The FBI announced Monday, Dec. 15, that four people have been arrested and charged in connection with a New Year’s Eve pipe bombing plot that targeted at least five locations across Southern California.
The defendants are accused of being members of an offshoot of the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), which federal officials said is motivated by extremist pro-Palestinian, anti-law enforcement and anti-government ideologies, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement posted on social media.
The group is said to have planned a coordinated IED bombing attack on New Year’s Eve that targeted at least five separate businesses across Los Angeles and Orange counties, Patel said.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a Nov. 15 statement that the law enforcement investigation “stopped a massive and horrific conspiracy in the Central District of California.”
A fifth person was arrested by the FBI in New Orleans on suspicion of “planning another violent attack,” Patel said. The director said the suspect is also believed to be associated with TILF.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Esseri also said on Nov. 15 that the four defendants, all in Los Angeles, targeted multiple businesses and that the threat was organized, sophisticated and extreme. Esseri did not name the targeted companies, but told reporters they were logistics companies.
In addition to businesses, the group also plans to target U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles, authorities said.
Who are the four people charged in the Los Angeles NYE terrorist plot?
Authorities identified the defendant as Audrey Eileen Carroll, 30. Dante Garfield, 24 years old. Zachary Aaron Page (32 years old) and Tina Lai (41 years old). The four were arrested “without incident” on Dec. 12, the statement said.
The defendants are charged in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device, according to court documents reviewed by USA TODAY.
The four are scheduled to make their first appearance in federal court later on Dec. 15, Esseri told reporters.
He said additional charges are expected in the coming weeks as investigators review the evidence.
“Death to ICE”
During a search of the suspect’s home, law enforcement said they found multiple Turtle Island-related posters and other evidence, including a detailed copy of the planned attack.
Officials claimed one piece of evidence read “Death to ICE.”
FBI Deputy Director Akil Davis said the pipe bomb the group had planned to test in the desert was scheduled to explode at midnight on NYE.
During the press conference, officials played video evidence that the FBI says shows the defendants planning a bomb test in the desert.
“A credible and imminent terrorist threat.”
Patel said in a statement that the FBI thwarted a “credible and imminent terrorist attack” and praised agents and law enforcement partners.
“Their work undoubtedly saved countless lives,” Patel wrote.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell and Sheriff Robert Luna, who also attended the press conference, thanked all agencies involved in the incident.
“You deserve to feel safe, and we are committed to ensuring that safety today,” Luna said.
This story has been updated.
Natalie Neisa Alland is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her at X @nataliealund
