politics
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Eight Men on Conspiracy Charges Over Alleged White House Event Plot
A grand jury in Columbus, Ohio, returned a two-count indictment on July 9 charging eight men with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to commit murder. The charges center on a planned attack at the June 14 UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House South Lawn.
Jul 9, 11:51 PM·2m read4 sources
Serious threatRoutine case
chicago.suntimes.comAudio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
A federal grand jury in Columbus, Ohio, returned a two-count indictment on July 9 charging eight men with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official.
The indictment supersedes earlier criminal complaints filed in Missouri, Nebraska, California, Washington, and Ohio. It names Tycen C. Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio; Chandler D. Scaggs, 21, of Chapmanville, West Virginia; Abraham Alvarez, 31, of Omaha; Daniel K.
Eskridge, 32, of Hamilton, Missouri; William L.S. Falkner, 21, of Belfair, Washington; Jordan W. Rincker, 28, of St. Joseph, Missouri; Bryan O. Roa, 25, of Calimesa, California; and Michael Thomas, 32, of Pinon Hills, California. The alleged plot targeted the UFC Freedom 250 event held on the South Lawn of the White House on June 14.
Prosecutors said the defendants planned to use explosive-laden drones to strike the north side of the White House to create a diversion that would funnel crowds toward snipers. Chandler D. Scaggs was allegedly assigned to serve as one of the snipers, with Tycen C.
Proper assigned to transport him to Washington, D.C. The defendants allegedly began amassing money, firearms, ammunition, body armor, explosives, drones, medical equipment, communications equipment, and other items in May 2026. They communicated through Signal, SimpleX, Discord, TikTok, and Instagram and used a tier system to classify participants, with tier-one members committing to place themselves in harm's way, break the law, and potentially go into hiding.
Law enforcement learned of the possible threat on June 10, four days before the event. Five defendants were arrested the weekend of June 14. Two more were arrested approximately one week later. Chandler D. Scaggs was arrested this week in West Virginia.
Tycen C. Proper's mother contacted police about his recent amassing of firearms and troubling online conversations, which initiated the investigation. The first count carries a maximum penalty of 15 years to life in prison.
