Plot To Bomb Companies Across SoCal On New Year's Eve Thwarted In IE Desert: Feds

LOS ANGELES, CA — A plot to blow up facilities across the Southland on New Year's Eve has been thwarted and the suspects arrested in the Inland Empire, federal officials announced Monday.

Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30, Zachary Aaron Page, 32, Dante Gaffield, 24, and Tina Lai, 41, are accused in a federal criminal complaint of planning to plant bombs at U.S. companies in Southern California and blow up the facilities as the new year began.

Each defendant was charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device, according to the criminal complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court, Central District of California.

More charges are expected, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said during a news conference Monday in Los Angeles.

All of the defendants are from the Los Angeles area and "are all members of the radical, anti-government members of the Turtle Island Liberation Front," Essayli said.

Authorities claim the group is a "far-left pro-Palestinian, anti-government, and anti-capitalist organization" that also allegedly advocates for attacks targeting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles.

Authorities did not name the companies targeted for attack, but the criminal complaint identified them as "property and facilities operated by two separate companies that are used or engaged in activities affecting interstate and foreign commerce."

Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said the defendants were arrested Friday in San Bernardino County's Lucerne Valley while allegedly planning and rehearsing the attack.

Before FBI agents swooped in, the defendants were testing explosive devices in the Mojave Desert that day and possessed bomb-making components intended for use in coordinated New Year's Eve bombings that would target "five or more locations" across Southern California, according to officials at Monday's news conference.

The defendants' handwritten plan laid out how complex pipe bombs were to be used in the New Year's Eve scheme, including instructions on how to manufacture the explosive devices, and guidance to avoid leaving evidence behind that could be traced back to the group, according to the criminal complaint.

Carroll and Page led the bomb-building efforts and recruited others to join their scheme, Essayli said. Many of the components needed for the explosive devices were purchased by Carroll on Amazon, according to the complaint.

Prior to the desert meetup, the defendants allegedly used a Signal messaging group called the "Order of the Black Lotus" to discuss the bombing plot, including the plan to test explosive devices in the Mojave Desert, according to the criminal complaint.

The Order of the Black Lotus is a faction of the Turtle Island Liberation Front that Essayli described as "even more radical."

Carroll also allegedly operated an Instagram account, @turtleislandliberationfrontla, which includes the tagline "Liberation through decolonization and tribal sovereignty."

The defendants appeared in Los Angeles federal court on Monday, but no pleas were entered. Carroll, Page and Gaffield are scheduled for arraignment on Jan. 5. Lai's arraignment date is Jan. 2. Carroll remains held without bail. Page is scheduled for a Dec. 19 detention hearing. Gaffield was ordered released on bond, but prosecutors appealed, and the defendant remains in custody. Lai was also being detained Monday.

Comments on behalf of the defendants were not immediately available Monday.

San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said Monday in a released statement, "The successful prevention of this planned attack underscores the critical importance of sustained coordination between federal, state, local, and tribal law-enforcement partners. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department works closely with the FBI through the Joint Terrorism Task Force to identify, disrupt, and neutralize threats before they can cause harm to the public."