Published on 6/17/2026
American law enforcement agencies revealed that they foiled a plan to attack the White House, during a mixed martial arts event attended by President Donald Trump and other senior officials last Sunday, which included the use of drones, explosives, weapons, and snipers.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the plan last night, writing on the X platform: “Thanks to the quick action of the FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, a number of people were taken into custody and planned attacks were prevented.”
His post included the title of a news item reported by Fox News that said, “The FBI foils a plan to use explosive drones to target the UFC mixed martial arts event at the White House, according to officials,” and he shared a link to the news in another post.
When asked about additional details related to Patel’s post, the FBI responded, saying: “We have nothing to add at this time.” However, the Ministry of Justice later reported charges against five people, who it said were planning to launch explosive drones to coincide with the event, which would have caused an evacuation during which snipers would fire on “high-value targets.”
Demolition for construction
Among those arrested was Tyson Propper, a 19-year-old Ohio man whose mother reported concerns to authorities last week about his firearm purchases and online communications, according to an affidavit filed by the FBI in the case.
Propper admitted to officials that he participated in planning an attack, according to the affidavit, which indicates that some members of the group began communicating with each other last March through a group on the TikTok application called “Vanguard of the Ancients.”
“Members of the group explained that they wanted to protect the United States, which they believed was going in the wrong direction. They also believed that the United States needed to be torn down to rebuild. Some of them expressed a desire that no one involved with Jeffrey Epstein should rule the country,” the affidavit says.
Propper “allegedly collected firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and tactical equipment at his home in Ohio, and also identified potential targets, including several members of Congress,” the Justice Department said.
Michael Alan Thomas, 32, of Pinon Hills, California, told officials that he considered himself “the group’s planner and advisor, and although he was not prepared to get involved himself, he wanted to direct and instruct others on how to carry out attacks aimed at overthrowing the government,” an FBI agent said in an affidavit.
The agent added that Thomas believed the US government was “run by elite individuals who sacrifice and eat infants, who were deeply involved” with Epstein, and now enjoy Trump’s protection.
Two other suspects were also identified, one of them: Daniel K. Escridge (32 years old) from Kidder, Missouri, who officials said said – in a group chat – that the target of the attack should be “a prominent figure known to the majority of the country’s population,” and the second: Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, from Omaha, Nebraska, who the FBI said published detailed plans with his accomplices in the crime.
Strict procedures
The White House adopts strict security measures, including a surveillance system, fences, checkpoints and air defense systems, in addition to sniper teams and rapid intervention forces placed on alert. The Secret Service supervises these procedures and protects the president and dignitaries.
The director of the agency, Sean Curran, said on the X platform: “In the days leading up to the event, our officers, protection support personnel, and technical security teams worked around the clock to identify those involved in the plan and hold them accountable.”
“Anyone who thinks this case was handled in isolation is naive,” Matthew Quinn, deputy director of the Secret Service, told reporters at a press conference. “I assure you that the Secret Service has led this investigation from the beginning, and it remains ongoing. To maintain the integrity of the investigation and security plan, we have chosen not to leak any information.”
The documents show that investigators recovered high-powered firearms from a number of suspects, reviewed encrypted text messages between about 20 participants who exchanged detailed maps and aerial photographs of the area, and discussed the need for a “secure bunker” and escape routes after the attack that did not occur.
A senior Secret Service official indicated yesterday that “the investigation is still ongoing and that its announcement may have been premature.”
Terrorist plot
Fox News reported some details of the plan from American officials, noting that 5 people had been arrested, while investigators identified 23 people as part of a “possible network of planners.”
She said that the plan was to use drones to target buildings near the White House during the event, and to cause a massive evacuation in which the crowds would be “directed towards a team of snipers positioned in advance.” The report also stated that there were plans to storm the gates of the White House by a “second wave” of attackers.
The event, called “UFC Freedom 250” and coinciding with the Republican President’s 80th birthday, aimed to launch this year’s celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States.
Commenting on what was revealed by the security services, US Vice President J.D. Vance, who was also present at the UFC event, said that the operation was “a coordinated and prepared terrorist plot.”
“Things have not even reached the implementation stage,” Vance said Tuesday evening, describing the planning as “not advanced.” “They were not in the city. They did not conduct in-depth planning,” he explained.
Accusing the Democrats
While Vance, speaking to Fox News, did not provide details about the suspects’ motives, he accused Democrats of stoking violence through their anti-Trump rhetoric.
He added, “Everyone has a role in ending these matters, but I think that many of my Democratic colleagues in Washington should ask themselves: Why is there so much political violence coming from our side” from the American political class?
In response to a question about the arrests, Vance said, “There is more violent rhetoric coming from the left than the right these days, but the charging documents show a more muddled picture of their views, portraying them as espousing a tangled web of anti-government sentiment, anti-Semitic grievances, anger at the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, and conspiracy theories about a powerful elite that sacrifices and exploits children.”
The Trump administration has previously repeatedly held the president’s critics and the media responsible for the escalation of political tension in the country. On the other hand, the president’s opponents believe that the responsibility lies with his inflammatory rhetoric against his opponents, immigrants, and the electoral system.
Trump has been subjected to several assassination attempts in recent years, the most recent of which was when a gunman attempted to storm a White House correspondents’ party at a Washington hotel last April.
