Washington man charged in plot against officials at White House UFC fight

Federal prosecutors allege a 21-year-old Western Washington man was part of a plot to assassinate federal officials at the White House during a UFC fight night last week, according to a criminal complaint.

William Lee Spartacus Falkner was charged Monday with conspiracy to commit murder. Law enforcement officials said they disrupted the planned attack targeting President Donald Trump's June 14 mixed martial arts cage-fighting show, part of his celebration of the U.S.'s 250th anniversary, alleging the plotters harbored conspiracy theories and wanted to fly explosives-laden drones and shoot panicked crowd members as they fled.

Falkner was allegedly responsible for sourcing and procuring drones, according to the complaint unveiled in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. He was identified through encrypted group chat messages and social media, prosecutors say.

His alleged role in the plot was to send other co-conspirators drones for the first stage of the planned attack. Those people would use the drones to detonate explosives on the north side of the UFC arena temporarily constructed on the White House lawn, according to the complaint. The plot's high-value targets" would flee south and be struck by sniper fire, federal prosecutors alleged.

A 28-year-old man in Missouri was also charged Monday with conspiracy to commit murder. A federal prosecutor said Monday that there are other unidentified conspirators nationwide.

The Justice Department last week announced separate charges against five other men throughout the country, saying they also had roles in the plot.

Federal law enforcement found out about the alleged plot when an Ohio mother called police to report concerns about her 19-year-old son's recent firearms purchases and communications with people online. The son, Tycen Proper, allegedly told FBI officials that he planned the attack and that members of a messaging app group planned to act as snipers and shoot members of the fleeing crowd.

Proper's mother told FBI agents the group was primarily ex-military and expressed "ultra-religious and anti-government sentiments," the federal complaint states, including grievances about the Epstein files and data centers. Chat records from Proper named U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, Jim Justice and Shelley Moore Capito as targets.

On Proper's phone, Signal app chats included a primary chat of 19 people and smaller groups of four to five people, the complaint states. Proper allegedly told officials that members of the group were recruited through TikTok.

One of the members the FBI identified as being part of the group, who has since been charged, Abraham Alvarez, was part of communications with Falkner, the complaint alleges.

The complaint alleges Falkner was in a group chat in the messaging app Telegram titled "D Ops," in which he discussed his ability to procure drones. In the days leading up to the White House lawn fight, Falkner allegedly wrote "this isn't gonna be a false flag like the last 10 attempts on his life."

That Telegram account was linked to a phone number that was associated with an address he had in Nevada - the 21-year-old moved to Washington about two years ago, his attorney said in court on Monday.

The Telegram account's display name was allegedly "William Lee Falkner."

In one of the messages, Falkner allegedly wrote: "Are we sure on this incendiary route? If this is a direct impact, it would be cheaper, safer, and more effective if we used a shaped impact explosive."

Another message stated: "Lets say 250/drone and you want 5 drones that would be 1250+ shipping from my contact who I've known since middle school and used to run guns and drugs with this guy."

On June 18, an Instagram account linked to the same phone number posted "My boss got picked up. He is in custody," the complaint says. It also alleges Falkner made Instagram posts using an IP address from the Belfair, Mason County, home Falkner had been living in. Before the UFC fight, he sent messages about going on a "work trip" to another user, the complaint states.

Investigators also compared images of the Instagram account with Nevada licensing photos of Falkner, and the images appeared consistent, the complaint states.

On Monday in Tacoma, Western District of Washington federal Judge Grady Leupold ordered Falkner to be put in jail before trial, saying he was a flight risk.

Falkner's attorney argued he should be released, pointing to his family's willingness to help him follow court guidelines and lack of prior convictions or arrests. His attorney, assistant federal defender Becky Fish, argued Falkner's role in the plot was much smaller than alleged.

"A young man seeking validation online is not terribly uncommon," Fish said Monday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Wynne said in court that Falkner did play a "significant role" in the alleged plot and was conspiring to "commit a mass casualty event."

"He was all in," Wynne said, adding the investigation is ongoing and there may be additional evidence beyond Monday's filing.

"The government does make a compelling argument that the magnitude and potential devastation … is overwhelming," Judge Leupold said in determining Falkner would be detained.

Falkner told the judge: "I'll take it on the chin. Whatever happens, happens." He then argued he was not a flight risk because he needed to be present for his grandmother, who he had been living with in Belfair.

Neil Floyd, the first assistant U.S. attorney for Western Washington, said the government took the "somewhat unusual step" of making a probable cause arrest rather than awaiting a grand jury indictment out of safety concerns regarding drones.

"If it wasn't for the intervention of law enforcement, I do believe they could have carried out maybe not the plans they had ultimately hoped to achieve, but certainly they could have caused a mass casualty event," Floyd said.

Floyd said Falkner was not in D.C. during the UFC fight.

One of the people arrested outside of Washington allegedly told FBI investigators that the aim of the attack was to "create enough chaos to bring about the overthrow of the United States government, according to the complaint.

If convicted with conspiracy to commit murder, Falkner could be sentenced to a maximum term of life in prison.

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