Four members of pro-Palestinian group arrested for planning bombings across Los Angeles

JTA – Federal authorities have arrested four people in connection to an alleged plot to bomb locations across Southern California on New Year’s Eve.

The four suspects – Audrey Ilene Carroll, 30; Dante Garfield, 24; Zachary Aaron Page, 32; and Tina Lai, 41 – are members of the Turtle Island Liberation Front, an offshoot of a pro-Palestinian far-left extremist group, according to the Department of Justice and FBI.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrests in a post on X on Monday, writing that the arrests had foiled what “would have been a massive and horrific terror plot in the Central District of California.”

“The Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), 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 [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents and vehicles,” wrote Bondi.

The group’s name is an indigenous reference to the American continent, and the group promotes aggressive actions in support of decolonisation.

“Peaceful protest will never be enough,” wrote the group in a recent social media post. “Free occupied Turtle Island from the illegal American empire. Free Palestine. Free Hawaii. Free Puerto Rico.”

Earlier this month, the group posted the address of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, inviting followers to “join us in a protest against these genocidal monsters” while the synagogue was hosting Israeli speakers. Two people were arrested during the pro-Palestinian protest at the synagogue, which was called “abhorrent” by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

The arrests in the alleged New Year’s plot took place last week in the Mojave Desert where the suspects were allegedly planning to test improvised explosive devices. The group now faces charges including conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device, according to a complaint filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California.

Patel said that the FBI had also arrested a “fifth individual believed to be linked to this radical TILF subgroup, also allegedly planning a separate violent attack.”

On Monday, a post on what appeared to be the group’s Instagram account of a “Palestine Pop Up” market was flooded with comments about the arrest: “Have fun in jail,” many of the comments said.