Four alleged members of the so-called Turtle Island Liberation Front recently arrested on suspicion of plotting a New Year’s Eve bombing attack against two businesses in LA and Orange counties have been indicted for additional terrorism-related felonies, prosecutors announced on Tuesday.
Two of the four are charged with one count of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
All are charged in the indictment, handed up on Dec. 23, with one count of providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists, and one count of possession of unregistered firearms.
The group previously had been charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device, according to a criminal complaint earlier this month.
Tia Lai of Glendale, 41, will be arraigned in U.S District Court in downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 2, 2026. Audrey Carroll of South Los Angeles, 30, and 32-year-old Zachary Aaron Page of Torrance are scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 5. Dante Anthony-Gaffield of South Los Angeles, 24, is set to be arraigned on Jan. 20.
Carroll and Page were the two who were each indicted on one count of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
Carroll allegedly drafted the eight-page handwritten document called “Operation Midnight Sun” that detailed the New Year’s Eve bomb scheme.
The document included details on the intended targets, instructions on how to create bombs and procure needed materials, and instructions on how to avoid leaving behind traceable evidence.
The NYE bombing plot was intended to “completely pulverize” their targets, according to a news release from the Justice Department, which included technology and logistic companies with facilities in Southern California. They were not named in the indictment.
Once the document was complete, Carroll allegedly recruited others to join in the attack, including Page, Gaffield, and Lai.
Page allegedly used an encrypted messaging app to send the following messages to co-conspirators, including Carroll and Gaffield, on Nov. 29, 2025: “death to israel death to the usa death to colonizers death to settler-coloniasm [sic].” In response to Page’s message, Carroll is accused of writing, “Death to them all, burn it all down [three emojis of a burning heart].”
In early December, the defendants acquired bomb-making materials — such as potassium nitrate, sulfur, charcoal, and pipes — to build and test explosive devices in the Mojave Desert on Dec. 12, 2025, prosecutors said.
Carroll and Page allegedly also had plans to target U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles with firearms and pipe bombs to “take some of them out and scare the rest of them,” according to the Justice Department.
Carroll and Page face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison if convicted. Lai and Gaffield could face up to 25 years behind bars.
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