Five people are in custody after federal authorities said they disrupted an alleged terror plot targeting the UFC Freedom 250 fight at the White House, with one of the suspects identified as Tycen Proper, a 19-year-old from Knox County.
Federal investigators say the case began to widen after family members grew concerned about Proper’s alleged purchase of firearms, body armor, ammunition and tactical gear, then worried when he started communicating with a group of people online. Those concerns led to a call to local police and, eventually, an FBI investigation.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau became aware of the alleged plot on June 10. From there, agents say they uncovered online communications involving 23 people in Signal chats discussing what investigators described as pre-operational plans. The alleged discussions also included reconnaissance missions, weapons, drones and plans for violence in Washington, D.C.
Proper now faces federal charges including conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and attempted murder of a federal officer or employee. Federal investigators say he admitted taking part in planning discussions and identified him as a leader within the group.
That account, however, rests on allegations laid out in court documents and statements from federal investigators, and the filings do not spell out exactly what role Proper or the others may have played in carrying out any part of the alleged plan. What the record does show is that the case has moved from family concern and online chatter to federal custody and criminal charges tied to violence in the nation’s capital.
The next court step was not stated in the material made public, but the arrests already mark a fast-moving federal response to a plot investigators say was being discussed in private messages and centered on a high-profile event at the White House.
