Eight men were indicted on murder and terrorism conspiracy charges on Thursday for their alleged roles in a thwarted drone and sniper attack on the UFC show staged at the White House in June.
The indictment, returned in Ohio, charges all eight in two separate conspiracies, one to provide material support to terrorists and a second to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official.
It remains unclear from the court records how close the would-be attackers could have come to being able to carry out the plan had it not been thwarted.
According to the new indictment, the plot began in May, when the group began amassing money, firearms, ammunition, body armor, explosives, drones, medical equipment, communications equipment and other items.
It was on June 10 that law enforcement officials learned about a possible threat to President Donald Trump’s UFC cage-fighting show, four days before the mixed martial arts extravaganza was scheduled to take place.
The Justice Department last month announced a series of criminal complaints in different districts across the country in connection with the UFC plot, including from Ohio, Missouri, Washington, Nebraska and California.
The White House’s South Lawn was transformed into a UFC octagon for the event last month
President Donald Trump – pictured with UFC chief Dana White – walked out to their seats
The indictment announced Thursday represents an effort by the government to streamline the case and knit the defendants together into a single conspiracy prosecution in Ohio.
Officials have said the group members harbored fringe conspiracy theories and hoped the attack would destabilize the government.
One of the defendants told investigators that they planned to fly explosive-laden drones into the event and then shoot panicked crowd members as they fled, according to a federal affidavit.
Tycen C Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio, and four others were arrested and charged in Missouri, Nebraska and California the weekend of the cage-fighting event, called Freedom 250.
Two more defendants were charged and arrested by the FBI about a week later in Washington and Missouri.
The Justice Department said an eighth man was charged this week. He is 21-year-old Chandler D Scaggs, of Chapmanville, West Virginia, who was taken into custody in that state.
Trump sat cageside in a very public position to watch the bouts in Washington DC
The event was the target of a foiled murder and terrorism plot, according to a new indictment
Scaggs was allegedly assigned to be one of the snipers in the plotted attack, according to an affidavit.
The affidavit said Scaggs was apparently to be picked up by Proper and taken to Washington but lost contact with him after Proper was arrested, the same as the others.
Scaggs allegedly signaled to the group that he was still willing to participate in the attack and arranged to travel to the event with another co-conspirator.
Scaggs’ attorney, Eric Brehm, said his office was thoroughly reviewing the allegations and declined to comment further.
Conspiring to provide material support to terrorists is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and conspiring to commit murder carries a penalty of up to life in prison.
Federal prosecutors allege that the group planned to murder Trump, Vice President JD Vance, other federal officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, trillionaire businessman Elon Musk and ‘other high value targets’ at the event.
The likes of JD Vance (right) and Donald Trump Jr were also in attendance at the event
The event was struck by a weather delay, but from a security standpoint all ran smoothly
Netanyahu and Musk ultimately did not attend the event, despite speculation in the build-up, but Trump and Vance all watched on from cageside.
When the murder and terrorism plot charges came to light, Musk took to his X platform to comment: ‘Wow, this is crazy.’
On the night – which took place on Trump’s 80th birthday – the event itself ran smoothly from a security standpoint, but was delayed over an hour due to lightning, strong winds and severe weather near the White House.
The octagon itself was covered by a huge canopy, but spectators were kept out of the arena initially due to the storms.
