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Federal agents stated on Monday that they had effectively disrupted a elaborate plan to set off IEDs at several locations run by two American firms on New Year's Eve in the LA region. The operation resulted from the arrest of suspects associated with an extremist offshoot promoting anti-corporate and anti-establishment ideologies.

Individuals Taken Into Custody During Desert Rehearsal

The four individuals were arrested last Friday in the Mojave Desert found east of Los Angeles at the time they were reportedly rehearsing their proposed strike. Prosecutors displayed aerial monitoring images to reporters, which captured the individuals transporting a large obscure object to a surface. Authorities emphasized that the apprehensions took place prior to the individuals could put together a fully functional IED.

Identities of the Accused Made Public

According to the public legal filing, the four individuals identified are a 30-year-old named Audrey Illeene Carroll; Zachary Aaron Page, 32 years old; 24-year-old Dante Gaffield; and Tina Lai, 41. The group are understood to be from the greater Los Angeles area.

Suspected Driving Force and Connections

Although officials did not directly outline a rationale, they stated the individuals are members of a splinter group dubbed the Turtle Island Liberation Front. The group allegedly calls for "workers to rise up and resist against the capitalist system," based on the legal filing.

The charges include conspiracy and having a explosive. Officials stated that more charges are likely in the next few weeks.

Details of the Reported "Operation Midnight Sun"

Prosecutors stated that one of the accused had drafted a step-by-step plan last month to target five or more business locations across Southern California on New Year's Eve. The targets were characterized as "similar to Amazon" fulfillment hubs.

"The plan was specific," a prosecutor said. "It included step-by-step instructions to make bombs … and named multiple sites across Orange County and Los Angeles."

Based on the investigation and the complaint, the plan called for placing backpacks containing intricate IEDs that were planned to be exploded simultaneously at midnight on New Year's Eve at several sites. New Year's Eve was seen as an perfect time since the plan stated "fireworks will be going off at this time so explosions will be harder to be detected."

An eight-page manually written document, titled "OPERATION MIDNIGHT SUN," stated that more targets could be added. The sites were categorized as property and operations run by two different firms connected with business affecting national and international trade.

Additional Schemes and Evidence Seized

Court documents also indicated that two people in the faction had talked about later attacks focusing on immigration enforcement personnel and cars with explosives in 2026. One individual allegedly said that such strikes "would eliminate some and frighten the rest of them."

These plans were allegedly talked over both at an in-person assembly in Los Angeles and through an private messaging app.

Photos contained in the case file show a desert campsite with what authorities identified as bomb-making items laid out on portable tables.

Official documents details that the individuals "all brought bomb-making components to the location, including different sizes of tubes, identified as potassium nitrate, charcoal, charcoal powder, sulfur powder, and material to be used as igniters, among others."

The plan also contained guidance on how to manufacture the devices and how to prevent leaving traces that could be connected back to the individuals. The individuals had in the recent past obtained components and other goods, with acquisitions from online retailers.

Apprehension and Aftermath

Federal agents intervened last week as the group were practicing the strike in the remote area near a California town. "They possessed every item they were necessary to construct an functional IED at that place," the attorney commented.

During executed search warrants, authorities allegedly found flyers for the Turtle Island Liberation Front at one individual's home that demanded "Death to America", and "Death to ICE". At another accused's residence, police discovered a copy of the detailed explosives scheme.

The suspects were arrested peacefully. They were scheduled to face a judge in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon.