4 charged with plotting New Year's Eve attacks in Southern California, prosecutors say

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal authorities said Monday that they foiled a plot to bomb multiple sites of two U.S. companies on New Year’s Eve in Southern California after arresting members of an extremist anti-capitalist and anti-government group.

The four suspects were arrested Friday in the Mojave Desert east of Los Angeles as they were rehearsing their plot, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said during a news conference. Officials showed reporters surveillance aerial footage of the suspects moving a large black object in the desert to a table. Officials said they were able to make the arrests before the suspects assembled a functional explosive device.

In the criminal complaint, the four suspects named are Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30; Zachary Aaron Page, 32; Dante Gaffield, 24; and Tina Lai, 41. They are all from the Los Angeles area, Essayli said.

Officials did not describe a motive but said they are members of an offshoot of a group dubbed the Turtle Island Liberation Front. The group calls for decolonization, tribal sovereignty and “the working class to rise up and fight back against capitalism,” according to the criminal complaint.

The term “Turtle Island” is used by some Indigenous peoples to describe North America in a way that reflects its existence outside of the colonial boundaries put in place by the U.S. and Canada. It comes from Indigenous creation stories where the continent was formed on the back of a giant turtle.

Officials also found “Free Palestine” flyers at the desert campsite where the suspects were working with the bomb-making materials.

The charges against each suspect include conspiracy and possession of a destructive device. Essayli said additional charges were expected in coming weeks.

The four suspects' attorneys did not immediately return requests for comment, and The Associated Press was unable to reach family members. AP also sent Turtle Island Liberation Front's social media accounts messages asking for comment but did not get a response.

Essayli said Carroll last month created a detailed plan to bomb five or more business locations across Southern California on New Year’s Eve. He declined to name the companies but described them as “Amazon-type” logistical centers.

“Carroll’s bomb plot was explicit,” Essayli said. “It included step-by-step instructions to build IEDs... and listed multiple targets across Orange County and Los Angeles."

The plan included planting backpacks filled with complex pipe bombs that were set to be detonated simultaneously at midnight on New Year's Eve at five locations, according to officials and the criminal complaint. New Year’s Eve was identified as an opportune time in the plan that stated “fireworks will be going off at this time so explosions will be less likely to be noticed," according to the investigation.

The eight-page handwritten plan titled “OPERATION MIDNIGHT SUN” stated more locations could be added. The locations were identified as property and facilities operated by two separate companies tied to activities affecting interstate and foreign commerce, according to the complaint.

Two of the group’s members also had discussed plans for future attacks targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles with pipe bombs in 2026, according to the criminal complaint.

Carroll noted “that would take some of them out and scare the rest of them,’” according to the complaint.

The plans were discussed both at an in-person meeting with members in Los Angeles and through an encrypted messaging app, Essayli said.

Photos included in the court documents show a desert campsite with what investigators said were bomb-making materials strewn across plastic folding tables.

The suspects “all brought bomb-making components to the campsite, including various sizes of PVC pipes, suspected potassium nitrate, charcoal, charcoal powder, sulfur powder, and material to be used as fuses, among others,” the complaint states.

The plan included instructions on how to manufacture the bombs and also how to avoid leaving evidence behind that could be traced back to the group, officials said. The suspects recently had acquired precursor chemicals and other items, including purchases from Amazon, according to the complaint.

The FBI moved in last week as they rehearsed the attack in the desert near Twentynine Palms, California, officials said.

“They had everything they needed to make an operational bomb at that location,” Essayli said.

Authorities issued search warrants and found posters for the Turtle Island Liberation Front at Carroll's home that called for “Death to America,” and “Death to ICE,” Essayli said. In Page's residence, police found a copy of the detailed bomb plan, he added.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said while federal and local officials disagree on the Trump administration's immigration raids, they come together still to protect residents. The LAPD does not stop people or take action for any reason related to immigration status, and it doesn’t enforce immigration laws, a practice that has been in place for 45 years.

“The successful disruption of this plot is a powerful testament to the strength of our unified response,” McDonnell said.

The suspects were taken into custody without incident. They were scheduled to appear in court in Los Angeles Monday afternoon.

Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press journalists Jessica Hill in Las Vegas and Graham Lee Brewer in Norman, Oklahoma, contributed to this report.

