FBI officials have said they arrested four alleged members of a pro-Palestinian extremist group accused of plotting a series of New Year’s Eve bombings in Los Angeles.Fox News reports that the suspects self-identified as part of an offshoot of the extremist group Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF).The FBI has said the individuals were plotting coordinated bombings using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at five separate locations across Los Angeles.The four suspects were arrested in Lucerne Valley, where the FBI stated it believed the group was preparing to test IEDs. The suspects have been named as Audrey Caroll, 30, Zachary Aaron Page, 32, Dante Garfield, 24, Tina Le, 41. All of them are from the Los Angeles area.Each of the them has been charged with conspiracy and possession of a destructive device.The agency confirmed that a fifth individual with connections to TILF was arrested in New Orleans in connection with planning a separate attack.“The recent attacks across the country have highlighted the grave threats posed by these far left domestic terror groups,” Bill Essayli, First Assistant United States Attorney for the District of California told the press on Monday. “These threats are sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity, and direct policy outcomes, and prevent the proper functioning of a democratic society.” Essayli confirmed the TILF is a "an anti-capitalist, anti-government movement that calls for their associates to rise up and fight back against capitalism."It was also confirmed that Carroll — one of the leaders of the group — had helped to organize an even more radical faction of the TILF named the Order of the Black Lotus and created a detailed bombing plot to use explosive devices to attack five or more locations across Southern California on the upcoming New Year's Eve. "Caroll and her co-defendant, Zachary Page, led the effort to obtain and build the bombs and to recruit others to join in their plot," Essayli said. Caroll and Page also discussed follow-up attacks, including plans to target ICE agents and vehicles with pipe bombs, with Caroll saying the attacks would “take some of them out and scare the rest.” The co-conspirators coordinated through encrypted messaging and in-person meetings in Los Angeles and planned to test explosives in the Mojave Desert.On Dec. 12, the four defendants traveled to a remote desert campsite with bomb-making materials and began preparing to assemble and test the devices. Authorities said they possessed everything necessary to construct a functional bomb. At Caroll’s residence, investigators found materials linked to the TILF, including posters reading “Death to America. Long live Turtle Island and Palestine” and “Death to ICE.” .FBI director Kash Patel took to X, commending the work of FBI investigators and their law enforcement partners at the US Justice Department."Their work undoubtedly saved countless lives," Patel said. .US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said, "After an intense investigation, the Department of Justice, working with our FBI, prevented what would have been a massive and horrific terror plot in the Central District of California (Orange County and Los Angeles).""This was an incredible effort by our US Attorneys’ Offices and the FBI to ensure Americans can live in peace. We will continue to pursue these terror groups and bring them to justice."
