Missouri man charged in alleged plot to attack White House during UFC event
Federal investigators on Monday charged a Missouri man for allegedly plotting an attack on the White House while it hosted Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) matches over the weekend.
Daniel Eskridge, a 32-year-old from Kidder, Missouri, about an hour drive northeast of Kansas City, was among five individuals charged in connection to the alleged plot, according to newly released court records. Federal authorities, including Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel, announced the charges on Tuesday.
“Thanks to the rapid action of this FBI, our partners and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold,” Patel said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Justice Department charged Eskridge with one count of conspiracy to commit murder. Court records allege that the 32-year-old obtained tactical equipment, firearms, a helmet and a ballistic vest as part of the alleged conspiracy.
Court records indicate that two public defenders are representing Eskridge. Neither immediately responded to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The court records paint a portrait of an elaborate scheme that investigators foiled in the lead up to Sunday’s UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House. The plot allegedly included armed drones and snipers, according to a news release and court records.
“The conspirators allegedly planned to deploy drones armed with explosives in and around the UFC Freedom 250 event in order to force an evacuation of the event and then planned to deploy snipers to fire upon ‘high value targets’ within the fleeing crowd,” the DOJ said in a release.
Federal agents allege that 19-year-old Tycen Proper from Ohio admitted to the plot in an interview with investigators and said he had discussed the plan with people he had met online.
The FBI identified Eskridge after reviewing encrypted social media messages on Proper’s phone. In those chats, the alleged conspirators discussed “assassinating several U.S. Senators, Representatives and prominent business executives,” according to a DOJ news release.
Eskridge allegedly said in the messages that the target of the plan “was big and someone a majority of the country knows,” according to the news release. In a separate chat, Eskridge and others discussed a plan to attack the UFC event at the White House, which would have included five teams of individuals with “1 sniper, 1 tier one operator as support/look out, (and) one drone operator,” court records said.
Law enforcement searched Eskridge’s residence on Saturday and recovered rifles, a shotgun, a pistol and other tactical gear, according to the DOJ.
In addition to Eskridge and Proper, the following individuals were also charged in connection to the plot: 24-year-old Ryan Roa from California, 32-year-old Michael Thomas from California and 31-year-old Abraham Alvarez from Nebraska.
