A plot to attack the UFC cage-fighting show at the White House on Sunday, June 14, using explosive-laden drones and firearms was thwarted, federal law enforcement officials say, when they arrested five men, including two who live in the Inland Empire.
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The alleged conspirators harbored anti-government sentiments and spoke about fringe conspiracy theories, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday in announcing charges.
Investigators recovered firearms from several of the suspects as they were arrested over the weekend and obtained encrypted text messages between roughly 20 participants who shared detailed maps and aerial photographs of the area and discussed the need for a “safe house” and escape routes after the intended attack, the documents show.
Several suspects who were questioned by the authorities said they did not intend to carry out violence themselves but planned to instead watch others. One — Bryan Omar Roa, 24, of Calimesa — told an investigator that he would have traveled to the UFC event as a protester but had to return home after his vehicle malfunctioned.
Law enforcement officials learned about the possible threat on June 10, four days before the mixed martial arts extravaganza on the White House’s South Lawn, “and thanks to the rapid action of the 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,” Director Kash Patel said in a post on X on Tuesday.
Michael Alan Thomas, 32, of Pinon Hills; Tycen C. Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio; Daniel K. Eskridge, 32, of Kidder, Missouri; Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, of Omaha, Nebraska; and Roa were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, according to the DOJ news release.
The charging depicted the views of the suspects as a tangled web of anti-government sentiment, antisemitic grievances, fury over President Donald Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and conspiracy theories about a powerful elite that sacrifices and consumes children.
Among those arrested was Proper, whose mother contacted local law enforcement last week with concerns about his firearms purchases and online communications, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case.
Proper admitted in an interview with law enforcement that he participated in the planning of an attack, according to the affidavit, which says some members of the group began communicating with each other last March through a TikTok group called “Vanguard of the Old.”
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Proper provided investigators with social media screen names of the suspects. Authorities said they traced two of those names to Roa and Thomas.
According to the complaint filed in the Central District of California, law enforcement searched Roa’s residence and vehicle, seizing a rifle, handgun, tactical belt, ammunition and a rifle magazine, a two-way radio, and an infrared laser target pointer.
They found messages on Roa’s phone in which he discussed plans for an attack with Thomas, Proper and others that included the drones and rooftop snipers who would shoot people as they fled. Law enforcement also allegedly found Instagram videos Roa had posted of himself shooting guns.
The same criminal complaint said Thomas, in a group chat, wrote, “$1300 gets us the drones and the charges. Yes we should all pitch in and we need it asap…”
In another group chat, Thomas allegedly described “tiers” of operators within their anti-government group, with tier 1 being operators on the ground, tier 2 being drivers and drone operators, tier 3 being logistical suppliers, and tier 4 being social media influencers.
“Tier one status is not something to take lightly. … We will make sure they have…All the tier 2 support we can provide. We will try to break them out of jail if we need to,” Thomas is alleged to have written. He also discussed meeting with Roa in person in Pinon Hills to conduct “marksmen training” and reflected that the group needed to train for “gorilla (sic) style warfare.”
On Saturday, FBI agents allegedly seized from Thomas’ residence a rifle, 30-round extended magazines for the rifle, 180 rounds of ammunition and a pistol, the complaint said.
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