UFC Freedom 250 continues to make headlines days after the event. After FBI Director Kash Patel revealed yesterday that authorities had foiled an alleged terror plot targeting the White House UFC event, TMZ Sports, in an exclusive report, has revealed that the 19-year-old Ohio man, Tycen Proper, arrested as a prime suspect in the case, likely played a pivotal role in exposing the rest of his co-conspirators.

According to TMZ, the feds spoke to the 19-year-old on June 11, a day after his arrest. And as it turns out, Proper told law enforcement officials about the alleged plan, which included a coordinated attack on key government officials at the South Lawn. The plan, discussed using encrypted Signal chats, involved using explosive-laden drones to target the White House and cause mass panic among those attending the event. This, according to their plan, would force people to evacuate the event, funneling them into paths where snipers and other guns would be waiting for them. 

Proper revealed that the sniper would shoot high-profile targets fleeing the area one by one from a distance. The reason behind the attack was apparently a way to kick-start a revolution in America. However, according to the TMZ exclusive, Proper allegedly went further in divulging details about his co-conspirators who were involved in planning the attack with him. The 19-year-old even supposedly identified the usernames of his accomplices on the Signal chat, one of whom was 32-year-old Daniel K. Eskridge from Missouri.

According to the chats, Eskridge wanted to help restore the “old republic.” Eskridge wasn’t the only one identified and charged thanks to Proper’s supposed information. Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, from Nebraska, and Bryan Omar Roa, 24, and Michael Alan Thomas, 32, both from California, were also apprehended soon after Proper’s arrest. This brings the total number of people arrested in the UFC White House attack plot to five, all of whom have since been charged with conspiracy to commit m–der, among other counts.

All of them now face life sentences and a $250,000 fine each. As for the 19-year-old, he is facing several charges, from conspiracy to commit an offense against the US to receipt or transfer of a firearm to be used to commit a felony. The next hearing has been set for June 29. Until then, he remains in federal custody without bond. 

But none of it would have been possible without the intervention of Proper’s mother. She had called the local police department on June 10 to convey what her son had been up to. By the time the cops finally showed up at his home, Proper’s equally concerned father relayed further details. Apparently, the 19-year-old was hanging out with people he met online and had been conducting reconnaissance.

His father also revealed that Proper had planned a trip with those people over the past weekend. He added that Proper had used $3,000 of his graduation money to buy camping gear, ballistic plates, a couple of guns, ammo, and extra magazines. Meanwhile, Proper’s mother told authorities that she didn’t know the names of the people in the group her son got involved in.

However, she claimed that the group had “expressed ultra-religious and anti-government” sentiments. This, however, isn’t the first time an event involving Donald Trump, who celebrated his 80th birthday on June 14, has been targeted. 

A gunman tried to attack President Donald Trump in April during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C but was stopped by the Secret Service before the gunman could make his way in. In February, a gunman crashed into the security perimeter at Trump’s Florida home and was shot dead by the Secret Service. In September 2024, a man was spotted with a rifle near Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Trump was golfing.

In July 2024, Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at Trump from a rooftop during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump’s ear was grazed, but one spectator was killed, two injured. The shooter was immediately neutralized by the Secret Service. Coming back to the latest arrests in connection with the UFC White House terror plot, the CEO Dana White of the promotion has claimed that he was kept in the loop throughout the investigation by the FBI.

But the case is still ongoing. While 5 are arrested, law enforcement officials are on the lookout for the other 19-23 people who participated in the planning on the Signal chat. While the terror plot was successfully foiled, further attempts by law enforcement agents to nab all involved may have been compromised by Kash Patel jumping the gun and announcing the arrest of the five involved.

Secret Service criticizes Kash Patel for prematurely revealing case details

After Patel’s announcement, Deputy Secret Service Director Matthew Quinn suggested investigators were frustrated that information became public before authorities had completed their work.

“It was an active plot, and it’s ongoing,” Quinn said. “There are still suspects at large, and we’re going to work it until everyone’s been identified.”

According to USA Today, federal investigators had intentionally filed the case in court under seal to avoid alerting additional suspects who had not yet been apprehended. However, before that could happen, FBI Director Kash Patel announced the details online in an X post on June 16 and credited FBI agents for thwarting the terror plot and apprehending the alleged conspirators. But at the time, authorities were reportedly still looking for roughly ten more individuals.

During a separate press conference, Quinn was asked about Patel’s X post. Although Quinn did not mention Patel or the FBI by name, he stressed that the Secret Service had led the investigation from the outset and cautioned against taking premature victory laps.

“I’ll tell you a phrase I learned early in my career in the New York field office, and that’s ‘Don’t choke on your own smoke,'” Quinn told reporters. “Anyone [who] believes that case was worked in a bubble [by the FBI] is naive. I’ll tell you, the Secret Service led that investigation from the beginning.”

Even though Tycen Proper allegedly led the feds to his co-conspirators, several others are still at large. Only time will tell how many more end up being charged in the plot.