A plan to attack several Los Angeles-area businesses on New Year's Eve was detailed, dangerous and already in motion, authorities said.
But when four people allegedly linked to an anti-government group met last week in the Mojave Desert to make and test several test bombs, FBI officials thwarted the terrorist plot.
“They had everything they needed to make a working bomb at that location,” First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said at a news conference Monday morning. “We disrupted this terrorist plot before buildings were demolished or innocent people were killed.”
The four people were arrested on suspicion of planning an attack that Essayli called “organized, sophisticated and extremely violent.” All were linked to a radical faction of the Turtle Island Liberation Front called the Order of the Black Lotus, which FBI assistant director in charge Akil Davis called “a violent local anti-government group.”
Officials did not say what buildings or businesses were planned to be attacked, but Essayli said they were different “fulfillment centers” similar to what Amazon might have.
Authorities said they believe everyone involved in the planned attack has been arrested, although the investigation into the plot remains ongoing.
The four alleged conspirators, Audrey Carroll, Zachary Page, Dante Gaffield and Tina Lai, have been charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device, Essayli said.
“The arrested subjects imagined placing backpacks with improvised explosive devices to detonate them in multiple locations in Southern California, targeting American companies,” Davis said.
The plans the FBI uncovered also included follow-up attacks after the attacks, including plans to attack ICE agents and vehicles with pipe bombs, Essayli said.
