The FBI says it stopped a plot for a New Year's Eve bombing campaign in Los Angeles, arresting four people allegedly tied to a radical pro-Palestinian group. FBI Director Kash Patel announced Monday that the four suspects are believed to be part of an offshoot of the Turtle Island Liberation Front, which he described in a post on X as "an extremist group motivated by pro-Palestinian, anti-law-enforcement, and anti-government ideology," reports USA Today. Investigators say the group was preparing coordinated attacks using improvised explosive devices at five locations across Los Angeles on Dec. 31.
A fifth person was arrested in New Orleans, also allegedly linked to TILF and accused of planning a separate violent attack, Patel said. No details were released about the alleged target in that case. Patel called the disrupted operation a "credible, imminent terrorist attack" and credited federal agents and local partners with preventing mass casualties. In a post on X, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the investigation thwarted "a massive and horrific plot," adding that the suspects also intended to attack ICE personnel and vehicles.
The suspects face charges including conspiracy and possession of a destructive device. At a news conference Monday, First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli described TILF as a "radical anti-government group," NBC Los Angeles reports. The plan created by one of the suspects, he said, "included step-by-step instructions to build IEDs" and "listed multiple targets across Orange County and Los Angeles." Authorities displayed video at the news conference of what they said was a bomb-making site in Mojave Desert northeast of Los Angeles, where the suspects allegedly planned to make and test the devices.
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