FBI arrests four in alleged New Year’s Eve bombing plot in Los Angeles

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) foiled a "credible, imminent terrorist threat" over the weekend and arrested four individuals, allegedly members of a fundamentalist pro-Palestinian group accused of hatching a plot to carry out bombings in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve, FBI director Kash Patel said on Monday (Dec 15). The agency arrested another person for allegedly planning an attack in New Orleans.

“They were allegedly planning coordinated IED bombing attacks on New Year’s Eve, targeting five separate locations across Los Angeles,” the FBI director wrote on X.

Patel further said those arrested belonged to a “radical offshoot” of the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), a group that Patel described as “motivated by pro-Palestinian, anti-law-enforcement, and anti-government ideology.”

US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday described TILF, the group accused of planning terror attacks, as “far-left, pro-Palestine, anti-government and anti-capitalist.”

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She further said that the coordinated bombings that the outfit was planning were multiple targets in California and set to take place on New Year's Eve. The group was also allegedly going to target US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles

“This was an incredible effort by our US Attorneys’ Offices and the FBI to ensure Americans can live in peace,” the attorney general said. “We will continue to pursue these terror groups and bring them to justice.”