Missouri man among those accused of planning attack at White House UFC event

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - A man from Missouri is among five people arrested and charged in an alleged plot for an attack at the Ultimate Fighting Championship Freedom 250 event at the White House.

“On June 10, FBI and our law enforcement partners became aware of a potential threat to the UFC America 250 event in Washington, D.C. involving individuals outside of the National Capital Region — and 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,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “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. That’s exactly what we did here. I want to thank our great agents and partners, this work remains ongoing and we will continue to update the public as permitted."

The five people facing charges are Daniel Eskridge of Missouri, Tycen Proper of Ohio, Bryan Roa and Michael Thomas of California, and Abraham Alvarez of Nebraska.

Eskridge, who is from Kidder, Missouri, is accused of conspiring with the other four suspects to plan and execute a “mass casualty event targeting U.S. Officials” at the White House event on Sunday. The group allegedly planned to use drones armed with explosives in and around the event to force an evacuation and then planned to deploy snipers to fire upon “high value targets” to those running away.

Officials said Proper talked with investigators while at a medical facility on June 11. He reportedly told them of an attack he planned with others for the White House event. He said the group began communicating in early March. The chat then moved to an encrypted chat app.

In chats on the encrypted social media platforms, authorities said they found messages between the suspects discussing the plot. They said that Eskridge also shared a photo of tactical equipment, which included a rifle, helmet and ballistic vest.

Eskridge reportedly told the group that they should get $1,300 to buy “drones and charges” and encouraged everyone to pitch in. He also told them they would need 5 teams of 3 each team consisting of 1 sniper, 1 tier one operator as support/ look out, [and] one drone operator.”

Eskridge is charged with a count of conspiracy to commit murder on White House grounds.