Hats off to the FBI for preventing this horrific plot.

As WLT Report covered earlier on Monday, the FBI has announced they arrested five suspects who allegedly planned using drones rigged with explosives to hit buildings near the White House.

The plan by the suspects was to cause multiple explosions that would result in people running into an area where the suspects planned to have snipers ready to shoot.

Now mugshots have been released of the suspects:

Another suspect:

Fox News shared further details on the suspects and provided their identities:

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The FBI and its law enforcement partners disrupted an alleged plot targeting this weekend’s UFC Freedom 250 event in Washington, D.C., officials told Fox News Digital.

Five people were in custody as of Monday, and investigators identified 23 people as part of a potential network of plotters. The alleged plan involved using explosive-laden drones to hit buildings near the event, force a mass evacuation and steer crowds toward a pre-staged sniper team, officials said.

A “second wave” was then allegedly planned to storm the White House gate, according to officials.

The FBI first learned of the threat on June 10 and worked with partners to secure probable cause for an arrest in Cincinnati, where one suspect was taken into custody. Court documents identified the suspect as 19-year-old Tycen Proper.

According to a criminal complaint, Proper allegedly spent $3,000 of his “graduation money” to purchase “lots of” ammunition, guns, extra magazines and other items for the alleged attack.

Authorities estimated that several boxes of ammunition that Proper had allegedly acquired contained thousands of rounds. It is also alleged that Proper acquired an AR-style rifle, a bullpup rifle painted with the American flag and two plate carriers with AR-style magazines. His family voluntarily turned over the equipment to law enforcement.

His father told officers that Proper had quit his job to meet up with people he had met online to conduct “missions” and “recons,” according to the complaint. It said that Proper’s mother had first alerted authorities over concerns about his recent alleged firearm purchases and communications with individuals online.

Two others, identified as Bryan Omar Roa and Michael Alan Thomas, were arrested in California for alleged involvement in the plot. Both men were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. They appeared in court on Monday in Riverside.

Evidence released by the DOJ:

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The DOJ released the following details on the five suspects arrested:

Tycen Proper

According to filed complaints in the Southern District of Ohio, the Western District of Missouri, the District of Nebraska, and the Central District of California, investigators interviewed Proper at a medical facility on June 11. During the interview, he allegedly said he had planned with others a coordinated attack against the U.S. government during the UFC event at the White House. He said members of the group who wanted to participate in the attack began communicating with each other around March. More serious members of the group, including Proper, moved their communications to an encrypted chat app. They planned to fly small drones with explosives to detonate over the north side of the UFC arena, forcing high value targets to evacuate the premises; the group would then act as snipers and shoot these individuals. Before executing the plan, Proper and other conspirators allegedly planned to rendezvous in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Proper allegedly amassed firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and tactical gear at his home in Ohio, and he identified potential targets, including multiple members of Congress.

Bryan Roa

According to the complaint filed in the Central District of California, law enforcement executed a search warrant of Roa’s residence and vehicle where they allegedly seized a rifle, handgun, tactical belt, ammunition and a rifle magazine, a two-way radio, and an infrared laser target pointer. A search of Roa’s phone allegedly found messages in a group with Thomas, Proper, and others discussing an attack at the UFC event at the White House, with some users discussing using drones rigged with explosives to initiate the attack, with rooftop snipers killing individuals. Law enforcement also allegedly found Instagram videos Roa had posted of himself shooting guns.

Michael Thomas

According to the complaint filed in the Central District of California, Thomas allegedly participated in a group chat planning an attack at the UFC event at the White House. In a group chat, on June 7, he allegedly wrote “$1300 gets us the drones and the charges. Yes we should all pitch in and we need it asap…”

In another group chat, Thomas, under a pseudonym, allegedly described “tiers” of operators within their anti-government group, with tier 1 being operators on the ground, tier 2 being drivers and drone operators, tier 3 being logistical suppliers, and tier 4 being social media influencers. “Tier one status is not something to take lightly. … We will make sure they have…All the tier 2 support we can provide. We will try to break them out of jail if we need to.” In the same group chats, Thomas discussed meeting with Roa in person in Southern California in order to conduct “marksmen training” and reflected that the group needed to train for “gorilla style warfare.”

In a June 13 search warrant, FBI agents allegedly seized from Thomas’ residence a rifle, 30-round extended magazines for the rifle, 180 of rounds of ammunition, and a pistol.

Daniel Eskridge

Eskridge was charged with conspiracy to commit murder on White House grounds. According to an affidavit filed in the Western District of Missouri, the FBI identified Eskridge while reviewing electronic communications on Proper’s cell phone. The co-conspirators had electronic chats on encrypted social media platforms. In those chats, members of the group allegedly discussed assassinating several U.S. Senators, Representatives, and prominent business executives. Members of the group targeted some legislators based on the group’s perceived belief that the legislators accepted money from pro-Israel lobbies. When discussing potential targets, Eskridge indicated that the target was “big and someone a majority of the country knows.” In the discussions, power grids were also identified as potential targets. On May 22, Eskridge distributed a picture of tactical equipment, including a rifle, helmet, and ballistic vest.

Also according to the affidavit, in a separate chat group, a conversation took place in early June when Eskridge and some of the other chat group members discussed their plan to attack the UFC Freedom 250 event. Specifically, Thomas stated, “Pensilvania [sic] avenue.” Eskridge said the group should obtain $1,300 in U.S. currency and they needed “5 teams of 3 each team consisting of 1 sniper, 1 tier one operator as support/ look out, [and] one drone operator.” Eskridge said the money would provide them the funding to purchase “drones and charges,” and encouraged the group to all “pitch in.” On June 13, law enforcement officials executed a federal search warrant of Eskridge’s residence. Agents recovered rifles, a shot gun, pistol, and other tactical gear.

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Abraham Alvarez

According to the charges filed in Nebraska, the FBI identified Alvarez as the individual using the name “Shepherd” in an encrypted chat app that was used to plan an attack on the UFC Freedom 250 event scheduled to be held at the White House on June 14. The FBI assessed that Alvarez, also known as “Shepherd,” was responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the planned attack, based on conversation excerpts in June when Shepherd posted, “This is the best action I see. Position your teams in the purple dots (counter sniper and drones) Long range (circled area) (great shot) Easy out into the river.” Shepherd also allegedly posted other messages including replying to another member on making drones with explosives, “As many and as deadly as we can get.”; that he was working on drones; and had one drone and was working on more.

The complaint further alleges that Shepherd provided a picture and directions for a safe zone at an old church in Nebraska. He instructed the other members to take back roads or the river down to the “pick up location.” Later that same evening, Shepherd also provided locations in the area for drone launch points and sniper positions.

If convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. Conspiracy to commit violence on White House grounds carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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