Federal authorities say they disrupted a planned New Year’s Eve bombing attack in the Los Angeles area and arrested four suspects they allege were preparing to deploy multiple explosive devices timed to detonate at midnight during holiday celebrations.
The U.S. Department of Justice identified the defendants as Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30, of South Los Angeles; Zachary Aaron Page, 32, of Torrance; Dante Gaffield, 24, of South Los Angeles; and Tina Lai, 41, of Glendale. Prosecutors said all four were arrested on Friday, in the Mojave Desert, as investigators moved in before any functional bomb was fully assembled.
Authorities say the alleged plot centered on an eight-page handwritten plan titled “Operation Midnight Sun,” which described placing backpacks containing improvised explosive devices at five or more locations tied to two U.S. companies in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. The devices were to be detonated simultaneously at midnight on New Year’s Eve, with the plan noting that fireworks could make explosions harder to immediately detect, according to the criminal complaint and officials who briefed reporters.
The suspects are charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device, the Justice Department said. If convicted, prosecutors said the conspiracy count carries a statutory maximum of five years in federal prison, and the destructive device charge carries up to 10 years. A federal judge would determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Investigators allege Carroll and Page were connected to the Turtle Island Liberation Front, described in court filings as an anti-capitalist, anti-government extremist offshoot that has promoted violent rhetoric online. Prosecutors said Carroll shared the “Operation Midnight Sun” plan with alleged co-conspirators in late November, and the group then took “numerous steps” toward executing it, including acquiring bomb making components and traveling to a remote desert site to rehearse and test devices on December 12th.
In a statement, FBI Director Kash Patel said the FBI and its partners “disrupted a dangerous New Year’s Eve plot” and credited investigators with intervening before the group could complete an operational device. Reuters reported that investigators also examined communications in an encrypted Signal chat titled “Order of the Black Lotus” and that the defendants discussed future attacks targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles.
