On December 15th, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the arrest of four suspects involved in a planned New Year’s Eve bomb attack in Los Angeles. The suspects, including a Chinese woman, were identified as members of a radical faction known as the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), which is pro-Palestine, anti-law enforcement, and anti-government.
During a press conference on Monday morning, the FBI and federal prosecutors revealed that the four defendants had planned to place homemade bombs at five locations in Los Angeles and destroy two American companies on New Year’s Eve. The suspects were arrested last Friday in the Mojave Desert in California and appeared in court for the first time on Monday afternoon at the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
The four individuals, all locals of Los Angeles, were identified as 30-year-old Audrey Illeene Carroll, also known as “Asiginaak”; 32-year-old Zachary Aaron Page, also known as “AK”; 24-year-old Dante Anthony-Gaffield, also known as “Nomad”; and 41-year-old Tina Lai, also known as “Kickwhere”.
According to the indictment released on Monday, Tina Lai actively participated in the plot for the bombing case. On December 8th, Lai, using the alias “Kickwhere,” messaged her accomplices in a Signal group chat, confirming their plan to go to the desert together for a bombing conspiracy rehearsal.
Law enforcement officers found materials for making explosives, including metal saws, PVC pipe segments, and handwritten notes reflecting the ideology consistent with the TILF organization, at Lai’s residence.
The TILF organization is described as a radical group pro-Palestine, anti-law enforcement, and anti-government, with social media accounts posting content advocating violence against American officials. In a post dated November 28, 2025, the organization wrote, “Revolution is the only way.” Additionally, the defendants frequently referred to each other as “Comrade.”
FBI agents from the Los Angeles Joint Terrorism Task Force provided testimony in the indictment. In late November, TILF member Carroll provided a confidential human source cooperating with law enforcement with an eight-page handwritten document titled “Midnight Sun Operation,” detailing a bomb conspiracy.
The defendants’ plans discussed the use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), specifically a “complex pipe bomb,” for “terrorist activities,” as well as instructions on how to manufacture the bombs and avoid leaving evidence.
On the morning of December 12th, the four suspects traveled to a remote area in the Mojave Desert in two vehicles, discussing using cigarettes as delay fuse devices for the bombs on the way. Carroll informed Lai that the purpose of going to the desert was to conduct a rehearsal for the New Year’s Eve bombing conspiracy.
Around 10 a.m., after arriving at the desert, the suspects began setting up camp. Carroll, Page, and Lai were carrying materials for making bombs, including PVC pipes of various sizes, suspected potassium nitrate, charcoal, charcoal powder, sulfur powder, and materials for fuses. Before they could complete assembling functional explosive devices, FBI agents intervened and thwarted the conspiracy.
The indictment also mentioned that Page and Carroll discussed future attack plans after the New Year’s Eve bombing, including using pipe bombs to target Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and law enforcement vehicles starting in January or February 2026.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on social media, stating that the Department of Justice, in cooperation with the FBI, had prevented the terrorist attack conspiracy. Pam Bondi affirmed that they would continue to pursue these members of the terrorist organizations and bring them to justice.
Bill Essayli, Assistant U.S. Attorney of the Central District of California, expressed that the successful prevention of an imminent domestic terrorist attack through collaboration between federal and local law enforcement agencies protected the people of Southern California. He emphasized that extremist left-wing anti-government organizations attempting to destroy the American way of life would never succeed and would face severe legal consequences.