Tycen Proper, a 19-year-old man from Knox County, , was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for allegedly plotting an attack on Sunday’s UFC Freedom 250 event at the . Proper is among five held for attack on the event, FBI Director Kash Patel said Tuesday.
Patel revealed that Proper has been charged on four counts, which includes conspiracy to commit offense against the US and the attempted murder of a US govt. official. A complaint was first filed against Proper on June 12, and the nabbed him through a search of his iPhone.
The search of Tycen’s phone found “chats on Signal groups that laid out detailed plans to conduct an attack in Washington, D.C. with several unidentified confederates,” the FBI said. He is currently being held in Franklin County, Ohio after a brief hospitalization for “ideating self-harm.”
Kash Patel meanwhile, “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.”
Two other suspects arrested in the case are from California and have been identified as . The other two are Daniel K. Eskridge, of Kansas City, Missouri and Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, of Omaha, Nebraska.
Who Is Tycen Proper And Why Did He Plot An Attack On UFC White House
Kash Patel, in his post, did not clarify the motive behind the attack. Nor did he say anything further about there being potentially more threat linked to the alleged plot. However, according to the evidence recovered from Tycen Proper’s iPhone, the attack was plotted to “jumpstart a revolution in the US,” per the FBI.
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Tycen Proper and the others were part of a messaging group called ‘Vanguard of the Old’ since March this year. It was mainly on this group and other messaging platforms, such as Signal, via which Proper and the others coordinated.
The FBI said that the family of Tycen Proper tipped the authorities about the 19-year-old “quitting his job” to allegedly prepare for an “upcoming mission.” Proper’s family revealed to the police that he allegedly planned to leave on the UFC White House card weekend with people he met online.
FBI Finds Evidence In iPhone
As mentioned previously, besides the tip-off from the family, most of the details in the case were found on Tycen Proper’s iPhone. At the center of the plot was the TikTok group ‘Vanguard of the Old’ which claimed to contain “ex-military, Christian-based” people who were “anti-government” and with “ultra-religious sentiments.” They expressed frustration with “government corruption” and the “handling of the Epstein files and data centers,” per the FBI complaint. The agency also noted that Proper’s mother also alleged that her son was “manipulated” with religion on the group.
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How The Attack Was Planned
The FBI allegedly found detailed plans of the alleged attack that Tycen Proper, who was identified as one of the team leaders of the group, and the others planned to perpetrate at the UFC event.
The FBI said that they first planned to meet at Fredericksburg, on Sunday, June 14 and planned to stage a protest on the White House’s north side. They then planned to fly drones with explosives in them over the UFC arena (on the north side) and drop them. They also planned to use snipers to shoot audience members fleeing the arena. Additionally, maps and images of the Capitol Hill were also found on Poper’s phone.
Separately, the FBI also found a list of lawmakers on Proper’s phone who were identified potential targets. It included Senator Marsha Blackburn of Ohio for allegedly taking money from the pro- lobby and supporting them.”
