made public. The specific "fringe conspiracy theories" that allegedly motivated the group remain vaguely described. Whether Netanyahu or Musk received formal security briefings before the event is unknown.
Most pressing: with 23 potential plotters identified and possibly 16 more still being traced through encrypted apps, the investigation is far from over. The Ohio indictment consolidates what has been charged so far. It does not close the book.
Elon Musk, one of the named targets, responded on X with characteristic brevity: "Wow, this is crazy."
It is considerably more than crazy. Eight men stand accused of conspiring to commit mass murder at the White House, on the president's birthday, in front of a national television audience. The fact that law enforcement stopped it four days out is a credit to the FBI and its partners. The fact that it got as far as it did, drones purchased, snipers assigned, travel arranged, is a warning that no amount of after-the-fact congratulation should obscure.
When domestic terrorists plot to storm the White House lawn with explosive drones and sniper rifles, the system worked this time. The question every serious person should be asking is what happens the time it doesn't.
