US authorities foil California bomb plot by 'far-left extremists'

Attorney General describes Turtle Island Liberation Front as pro-Palestine, anti-government and anti-capitalist

From right, FBI assistant director in charge Akil Davis, Los Angeles Police Department chief Jim McDonnell and LA County Sheriff Robert Luna at the media conference. AP Photo

Federal authorities on Monday announced the arrests of four people accused of being members of an extremist group, who were suspected of plotting to launch co-ordinated bombings on New Year’s Eve across southern California.

The suspects were arrested last week in Lucerne Valley, to the east of Los Angeles, where they were accused of preparing to test homemade bombs before the planned attacks, according to the federal criminal complaint filed on Saturday.

That document said the four – Audrey Illeene Carroll, Zachary Aaron Page, Dante Gaffield and Tina Lai – each face charges including conspiracy and possession of a destructive device. They are suspected of being members of a group called the Turtle Island Liberation Front. In a post on X, Attorney General Pam Bondi described the group as “far-left, pro-Palestine, anti-government and anti-capitalist”.

The Turtle Island Liberation Front is alleged to have been plotting to set off bombs at sites in California starting on New Year’s Eve, as well as planning to target Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles, Ms Bondi said.

Ms Carroll is accused of presenting an eight-page handwritten document to a paid confidential source, titled Operation Midnight Sun, which described a bomb plot. Ms Carroll and Mr Page later allegedly recruited the other two defendants to help carry out the plan.

Photos 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, sulphur powder and material to be used as fuses, among others”, the complaint states.

At a media conference later on Monday, officials showed surveillance aerial footage of the four suspects moving a large black object in the desert to a table, shortly before their arrests. No motive was put forward.

“Carroll’s bomb plot was explicit,” first assistant US attorney Bill Essayli said. “It included step-by-step instructions to build IEDs [improvised explosive devices] … and listed multiple targets across Orange County and Los Angeles."

Two of the group’s members also had discussed plans for future attacks including attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles with pipe bombs in 2026, according to the criminal complaint.

“Carroll stated that some of those plans would, quote, ‘take some of them out and scare the rest',” Mr Essayli said.

The plans were discussed at a meeting with members in Los Angeles and through an encrypted messaging app, he added.

Authorities issued search warrants and found posters for the Turtle Island Liberation Front at Ms Carroll's home that called for “Death to America,” and “Death to ICE”, Mr Essayli said. In Mr Page's residence, police found a copy of the detailed bomb plan, he added.

FBI director Kash Patel earlier said the agency had “disrupted a credible, imminent terrorist threat”. “In the days since, FBI New Orleans arrested an additional fifth individual believed to be linked to this radical Tilf subgroup – also allegedly planning a separate violent attack.

“Outstanding work by our investigators and law enforcement partners at the Justice Department. Their work undoubtedly saved countless lives.”