DOJ Cites Plot Against UFC Fight as Defense for White House Ballroom
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The Trump administration is now arguing that an alleged thwarted drone attack on the White House UFC event on Sunday was an “assassination plot,” even as charging documents indicate otherwise, in an attempt to convince America that the president really does need that ballroom.Just four days before the UFC event, Tycen Proper, 19, of Ohio, reportedly told federal agents that he and four other people planned to bomb the event using drones and then shoot people fleeing. He was hospitalized with homicidal ideations and charged along with other members of his group. They had collected weapons and ammunition, but the status of the drones is unclear.The Department of Justice refers to Proper’s alleged plan as an “assassination plot” in its most recent legal defense for the White House ballroom the president has been insisting on building for weeks now. But Proper was charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S., attempted murder, firearm possession, and receipt or transfer of a firearm used to commit a felony—not assassination, as the DOJ claims.“This latest assassination plot against President Trump and dignitaries at the White House demonstrates the compelling need for the East Wing Project, with a Ballroom designed to defend against just such,” the filing Tuesday reads.This filing came on the same day that Vice President JD Vance described the planned UFC attack as “not that advanced,” placing even more doubt on the legitimacy of the administration’s filing claim.This shameless argument also came on the same day that The Washington Post reported that half the cost of President Trump’s $600 million ballroom will be paid by U.S. taxpayers—even after promising the project would be “taxpayer free,” with no U.S. citizen paying even “10 cents.”
President Donald Trump's claim that wealthy donors will fund the White House ballroom continues to unravel, as reports unearth the real cost to taxpayers."Trump has been lying the whole time with full knowledge of the cost and the cost to taxpayers," political analyst Brian Tyler Cohen said, pointing to new reporting by The Washington Post.The Post looked at early project cost estimates by the contractor tasked with building the ballroom and found that it will cost about $600 million, with about half of that coming from taxpayers."Why would Trump try to screw something that he claims to love?" Cohen asked, jabbing at Trump's claims of loving America. "At a time when Americans are hurting as a result of his failed policies, this president has chosen to stick us with the bill."Cohen also pointed out that the list of the 27 ballroom donors so far includes Amazon, Apple, Google, Lockheed Martin, Meta, and Palantir, and that more than half of the donors have received huge government contracts since making their donations."Hey, not a bad deal," Cohen joked. "It's sort of like if at Christmas time, he donated a little bit of money to Santa and then in January he returned the favor by giving you all the money he collected."
Democrats celebrated a small victory in Georgia on Wednesday as GOP leaders shelved plans to redraw the state's congressional maps for the 2028 elections. But they're warning the battle is far from won.Why it matters: Republicans hit pause on their plans amid fear that a redraw before November could energize Democratic voters, but Dems are trying to manifest that energy anyways.House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), in a statement to Axios, said his party "will continue to keep the pressure on until the MAGA power grab is defeated and the American people prevail.""Georgia Republicans know that MAGA extremists will face a fierce backlash at the ballot box in November and beyond for their scheme to rig congressional maps in the middle of the decade," he said.Driving the news: Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns wrote in a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday that redistricting "deserves the same responsible, fact-driven approach that guides every policy we consider as lawmakers."As such, he said, the legislature would not attempt to redraw Georgia's congressional or state legislative lines at this year's special session.Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and other prominent GOP figures had pushed to draw out as many Democratic House members as possible ahead of 2028 after the Supreme Court weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in April.Reality check: Even though Georgia Republicans are putting their redistricting efforts on pause for this year, they could still take them up at a later date."This fight is not over," state Rep. Jasmine Clark, the Democratic nominee in Georgia's 13th U.S. House district, warned in a statement on Wednesday.Still, she said, "This redistricting special session was completely unnecessary and I'm happy that Republican leaders are saying no to redrawing lines.""The massive wave of mobilization that brought this victory is just a preview of what is to come in November," said Georgia Democratic Party chair Charlie Bailey.
