Federal authorities have stopped what prosecutors describe as a chilling domestic terror plot aimed at unleashing chaos across Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve. According to court filings and federal officials, a radical pro-Palestinian, anti-government group planned to bomb multiple commercial locations while fireworks distracted the public and law enforcement.
The suspects belonged to a fringe extremist cell known as Order of the Black Lotus, a splinter faction linked to the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF). The group has been described by media outlets as aggressively left-wing and openly hostile toward the U.S. government, capitalism, and law enforcement.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli confirmed on Monday that federal agents disrupted what he called an “organized, sophisticated, and extremely violent” terror operation before it could be carried out. The plot was allegedly scheduled to unfold just as Americans rang in the new year.
“We disrupted this terror plot before buildings were demolished or innocent people were killed,” Essayli said. (2:50)
Investigators say the suspects were arrested in the Mojave Desert on December 12, where they had gathered to assemble the explosive devices. The remote location was chosen to avoid detection while preparing materials intended for mass destruction in a densely populated urban area.
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