2 of 8 men charged in alleged plot to attack the White House UFC event plead not guilty
Two of the eight men indicted in an alleged drone and sniper plot to attack President Donald Trump’s UFC cage-fighting event on the White House lawn have pleaded not guilty to federal conspiracy charges
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Two of the eight men indicted in an alleged drone and sniper plot to attack President Donald Trump's UFC cage-fighting show on the White House lawn pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal conspiracy charges.
Clothed in jail garb and shackled, Tycen Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio, and Chandler Scaggs, 21, of Chapmanville, West Virginia, entered the pleas before U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus Jr. in Ohio, where the case has been consolidated. They and the other six defendants are each charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official.
Sargus scheduled their trial to begin Sept. 14.
“What would have happened or could have happened, that's never going to be clear, because, thank God, there was an intervention here and this thing was disrupted,” U.S. Attorney Dominick Gerace II told reporters last week as he detailed the group's July 9 indictments. “But, in my view, when I look at what's been alleged there, it seems pretty likely that someone or multiple people were driving to Washington, D.C., to do something.”
Attorneys for Proper and Scaggs declined to comment after the hearing.
According to the indictment, the plot began in May. Members of the group — citing grievances about government corruption, water-guzzling data centers and the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files — began amassing money, firearms, ammunition, body armor, explosives, drones, medical equipment, communications equipment and other items.
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The attack was planned to take place at the cage-fighting show dubbed UFC Freedom 250, which was held on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary. Law enforcement officials said they learned of the possible threat four days before the event was scheduled to take place.
One of the defendants told investigators that they planned to fly explosive-laden drones into the event and then shoot panicked crowd members as they fled, according to a federal affidavit.
The Justice Department announced charges against seven people from across the country last month, including from Ohio, Missouri, Washington, Nebraska and California. Officials said the suspects harbored fringe conspiracy theories and hoped the attack would destabilize the government.
Four alleged conspirators charged in Missouri, Nebraska and California the weekend of the event and two more charged about a week later in Washington and Missouri are still in the process of being moved to Ohio to face charges. They are likely to be tried as a group.
Scaggs was arrested separately later, but was brought to Ohio ahead of the other out-of-state defendants.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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