Five men allegedly plotted a mass-casualty attack at UFC Freedom 250 on White House grounds, allegedly meeting through TikTok before using encrypted apps.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche intervened in New Mexico federal court to keep a man accused of smashing windows of two Jewish properties in Albuquerque jailed until his trial. […]
A Democrat-aligned lawfare outfit filed a lawsuit on behalf of a pair of anti-Trump protesters earlier this month in the hope of shutting down the UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House South Lawn last Sunday.Evidently, the Public Integrity Project and activist plaintiffs were not the only ones keen to rain on President Donald Trump's parade.'The landscape has changed.'The FBI announced on Tuesday that an alleged assassination plot targeting the UFC event was uncovered on June 10 and ultimately thwarted thanks to a timely phone call from a concerned mother and the rapid action of local and federal law enforcement agencies.Five men have been charged in the alleged plot to assassinate "high value targets" at the UFC event: Tycen C. Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio; Bryan Omar Roa, 24, of Calimesa, California; Michael Alan Thomas 32, of Pinon Hills, California; Daniel K. Eskridge, 32, of Kidder, Missouri; and Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, of Omaha, Nebraska.According to the Justice Department, the suspects' plan consisted of two parts: First, they would use explosive drones in and around the event to prompt an evacuation; and second, they would deploy snipers to assassinate specific individuals within the fleeing crowd. In addition to the estimated 4,300 people present for the invite-only event on the South Lawn, there were roughly 85,000 additional people gathered nearby during the back-to-back fights.One of the suspects, Michael Thomas, allegedly discussed the four "tiers" of this anti-government plot: the first being the gunmen on the ground; the second being the drivers and drone operators; the third being logistical suppliers; and the fourth being social media suppliers.In addition to allegedly advocating for jail breaks for surviving tier 1 members in the aftermath of the planned attack, Thomas allegedly underscored the need for suspects to train for "gorilla [sic] style warfare."Another suspect, Daniel Eskridge, allegedly proposed that they form "5 teams of 3 each team consisting of 1 sniper, 1 tier one operator as support/ look out, [and] one drone operator."RELATED: James Comey-style 'threat' against Trump apparently etched into National Mall grass Screenshots of messages and maps on a suspect's phone and a photo of another suspect's equipment. Justice Department.Another suspect, Alvarez, allegedly suggested that snipers could escape to the Potomac River after taking their shots and identified an old church in Nebraska as a potential safe house.Multiple federal complaints filed in relation to the case across the country allege that Tycen C. Proper told investigators that the ball got rolling on the plan around March. While there were apparently more individuals involved in the discussions at the outset — roughly 19 — Proper allegedly claimed that the more serious plotters migrated their conversations to an encrypted chat app.The FBI alleged beyond amassing firearms, ammunition, and tactical gear at his Ohio home, Proper identified multiple targets, including multiple members of Congress and business executives.According to an affidavit submitted with Proper's complaint, the Ohio suspect proposed the following lawmakers as targets: Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Jim Justice (W.Va.), and Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), and Republican Representatives for West Virginia Carol Miller and Riley Moore.The targets were allegedly chosen in part because of their perceived coziness with the Israeli lobby.Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Elon Musk's names were also allegedly floated as targets in the suspects' conversations.The affidavit indicates that the alleged plot — the purpose of which was to "jumpstart" a revolution in the United States — was foiled thanks to the vigilance of Proper's mother, who called law enforcement on the evening of June 10, expressing concerns about her son's recent conduct, including his firearm purchases and communications online.The Knox County Sheriff's Office and Danville Police Department arrived 20 minutes later and soon learned from Proper's father that the teen, who lived at home, was allegedly planning "recons" with individuals he met online; planning to leave to meet up with those individuals on the weekend of June 13; had spent roughly $3,000 of his graduation money to purchase camping gear, firearms, ammunition, plate carriers, and food; and had quit his job recently in preparation for his big excursion.The following day, the Knox County Sheriff's Office got the FBI involved.If convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, each of the defendants faces a maximum of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. They each face an additional five years in prison apiece if convicted of conspiracy to commit violence on the White House grounds."The FBI, our law enforcement partners and our U.S.
