Two of the eight men charged in a conspiracy to attack a White House-hosted Ultimate Fighting Championship event with explosive-laden drones entered not guilty pleas Thursday before a federal judge in Ohio.
Tycen Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio, and Chandler Scaggs, 21, of Chapmanville, West Virginia, appeared before U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus Jr. to deny the allegations, according to the Associated Press. Both face charges of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal official.
Their trial is scheduled to start Sept. 14. If convicted, they face sentences ranging from 15 years to life in prison.
The broader group—eight individuals from states including Ohio, Missouri, Washington, Nebraska, California, and West Virginia—is accused of plotting to fly drones packed with explosives over the White House during a mixed martial arts cage fight attended by thousands. Prosecutors allege the attack was aimed at killing President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and billionaire Elon Musk, among others. The planning allegedly took place in a group chat on the encrypted SimpleX app that began in May.
According to the Department of Justice, Proper wrote in the chat that the assault would also target Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Jim Justice (W.Va.), and Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), as well as GOP Representatives Carol Miller (W.Va.) and Riley Moore (W.Va.).
Vice President Vance downplayed the plot's sophistication in a Tuesday appearance on Fox News' "The Five," saying, "There was a lot of security there. And it turns out the plot was like, not that advanced. They weren't in town." Law enforcement discovered the threat four days before the event and halted it before any attack could materialize.
Eric Brehm, an attorney for Scaggs, told the AP that "there appears to be a significant disconnect between the severity of the alleged offenses and Mr. Scaggs' naivety, lack of sophistication, and judgment." Proper's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
This case is part of a broader pattern of politically motivated plots drawing federal attention. In a separate incident, an Olympian recently pleaded not guilty to charges of damaging a reflecting pool, while another court revealed an alleged confession note in a murder case involving conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The defendants' next court date is set for later this month, with pretrial motions expected to focus on the evidence gathered from encrypted communications and the scope of the conspiracy charges.
