A 19-year-old Ohio man told investigators about individuals he’d been communicating with via a TikTok group called ‘Vanguard of the Old.’
Five men have been charged in an alleged plot to carry out a mass-casualty attack at a UFC event on White House grounds.
Conspirators allegedly discussed targeting members of Congress; stockpiled weapons, ammunition, and body armor; and admitted to participating in the plot, according to a federal criminal complaint.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the FBI had launched an investigation and identified the group of conspirators, making arrests over the weekend in Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska, and California.
Tycen Proper, 19, one of the alleged co-conspirators, admitted during a June 11 interview with investigators that he had been communicating with a group of individuals online who claimed to be Christian and former military. Proper was planning to travel to Virginia to meet them before the event, according to the complaint.
Investigators said Proper described a plot in which members of the group would stage a demonstration on the north side of the White House while drones carrying explosive devices detonated over the event area. The explosions were intended to force attendees and high-value targets to evacuate toward the south side, where members of the group allegedly planned to conduct shootings from sniper and other firing positions.
According to the complaint, Proper told investigators that the attack was intended to “jump-start” a revolution in the United States. Proper lived in Knox County, Ohio, about 70 miles northeast of Columbus.
The DOJ named others charged in the case: Bryan Omar Roa, 24, of Calimesa, California; Michael Alan Thomas, 32, of Pinon Hills, California; Daniel K. Eskridge, 32, of Kidder, Missouri; and Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, of Omaha, Nebraska.
The five men “conspired to plan and execute a mass casualty event targeting U.S. officials in attendance at UFC Freedom 250 hosted on the White House grounds,” the DOJ said.
“The conspirators allegedly planned to deploy drones armed with explosives in and around the UFC Freedom 250 event in order to force an evacuation of the event and then planned to deploy snipers to fire upon ‘high value targets’ within the fleeing crowd.”
Specific Targets
Investigators cited chat messages in which conspirators discussed potential political targets, including U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and several members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation.
Proper’s cellphone showed discussions on May 13 in which Proper explained why he wanted to target Blackburn.
Motivation
The complaint alleges that Proper expressed anti-government views and grievances involving government corruption, Jeffrey Epstein-related allegations, data centers, and other political issues.
Members of the online group said the United States needed to be torn down so that it could be rebuilt. Some members of the group said people who were involved with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein should not govern the country.
Proper’s parents and grandmother told investigators they believed that online associates were manipulating Proper through religious messaging and that he had made sympathetic comments about Adolf Hitler and posted anti-Semitic remarks on social media.
Weapons
Proper was planning to meet others involved in the planning in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
He was planning to drive with his body armor and weapons, including an AR-15, all of his ammunition, tactical vests, and ballistic plates. Proper was going to take extra body armor for other members of the group. He had also purchased a bullpup rifle painted with an American flag.
While searching his residence, law enforcement found spent cartridge casings consistent with ammunition being fired. They also found several boxes of ammunition, which they estimated to be “thousands of rounds.”
Online Communication
The complaint stated that some members of the group who were going to participate in the attack began communicating with one another in March via a TikTok group called “Vanguard of the Old.”
Members shared information with one another on the TikTok group to show their trustworthiness and commitment to the cause, according to the affidavit.
The online members who were more serious about the attack started messaging one another on an encrypted app on Signal. It was on that encrypted app that they allegedly planned an attack on the White House UFC event.
Parents Alert Authorities
The investigation began on June 10 after Proper’s parents contacted law enforcement with concerns about their son’s recent behavior.
Family members told authorities that Proper had met people online, quit his job, spent roughly $3,000 in graduation money on firearms, ammunition, body armor, camping equipment, and tactical gear, and was planning to leave home to meet members of the group.
Proper’s mother told investigators that she believed that the online group that her son was engaged with was using religion “to manipulate and influence her son,” according to the complaint.
She said she saw Proper researching and mapping locations in the area just northwest of Washington. She also said other images of maps had been sent to him via text messages.
When she asked her son what he was doing, he told her he was looking at multiple locations to conduct “recon” and “hit and run missions.” The mother thought that meant conducting shootings and then running.
Law enforcement recovered firearms, body armor, ammunition, magazines, and tactical equipment that were voluntarily turned over by family members. Authorities later executed search warrants at Proper’s residence and on his cellphone.
Proper was taken to a local hospital by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio. The sheriff’s office submitted an application for emergency admission based on “homicidal ideations,” according to the complaint.
Police interviewed Proper at the medical facility on June 11. Proper consented to being interviewed in an unlocked room with a case worker present.
By Tom Gantert and Joseph Lord
