“The Turtle Island Liberation Front — a far-left, pro-Palestine, anti-government, and anti-capitalist group — was preparing to conduct a series of bombings against multiple targets in California beginning on New Year’s Eve. The group also planned to target ICE agents and vehicles,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This was an incredible effort by our U.S. 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.”
“The charges made public show the FBI and our partners disrupted a dangerous New Year's Eve plot to simultaneously target two U.S. companies with multiple explosive devices,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The defendants allegedly acquired materials to construct the devices, planned to test them in the Mojave Desert, and used encrypted communications in an attempt to evade detection, but thanks to the FBI and our partners those efforts failed. The FBI is committed to keeping our homeland safe and making sure those who attempt violent acts face justice.”
“These arrests mark the disruption of a dangerous conspiracy to spread fear and terror across Southern California and the United States on New Year’s Eve, as well as to conduct future attacks targeting federal officers. This country protects the right to hold extreme views about its past, present, and future, but violence is an unmistakable and enforceable line,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “The National Security Division is committed to investigating and prosecuting those who cross that line.”
“Working together, federal and local law enforcement prevented a domestic terrorist attack from occurring this New Year’s Eve in Southern California,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “Far-left anti-government extremist groups seeking to destroy the American way of life will never prevail and will always face the full force of the law.”
The following defendants were arrested Friday in the Mojave Desert and are charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device:
- Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30, also known as Asiginaak, of South Los Angeles;
- Zachary Aaron Page, 32, also known as AK, of Torrance;
- Dante Gaffield, 24, also known as Nomad, of South Los Angeles; and
- Tina Lai, 41, also known as Kickwhere, of Glendale.
The defendants are scheduled to make their initial appearances in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Carroll is a member of the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), a group that, according to its social media page, is dedicated to “liberation through decolonization and tribal sovereignty” and for the working class to rise up and fight back against capitalism.
“Turtle Island” is a term used by some Native Americans to describe the North American continent, and the group has promoted anti-capitalist, anti-government sentiment by posting on social media advocating violence against U.S. officials.
In late November 2025, Carroll provided to co-conspirators an eight-page handwritten document titled, “Operation Midnight Sun,” which described a bombing plot. The plan called for backpacks with bombs to be simultaneously detonated at five or more locations targeting two U.S. companies at midnight this New Year’s Eve in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.
The plan stated that the “ieds” (improvised explosive devices) would be “complex pipe bombs,” included instructions on how to manufacture the bombs, and included guidance to avoid leaving evidence behind that could be traced back to the co-conspirators. As the co-conspirators plotted their attack, Carroll acknowledged what they were planning to do would be “considered a terrorist act.”
Carroll and fellow TILF member Page recruited other co-conspirators to the plot, including Gaffield and Lai. The co-conspirators took numerous steps toward executing the bombing plot, including acquiring bomb-making materials and traveling to a remote location in the Mojave Desert to construct and detonate test bombs on December 12.
While in the desert, the co-conspirators took steps to begin construction of the devices, including unloading the bomb-making materials from their cars and beginning to assemble the materials on a table. They also constructed a tent to keep the bomb materials shaded from the sun, wiped down the interior of one of the pipes used for the bombs, and Carroll discussed grinding a precursor for use in an explosive powder.
FBI agents then intervened and arrested the defendants before they completed assembling a functional bomb.
If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison on the conspiracy count and up to 10 years in federal prison on the unregistered destructive device possession count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating this matter. Considerable assistance was provided by the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, and the Palm Springs Police Department. FBI field offices in Boston, Buffalo, and New Orleans are also providing assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ian V. Yanniello, Amanda B. Elbogen, and Daniel H. Weiner for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case, with assistance from Trial Attorney Patrick Cashman of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
