4 charged with plotting New Year’s Eve attacks in Southern California, prosecutors say
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal authorities said Monday that they foiled a plot to bomb multiple sites of two U.S. companies on New Year’s Eve in Southern California after arresting members of an extremist anti-capitalist and anti-government group.
The four suspects were arrested Friday in the Mojave Desert east of Los Angeles as they were rehearsing their plot, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said during a news conference. Officials showed reporters surveillance aerial footage of the suspects moving a large black object in the desert to a table. Officials said they were able to make the arrests before the suspects assembled a functional explosive device.
In the criminal complaint, the four suspects named are Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30; Zachary Aaron Page, 32; Dante Gaffield, 24; and Tina Lai, 41. They are all from the Los Angeles area, Essayli said.
Officials did not describe a motive but said they are members of an offshoot of a group dubbed the Turtle Island Liberation Front. The group calls for decolonization, tribal sovereignty and “the working class to rise up and fight back against capitalism,” according to the criminal complaint. Officials also found “Free Palestine” flyers at the desert campsite where the suspects were working with the bomb-making materials.
The charges against each suspect include conspiracy and possession of a destructive device. Essayli said additional charges were expected in coming weeks.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the suspects had attorneys, and The Associated Press was unable to reach family members. AP also sent Turtle Island Liberation Front’s social media accounts messages asking for comment but did not get a response.
Essayli said Carroll last month created a detailed plan to bomb five or more business locations across Southern California on New Year’s Eve. He declined to name the companies but described them as “Amazon-type” logistical centers.
“Carroll’s bomb plot was explicit,” Essayli said. “It included step-by-step instructions to build IEDs… and listed multiple targets across Orange County and Los Angeles.”
The plan included planting backpacks filled with complex pipe bombs that were set to be detonated simultaneously at midnight on New Year’s Eve at five locations, according to officials and the criminal complaint. New Year’s Eve was identified as an opportune time in the plan that stated “fireworks will be going off at this time so explosions will be less likely to be noticed,” according to the investigation.
The eight-page handwritten plan titled “OPERATION MIDNIGHT SUN” stated more locations could be added. The locations were identified as property and facilities operated by two separate companies tied to activities affecting interstate and foreign commerce, according to the complaint.
Two of the group’s members also had discussed plans for future attacks targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles with pipe bombs in 2026, according to the criminal complaint.
Carroll noted “that would take some of them out and scare the rest of them,’” according to the complaint.
The plans were discussed both at an in-person meeting with members in Los Angeles and through an encrypted messaging app, Essayli said.
Photos included in the court documents show a desert campsite with what investigators said were bomb-making materials strewn across plastic folding tables.
The suspects “all brought bomb-making components to the campsite, including various sizes of PVC pipes, suspected potassium nitrate, charcoal, charcoal powder, sulfur powder, and material to be used as fuses, among others,” the complaint states.
The plan included instructions on how to manufacture the bombs and also how to avoid leaving evidence behind that could be traced back to the group, officials said. The suspects recently had acquired precursor chemicals and other items, including purchases from Amazon, according to the complaint.
The FBI moved in last week as they rehearsed the attack in the desert near Twentynine Palms, California, officials said.
“They had everything they needed to make an operational bomb at that location,” Essayli said.
Authorities issued search warrants and found posters for the Turtle Island Liberation Front at Carroll’s home that called for “Death to America,” and “Death to ICE,” Essayli said. In Page’s residence, police found a copy of the detailed bomb plan, he added.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said while federal and local officials disagree on the Trump administration’s immigration raids, they come together still to protect residents. The LAPD does not stop people or take action for any reason related to immigration status, and it doesn’t enforce immigration laws, a practice that has been in place for 45 years.
“The successful disruption of this plot is a powerful testament to the strength of our unified response,” McDonnell said.
The suspects were taken into custody without incident. They were scheduled to appear in court in Los Angeles Monday afternoon.
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Watson reported from San Diego. Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed to this report.