First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli, right, speaks in front of LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell during a press conference announcing developments on a terrorism investigation Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis announces developments on a terrorism investigation during a press conference Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli, right, speaks during a press conference announcing developments on a terrorism investigation Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis, right, speaks in front of LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell while announcing developments on a terrorism investigation during a press conference Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Photos of suspects of a terror plot are shown on a screen during a press conference Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The NBA Cup final doesn't count. New York will enter with an 18-7 record. San Antonio will enter with an 18-7 record. And when Tuesday night's game between the Knicks and Spurs is over, those records will be unchanged.

But the game will have plenty of meaning. The teams are sure of that.

A trophy, some bragging rights and a ton of money will be at stake when the Knicks and Spurs play in the NBA Cup title game. It'll be the first time those franchises have met with a trophy on the line since San Antonio topped New York in the 1999 NBA Finals.

“It's a high-stakes game that both teams are going to be very invested in winning," Spurs star Victor Wembanyama said. “It just shows that we are preparing and we will pass the next step for more significant games in the playoffs. This is a complicated explanation, but it’s as simple as that: As competitors, we want to win every game, and this one brings something new on the table, so we want to win it even more.”

It will be the end of the third in-season event: The Los Angeles Lakers beat Indiana in Year 1 when it was part of what was simply called the In-Season Tournament, and Milwaukee beat Oklahoma City last year after the rebranding to the NBA Cup. At stake: $318,560 per player with a standard contract on the winning team — they've secured $212,373 each from the Cup bonus pool by getting to the final, and the winners' share jumps to $530,933 apiece.

“You’re not winning or gaining anything in your record, but you’re going out there and competing,” Knicks guard Jalen Brunson said. “You’re playing for more than just yourself. You’re playing for your team, your organization and your city. There’s a lot at stake besides the record. You go out there and compete no matter what.”

Added Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox: “People like money. It is what it is. That's life.”

The financial payoff is one thing. There's another payoff that could come this spring for the Spurs and Knicks.

The four previous Cup finalists — the Lakers and Pacers, then the Thunder and Bucks — all went to the playoffs after playing for this trophy, with the Pacers making the East finals in 2024 and the Thunder winning the title last season.

“No matter if it’s the Cup, NBA Finals, winning any game, when you get that feeling of winning, it’s addictive,” Knicks forward Karl-Anthony Towns said. “Obviously, I want us to have that mindset where we’re addicted to the next championship if we can win this one. I think this is a great start for us to understand the standards needed to win at a high level, at a championship level.”

Every NBA Cup game counts in the standings, except the final. The NBA regular season is 82 games long and the league — in the Cup era — gives each club an 80-game schedule over the summer, with two more games to be filled in depending on how they perform during the group stage of the tournament.

For the Spurs and Knicks, those two extra games were the Cup quarterfinals and semifinals. This would be an 83rd game, so the league decided when it added the tournament that the Cup final wouldn't count in the official records or stats for that season.

It won't change the way the teams play.

“You treat it like a regular game,” Brunson said.

Wembanyama will likely remain on some sort of minutes restriction; he played 21 minutes off the bench on Saturday night in San Antonio’s 111-109 win over Oklahoma City, his first game back after missing 12 with a strained left calf.

The Spurs came into Monday still deciding whether to start Wembanyama against the Knicks.

“When it comes to a guy like Wemby, because at his size and his skillset, nine times out of 10 he’s going to miss because he misses,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “But we have some pretty good defenders with length, and hopefully they can, at the point of attack, try to make it as difficult as possible with him, knowing that they have help behind them.”

The Knicks and Spurs both got to the Cup final with 5-1 records in the tournament; they each were 3-1 in group play, then went on the road for quarterfinal wins (New York over Toronto, San Antonio over the Lakers) before New York topped Orlando and San Antonio beat the Thunder in Saturday's semifinals in Las Vegas.

And now, a game that means nothing. Or everything, depending on perspective.

“I think we go into (Tuesday) trying to win the NBA Cup, and that’s the approach,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “Our guys are really, really excited to be here. They’ve been excited since the start of it. ... I think we’ve seen our group really embrace the Cup. We’ve earned the right to be here, and I think we’re going to attack the game and be really fired up to try to go win it.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson (11) lines up a pass past Toronto Raptors' Jamal Shead during the first half of an NBA Cup basketball game in Toronto, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) stands on court before film crews after playing in an NBA Cup semifinals basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)