What we know about Daniel Eskridge and the alleged plot to attack UFC Event at White House

KIDDER, Mo. (KQTV) -- Just days before the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Freedom 250 event at the White House, a disturbance call at an Ohio home unraveled a potential terrorist plot, one that federal investigators say was scheduled to strike during the event.

That call led authorities to five men across four states, including 32-year-old Daniel Kenely Eskridge of Kidder, Missouri, who is now facing federal charges of conspiracy to commit murder.

According to the FBI affidavit, Eskridge was connected to the alleged attack through multiple encrypted messaging apps, where a co-conspirator affirmed that he was "running the show."

According to court documents, when agents searched Eskridge's property on June 13th, they found firearms, tactical gear, and ammunition, all neatly packed and staged near the main entrance of his home, as if ready to go at a moment's notice.

Documents say agents seized four weapons in total:

• A Smith & Wesson AR-style rifle.
• A Remington Model bolt-action rifle, a weapon commonly used for long-range precision shooting. Eskridge himself bragged in online chats that he could shoot "consistent 9-inch groupings at 1,000 yards."
• A 12-gauge pump-action shotgun.
• And a Taurus pistol.

But it wasn't just the guns that caught the attention of investigators, agents also found two tactical vests, both equipped with ceramic ballistic plates capable of stopping rifle rounds.

Attached to those vests were ammunition-filled magazines.

Also seized: a ham radio and a multi-cam gun belt fitted with a medical trauma kit.

And then there was the ammunition.

Documents allege that Eskridge claimed to have:

• 450 rounds of green-tip ammunition
• 500 rounds of 5.56-millimeter full metal jacket
• 300 rounds of 9-millimeter ammunition
• 200 rounds of .308 caliber
• And 150 rounds of 12-gauge buckshot

Back in May, Eskridge posted an online inventory of his gear and listed his status as "Tier 1 — Ready."

His message read, "When it's go time, I'll have to leave them behind," referring to his wife and five children, "in hopes that I return home with a brighter future for them."

KQ2 spoke with neighbors in Kidder, who say that this attack was unforeseen, as many attributed Eskridge to be a well-meaning family man.

Many went to high school with him, and when they heard the news, it was a big shock, because they never could have imagined him being at the center of such a well-coordinated attack.

All of this gear and communication, investigators say in the document, was intended for one purpose: a coordinated attack on the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House, an attack that would have involved explosive drones, sniper fire, and possible casualties.

Eskridge now faces federal charges of conspiracy to commit murder.