An Ohio mother's decision to call 911 about her 19-year-old son's guns, tactical gear, and talk of joining a group that wanted to "fight the corrupt government" set off a multistate FBI investigation that federal authorities say dismantled a planned attack on UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.
Newly released recordings from the Knox County Sheriff's Office reveal the frantic sequence: first a cousin called dispatch, then the mother herself, describing how the family had already stripped weapons from the young man's bedroom before deputies arrived on June 10, four days before the event on the White House South Lawn.
Seven men now face federal charges. FBI Director Kash Patel said authorities "stopped cold" the alleged conspiracy before anyone was hurt. The plot, as laid out in court documents, involved explosive-laden drones designed to trigger panic on one side of the event while shooters with sniper rifles picked off "high value targets" fleeing toward a pre-selected exit route.
That none of it happened is, by every account, traceable to one woman who chose her country over silence, and accepted that it meant her own son's arrest.
The cousin placed the first call. Fox News Digital obtained the recordings from the Knox County Sheriff's Office, and the cousin's words to dispatch were measured but urgent:
"They are having some issues with their son.... She has some concerns with weapons and ammo and a particular mindset that her oldest boy is in right now."
The cousin added that she did not believe anyone was in "immediate danger as in this second" but wanted law enforcement on scene. Proper's mother then called dispatchers herself.
"We took all the guns and ammo out of his room and got it off our property. He just came inside, and he's probably going to discover it's not in his room."
She told dispatchers the family did not fully understand what their son intended. But she described the outline clearly enough:
"We don't even know what he's wanting to do. He's wanting to leave this weekend and go with a group of people to help, like, fight the corrupt government."
Deputies arrived at the family's Ohio home that same day. What they found, and what the family voluntarily handed over, opened a case that would eventually span at least a dozen FBI field offices.
Tycen Proper had spent roughly $3,000 in graduation money on firearms, body armor, ammunition, and tactical equipment, court documents show. He had allegedly acquired an AR-style rifle and a bullpup rifle painted with the American flag. The Washington Examiner reported that Proper had also quit his job in preparation for the alleged missions.
His mother had grown alarmed after noticing him researching locations near Washington, D.C., while receiving maps and images through text messages and Discord. When she confronted him, Proper allegedly told her that members of the group planned to conduct "recon" and "hit-and-run missions." She later told investigators she interpreted those words as references to planned shootings.
Proper's father separately told investigators his son had recently connected with people online and planned to leave that weekend to meet members of the group. The family turned over all of the equipment to law enforcement.
The parents described the online group as expressing "ultra-religious and anti-government sentiments" that "may share some Christian-based ideology," and said its members identified as ex-military, National Review reported, citing the parents' statements to authorities.
Court documents describe a conspiracy designed for maximum lethality. The group allegedly planned to deploy explosive-laden drones against one side of the UFC Freedom 250 event, forcing attendees to flee toward an exit route where co-conspirators armed with sniper rifles and other weapons would be positioned.
One participant allegedly wrote in communications: "$1300 gets us the drones and the charges." Another wrote, when discussing the drones, "as many and as deadly as we can get."
One suspect allegedly told investigators the goal was "to create enough chaos to help bring about the overthrow of the U.S. government." The alleged drone and sniper ambush plan targeted an event attended by the President of the United States on the White House South Lawn.
The group of approximately 20 individuals communicated through a TikTok group called "Vanguard of the Old" and later moved to encrypted Signal chats, AP News reported. Proper is charged with firearms offenses and attempted murder of an officer or employee of the United States, the wire service noted, and he told officials he participated in the planning of the attack.
The investigation fanned out from Ohio across the country. The seven men charged span California, Missouri, Nebraska, Washington state, and Ohio:
Falkner was identified through communications uncovered during the investigation. He allegedly discussed loading explosives onto drones and configuring them for "maximum destructive impact." The use of weaponized drones as a domestic terror tool mirrors other recent federal cases involving drone-based attack plans.
Rincker allegedly accepted $1,200 from a co-conspirator to distribute payments connected to the operation and provided a shotgun during an in-person meeting. A search of Rincker's home and storage unit turned up firearms, night-vision equipment, a ballistic plate, a thermal imaging scope, a 3D printer, 3D-printed gun parts, and other tactical gear.
In California, Roa's relatives told authorities he had become increasingly isolated, spent significant time with a new group of online associates, and spoke cryptically about traveling to Washington, D.C., where "something big" would happen. Family members feared he intended to commit violence.
National Review reported that Alvarez, the alleged ringleader, was an illegal immigrant who had received DACA status under the Obama administration, a detail that raises its own set of questions about how someone present in the country unlawfully allegedly organized a plot against the White House.
Retired FBI agent Jason Pack, who previously spoke to Fox News Digital about the case, pointed to the family's willingness to act. "That's how this got stopped," Pack said.
Retired FBI supervisory agent Rob Chadwick, in an interview with Fox News host Will Cain, praised the mother directly:
"Thankful for the one mother's courage to come forward and say something, even though it meant the certain arrest of her own son."
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche framed the broader law enforcement response. Breitbart reported his statement: "Law enforcement continues to do what it does, move to disrupt and hold accountable those allegedly plotting to do harm on the White House Grounds on June 14."
Proper's attorney, Joe Patituce, offered a brief public statement: "Mr. Proper appreciates the serious nature of the charges currently pending against him and will address them appropriately in court at the right time."
The case underscores a recurring dynamic in domestic terror investigations: family members are often the first to see warning signs, and their willingness to contact law enforcement can determine whether a plot advances or collapses. In this instance, the mother and father both provided investigators with information that opened the door to the broader conspiracy.
Proper's mother did not wait for certainty. She acted on alarm, the sudden weapons purchases, the maps of Washington, the talk of "recon" missions, the plan to leave that weekend. She removed the guns herself before calling 911. That sequence of private action followed by a public report gave investigators a four-day window before the June 14 event.
The broader investigation into the White House UFC plot ultimately involved 12 FBI field offices, multiple arrests, and the recovery of an arsenal's worth of weapons and tactical equipment from suspects in at least five states.
Federal authorities have not yet disclosed the full scope of the alleged conspiracy's membership. Court documents reference approximately 20 individuals communicating through the TikTok group and Signal chats. Seven have been charged. The gap between those two numbers remains an open question.
Threats against high-profile events and political figures have surfaced repeatedly in federal court filings in recent years, and the weaponization of commercial drone technology has added a dimension that law enforcement is still racing to counter.
Several questions hang over the case. What specific charges does each defendant face beyond the broad conspiracy allegations? Which suspect told investigators the goal was overthrowing the U.S. government? How did a group of strangers scattered across six states coalesce through TikTok into a cell allegedly capable of coordinating a drone-and-sniper ambush on the White House grounds?
And perhaps most pointedly: how did Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, an illegal immigrant allegedly granted DACA status years ago, come to be identified as the ringleader of a plot against the seat of American government, and what does that say about the systems that were supposed to track him?
Those answers will come in court, if they come at all. For now, the case rests on the recorded voice of a mother in Ohio who decided that loving her son and protecting her country were not in conflict, and picked up the phone.
