Terror plot targeting White House foiled ahead of UFC event

 The FBI has announced that a terror plot targeting the Ultimate Fighting Championship event held at the White House over the weekend was foiled before the event.

In a statement on X Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel announced that the FBI and its law enforcement partners "became aware of a potential threat to the UFC America 250 event in Washington, D.C." on June 10. 

The threat involved individuals outside of the National Capital Region.

"[T]hanks 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," Patel said. 

“While the result represented the best of investigative work, it was also nothing out of the ordinary for this law enforcement team — we 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."

A criminal complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio alleges that Tycen Proper, 19, of Knox County, Ohio, engaged in conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, attempted murder of an officer or employee of the United States, possessed a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and received or transfered a firearm used to commit a felony. 

Local law enforcement first became aware of the threat following a Wednesday night call from Proper’s mother expressing concern about his “firearms purchases and communicating with certain individuals online.”

Upon arriving at the suspect’s house, Proper’s father informed law enforcement that Proper had “recently acquired camping gear, food, ballistic plates, a new shotgun, a rifle, ‘lots’ of ammunition, extra magazines, and plate camera” and planned to meet up with his online friends the following weekend. 

Proper’s father was also concerned about his son spending $3,000 of his graduation money on materials and quitting his job in preparation to engage in “missions” and “recons” with his new friends. Local authorities also found several boxes of ammunition, estimated to be in the thousands of rounds, along with "two plate carriers with AR-style magazines, an AR-style rifle, and a bullpup rifle painted with an American flag." This discovery prompted local officials to contact the FBI. 

Terror plot targeting White House foiled ahead of UFC event | Politics