The Turtle Island Liberation Front may sound like an environmental collective, and the Order of the Black Lotus like a graphic novel subplot, but federal authorities say the group’s real-world plans involved pipe bombs, backpack detonations, and a New Year’s Eve countdown to planned chaos in Southern California.
Federal authorities say they disrupted what they described as a major domestic terror plot aimed at detonating improvised explosive devices across Southern California on New Year’s Eve, arresting four Los Angeles–area residents before any functional bomb was completed.
The Department of Justice and the FBI announced the arrests of Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30; Zachary Aaron Page, 32; Dante Gaffield, 24; and Tina Lai, 41 on Dec. 15.
All four were taken into custody on Dec. 12 in the Mojave Desert near Lucerne Valley and Twentynine Palms, where investigators say they were assembling and testing bomb materials. FBI agents intervened before the devices were operational. The desert area is close to where many Alaskans vacation in the winter, and is a short drive to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device, with prosecutors indicating that additional charges are likely as the case proceeds.
According to a criminal complaint and law enforcement statements, the suspects are alleged members of a radical offshoot of the Turtle Island Liberation Front, sometimes referred to as the Order of the Black Lotus.
Authorities characterized the group as far-left, anti-capitalist, anti-government, pro-Palestinian, and hostile toward law enforcement. Investigators said materials recovered during the investigation included posters and written slogans stating “DEATH TO ICE” and “DEATH TO AMERICA, LONG LIVE TURTLE ISLAND & PALESTINE.”
The alleged plan, dubbed “Operation Midnight Sun” in investigative filings, was outlined in an eight-page handwritten document authored by Carroll and provided to an FBI confidential source in November. Prosecutors say the document described coordinated, near-simultaneous pipe bomb attacks timed for midnight on Dec. 31, targeting five or more locations tied to two unnamed US companies described as large logistics or fulfillment centers in the greater Los Angeles and Orange County areas.
While the suspects allegedly claimed they did not intend to directly kill people and discussed issuing warnings if individuals were nearby, authorities say the devices were designed to cause significant destruction, economic disruption, and widespread fear. The complaint also details discussions about follow-on attacks in early 2026 targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents or vehicles with pipe bombs.
Investigators say the group took steps to evade detection, including using burner phones, planning alibis such as streaming lengthy movies at home during the planned attacks, and attempting to avoid traceable purchases. Despite those efforts, the FBI tracked bomb component purchases, including items ordered online, and conducted extensive surveillance. The investigation involved confidential informants, an undercover employee, physical and aerial surveillance of the desert site where bomb-making activity allegedly took place, and monitoring of communications among the suspects.
Federal officials also disclosed that a fifth individual linked to the Turtle Island Liberation Front was arrested separately in New Orleans in connection with an unrelated alleged violent plot.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel described the case as a disrupted terror operation that could have caused substantial harm had it not been stopped. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli pointed to the case as an example of violent threats emerging from far-left extremist networks, noting that while the term “Antifa” does not appear in the charging documents, the ideology described by investigators mirrors tactics and rhetoric associated with similar movements.
The allegations and characterizations of the group come directly from federal court filings and DOJ and FBI announcements. As of Dec. 16, reporting across major national outlets including Reuters, the Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, The New York Times, Fox News, and the Los Angeles Times was consistent, with no conflicting accounts of the arrests or the nature of the alleged plot.
The case remains active in federal court, and prosecutors say the investigation is ongoing.
