Eight individuals are now facing terrorism-related charges in connection with an alleged plot authorities say was disrupted before they could target government leaders and prominent public figures — among them President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk — during last month’s UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House.
The defendants were charged jointly Thursday in a two-count indictment returned in Ohio.
According to the Justice Department, the indictment accuses the group of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, conspiring to commit murder on federal property and conspiring to murder federal officials.
The UFC Freedom 250 bouts were held on the South Lawn of the White House on June 15, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The Justice Department said Thursday that eight men have been charged in connection with an alleged foiled plan to attack the event and kill government officials. (Getty Images)
Authorities first became aware of a potential threat to the cage-fighting event on June 10, just four days before it was scheduled to take place. Seven of the suspects were arrested soon afterward at multiple locations around the country.
The eighth suspect, who prosecutors allege had been assigned to serve as a sniper during the planned attack, was taken into custody this week by the FBI in West Virginia.
The case grew out of an initial investigation and criminal complaint involving Tycen C. Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio. The additional defendants are Michael Alan Thomas, 32; Daniel K. Eskridge, 32; Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31; Jordan W. Rincker, 28; Bryan Omar Roa, 25; William Lee Spartacus Falkner, 21; and Chandler D. Scaggs, 21.
President Donald J. Trump and UFC President Dana White watch the UFC lightweight championship fight during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 14, 2026. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
The plot allegedly began in May when the defendants started amassing money, firearms, ammunition, body armor, explosives, drones, medical supplies and communications equipment.
Federal prosecutors said Scaggs was originally supposed to be picked up by Proper to travel to Washington, D.C.
However, even after Proper was arrested, Scaggs indicated to the group that he was still willing to participate in the attack and made new plans for another co-conspirator to pick him up.
The suspects coordinated online through an encrypted Signal chat, Discord, and a TikTok group called “Vanguard of the Old,” authorities said.
The group held fringe anti-government conspiracy theories and expressed a desire to “tear down” the United States so it could be rebuilt, prosecutors noted.
