Inside the Plot to Attack Trump on His Birthday

Five men accused of plotting to use a UFC event at the White House as cover for a "mass casualty" assault allegedly envisioned a drone-triggered ambush on top political figures, according to newly unsealed court documents. Prosecutors say the group—two men from California, one from Ohio, one from Missouri, and one from Nebraska—planned to fly explosives-laden drones over the UFC Freedom 250 crowd, drive VIPs toward a preselected evacuation zone, then hit them with fire from five sniper teams positioned to target "high-value" officials first, followed by responders from the Secret Service, National Guard, and SWAT, reports Fox News.

The alleged ringleader, Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, is accused of using coded labels for intended targets—including President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Elon Musk—in encrypted chats. Another suspect, 19-year-old Tycen Proper, allegedly maintained a 46-name target list and spent about $3,000 of graduation money on rifles, armor, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. When they concluded they didn't know how to build effective bombs, the group allegedly discussed stealing military ordnance, eyeing the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant as "most viable," and setting up bunkers and safe houses.

Investigators say the men were motivated by a blend of anti-government extremism, antisemitism, frustration over data centers and the handling of the Jeffery Epstein files, and satanic conspiracy beliefs. Two expressed beliefs linking the government to child sacrifice, according to the documents. They were exposed when Proper's mother contacted authorities on June 10, worried about his firearm purchases and online communications, the BBC reports. Proper later told investigators that the group met through a TikTok group called "Vanguard of the Old." Charged with conspiracy to murder, they each face up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine.