8 men, including 1 from Washington, indicted in plot to attack UFC White House event
Jul 9, 2026, 5:45 PM | Updated: 5:45 pm
A view of the lightweight title bout between Georgia's Ilia Topuria and America's Justin Gaethje during the "UFC Freedom 250" mixed martial arts event on the South Lawn of the White House on June 15, 2026 in Washington, DC.(Photo: Saul Loeb, Pool via Getty Images)
(Photo: Saul Loeb, Pool via Getty Images)
Eight men, including one from Washington, were indicted in a plot to kill government officials and others at the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House last month.
All eight men were charged in two conspiracies: conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
The indictment stems from an initial investigation and criminal complaint against Tycen Proper from Ohio. Proper and four others charged federally in Missouri, Nebraska, and California were arrested the weekend of the UFC event.
William Falkner from Belfair, Washington, was arrested around a week later, as was another defendant in Missouri. Falkner also went by his alias “Pepsi.”
This week, an eighth defendant, Chandler Scaggs, a 21-year-old from West Virginia, was taken into custody. Scaggs was allegedly assigned to be one of the snipers in the planned attack, according to the attorney’s office.
Scaggs was supposed to be picked up by Proper to travel to Washington, D.C., an affidavit detailed. However, Scaggs and others lost contact with Proper after he was arrested. Scaggs allegedly indicated to the group that he was still willing to participate in the attack and made new plans for another co-conspirator to pick him up.
Defendants allegedly began planning White House attack in May
Starting in May, the defendants allegedly conspired to support terrorists in the form of money, firearms, ammunition, body armor, explosives, drones, medical equipment, communication equipment, personnel and other services, according to the indictment.
The men also allegedly developed plans for the attack, recruited members, and encouraged each other to prepare for attacks via Signal, SimpleX, Discord, TikTok and Instagram. The defendants also allegedly created a tier system to classify participants.
Tier one conspirators allegedly committed to putting themselves “in harm’s way, break the law, and potentially go into hiding,” the attorney’s office stated.
Besides gathering weapons and supplies, the defendants allegedly practiced marksmanship and combat training, agreed on targets for the event, and created plans to escape.
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Men allegedly sought to kill president, vice president
The men allegedly planned to murder the president, the vice president, other federal officials, the Prime Minister of Israel, Elon Musk and “other high-value targets,” according to the attorney’s office.
Officials noted conspiring to provide material support to terrorists is punishable by up to 15 years of imprisonment, while conspiring to commit murder carries a potential penalty of up to life in prison.
A full list of names can be found on the attorney’s office’s website.
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