LOS ANGELES: US authorities have arrested four alleged members of a far-left group suspected of plotting coordinated bomb attacks across Southern California on New Year’s Eve, officials said on Monday.
The suspects were arrested last week in Lucerne Valley, a desert city east of Los Angeles, where they were preparing to test improvised explosive devices ahead of the planned attacks, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Saturday.
According to the complaint, cited to AP news agency, the suspects are members of a group called the Turtle Island Liberation Front.
Each suspect faces charges including conspiracy and possession of a destructive device, according to the federal criminal complaint. Federal authorities said additional charges could follow.
Attorney General Pam Bondi described the arrests on social media, saying the Justice Department and FBI “prevented what would have been a massive and horrific terror plot in the Central District of California,” which covers Los Angeles and Orange County.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the suspects were members of the Turtle Island Liberation Front. Bondi characterised the group as “far-left, anti-government, and anti-capitalist.”
Bill Essayli, head of the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, told reporters that the four were arrested in San Bernardino County, where they had planned to construct and detonate test explosives.
He said the suspects had crafted a “detailed, coordinated plot” to bomb multiple logistics centres across Southern California at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Essayli did not name the targeted companies. He described the suspects as “radical, anti-government members” and warned of the dangers posed by such groups.
Bomb-making materials
Court documents and evidence photos, cited by AP, show a desert campsite where bomb-making materials were laid out on plastic folding tables.
The items included PVC pipes, suspected potassium nitrate, charcoal, sulfur powder, and fuses, according to the complaint.
FBI Assistant Director Akil Davis said video footage from a surveillance plane showed the defendants testing the bombs in the desert. The FBI arrested the suspects soon after.
Authorities said one of the defendants, Audrey Carroll, 30, developed the detailed bombing plot in November. She allegedly collaborated with Zachary Page, 32, to build the devices and recruit participants.
The complaint said Carroll’s plan included instructions for constructing the devices, selecting targets across Los Angeles and Orange County, and coordinating simultaneous explosions at midnight.
A fifth member of the group was arrested in New Orleans, but authorities said this individual was not linked to the California plot.
The Turtle Island Liberation Front describes itself on social media as a political organisation seeking “liberation of occupied Turtle Island and liberation of all colonized people across the world.”
Turtle Island is a term used by some Indigenous groups for North America.
