Four people were arrested in connection with an alleged terrorism plot to bomb five targets in Los Angeles and Orange counties on New Year’s Eve, federal authorities announced Monday.
The defendants were arrested Friday in Lucerne Valley in San Bernardino County and were allegedly part of an offshoot of a Pro-Palestinian group called Turtle Island Liberation Front, officials said.
The four suspects were identified as Audrey Carroll, 30; Zachary Aaron Page, 32; Dante Gaffield, 24; and Tina Lai, 41. They are all from the Los Angeles area, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said during a Monday morning news conference.
The defendants were each charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device, according to the criminal complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court. The four were expected to appear before a magistrate judge Monday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles.
According to the FBI, a fifth individual believed to be connected to the same extremist group was arrested in New Orleans for allegedly planning a separate attack.
The California suspects were arrested Friday in the Mojave Desert as they unloaded bomb-making materials from their cars in preparation to construct and test explosives that were to be used in coordinated attacks on targets throughout the region, Essayli said.
According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Carroll developed a detailed plan last month to bomb five or more locations across Southern California on New Year’s Eve. Essayli did not name the companies being targeted, 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 (improvised explosive devices) … and listed multiple targets across Orange County and Los Angeles.”
Prosecutors allege the plot included planting backpacks filled with explosive devices at multiple businesses that were set to blow up simultaneously at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
The group also allegedly planned to target U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles with pipe bombs in January or February, Essayli said.
“Carroll stated that some of those plans would quote `take some of them out and scare the rest,”’ Essayli told reporters.
He added that the four suspects were arrested in the desert near Twentynine Palms before they were able to finish building an actual destructive device. The complaint includes photos showing a campsite with what prosecutors say were bomb-making materials spread across folding tables.
Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles bureau, said group members “were determined to detonate explosives at multiple businesses” at the same time at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
“The subjects arrested envisioned planting backpacks with improvised explosive devices to be detonated at multiple locations in Southern California targeting U.S. companies,” he said.
Search warrants resulted in the discovery of posters for the Turtle Island Liberation Front at Carroll’s home that said “Death to America,” and “Death to ICE,” according to Essayli. A copy of the detailed bomb plan was found in Page’s home, officials alleged.
“The successful disruption of this plot is a powerful testament to the strength of our unified response,” Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said.