Federal prosecutors have charged a 21-year-old West Virginia man as the eighth defendant in an alleged conspiracy to assassinate President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk, and other senior officials during the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House on June 14. Chandler D. Scaggs of Chapmanville, West Virginia, was taken into custody by the FBI earlier this week, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.
A federal grand jury in Columbus, Ohio, returned a two-count indictment against all eight men. Each faces a charge of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and a charge of conspiracy to commit murder on federal government property and to murder a federal government official. The murder-conspiracy count alone carries a potential sentence of life in prison.
The indictment consolidates what had been separate criminal complaints filed in multiple federal districts into a single prosecution in the Southern District of Ohio, AP News reported. The scope of the alleged plot, spanning at least six states, involving encrypted communications across five platforms, and targeting the sitting president at his own residence, marks one of the most serious domestic terrorism cases in recent memory.
The attack plan, as described in federal charging documents, was elaborate. Prosecutors allege the conspirators intended to deploy explosive-laden drones over the UFC event to force a mass evacuation, then direct the fleeing crowd toward a pre-staged sniper team. A second wave of attackers would then storm the White House gates, Breitbart reported.
Scaggs was allegedly assigned as one of those snipers.
The indictment alleges that starting in May, the defendants conspired to amass money, firearms, ammunition, body armor, explosives, drones, medical equipment, communication equipment, and personnel. They allegedly trained, practicing marksmanship and combat skills, agreed on specific targets for the UFC event, and drew up plans for both the assault and their escape afterward.
Their alleged targets included not only Trump, Vance, and Musk but also Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and what prosecutors described as "other high value targets" among federal officials attending the event. The alleged drone-and-sniper plot was designed to inflict maximum casualties at a venue packed with spectators and dignitaries.
The defendants allegedly coordinated through online chat groups and forums on Signal, SimpleX, Discord, TikTok, and Instagram. Prosecutors say they used those platforms to develop attack plans, recruit members, and encourage one another to prepare. Officials have said the group members harbored fringe conspiracy theories and hoped the attack would destabilize the government, AP News reported.
As many as 23 individuals were identified as part of the broader network, though only eight have been charged so far. The use of encrypted messaging apps, particularly Signal and the lesser-known SimpleX, underscores the persistent challenge law enforcement faces in monitoring threats that migrate to platforms designed to resist surveillance.
The investigation began with a tip from the parents of one of the suspects, National Review reported. That lead allowed the FBI to move quickly. The first defendant arrested was 19-year-old Tycen C. Proper of Danville, Ohio, who allegedly spent $3,000 of his graduation money on weapons and ammunition. Proper was picked up in Cincinnati the weekend of the UFC event.
Four other suspects were arrested that same weekend across Nebraska, Missouri, and California. The initial wave of arrests across four states effectively disrupted the plot before the event took place.
Two more defendants, William L.S. Falkner, 21, of Belfair, Washington, and Jordan W. Rincker, 28, of St. Joseph, Missouri, were charged and arrested by the FBI approximately one week later.
Scaggs, the eighth and most recently charged defendant, allegedly did not give up when Proper went silent. The affidavit alleges that after Scaggs and other co-conspirators lost contact with Proper following his arrest, Scaggs indicated he was still willing to participate. He allegedly made new arrangements for another co-conspirator to pick him up and travel to the event in Washington. It remains unclear whether that unnamed co-conspirator is among the eight charged or is still at large.
Among the most politically charged details to emerge is the background of the alleged ringleader. Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, of Omaha, Nebraska, is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who had been granted DACA status under the Obama administration, National Review reported. He originally entered the United States on a B2 visitor visa that expired in December 2001.
Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis of the Department of Homeland Security did not hold back. As Fox News reported, Bis stated:
"This illegal alien from Mexico should never have been allowed in our country. He was the ringleader of a failed terror attack targeting UFC Freedom 250 at the White House."
That a man whose legal presence in the country depended on an executive-branch amnesty program allegedly orchestrated a plot to murder the president raises questions that go well beyond this single case. It is a concrete example of the security risks that critics of DACA and broader immigration leniency have warned about for years. The broader threat landscape facing senior officials and their families has only grown more dangerous.
The full roster of defendants spans the country:
Each faces up to 15 years in federal prison on the material-support conspiracy charge and up to life on the murder-conspiracy charge, plus substantial fines. The DOJ announcement consolidating all eight into a single indictment signals prosecutors intend to try the case as a unified conspiracy rather than a patchwork of individual complaints.
No information has been released about whether any of the defendants have entered pleas or retained counsel. No details have emerged about physical seizures of the weapons, drones, or explosives the indictment alleges were amassed.
The White House was ultimately cleared, and the UFC Freedom 250 event proceeded safely on June 14 after the threat was neutralized. FBI Director Kash Patel credited the rapid, multi-state coordination that made that possible.
"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."
A joint FBI and U.S. Secret Service statement reinforced the point: "This weekend's thwarted attack should be a message to any criminal actor that if you target Americans, you will be found and brought to justice." The FBI's announcement that it had stopped the planned attacks came shortly after the event concluded without incident.
That law enforcement succeeded here is worth acknowledging plainly. The tip from a suspect's own parents, the swift federal response across six states, and the willingness to act before the event rather than after, all of it worked. The system did its job.
But the case is far from closed. Twenty-three individuals were reportedly identified in the network. Only eight have been charged. Who are the others? Are they cooperating witnesses, minor participants, or suspects still under investigation?
The identity of the co-conspirator who allegedly agreed to pick up Scaggs after Proper's arrest is unknown publicly. Whether that person is among the eight or remains uncharged is a gap the DOJ has not addressed.
And the ideological or organizational affiliation driving the conspiracy has not been specified in any public charging document. Prosecutors described the material-support charge in general terms. Officials referenced "fringe conspiracy theories" and a desire to "destabilize the government," but the precise nature of the ideology, and whether it connects to any broader movement or foreign influence, remains an open question.
The Alvarez detail will linger longest in the political conversation. An illegal immigrant who overstayed a tourist visa more than two decades ago, shielded from deportation by DACA, allegedly spent weeks planning to murder the president of the United States. No amount of policy euphemism can soften that fact.
The men who allegedly plotted this attack ranged from 19 to 32 years old. They came from West Virginia, Ohio, Nebraska, Missouri, Washington, and California. They allegedly trained, armed themselves, and coordinated across encrypted platforms, all while living openly in communities across the country.
Eight men now face the possibility of life in federal prison. The system caught them in time. The harder question is how many others it doesn't catch, and whether the policies that let the alleged ringleader stay in this country for a quarter century deserve the same scrutiny as the plot itself.
