The FBI said it prevented a “credible, imminent terrorist threat” targeting Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve, according to agency director Kash Patel.
Patel confirmed that four people were arrested in connection with the planned attacks. Authorities said the suspects were allegedly preparing coordinated IED bombings aimed at five separate locations across Los Angeles.
In addition, another individual was arrested for a separate planned attack in New Orleans. All five face charges of conspiracy and possession of a destructive device.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the arrests stopped “what would have been a massive and horrific terror plot in the Central District of California,” which includes both Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Patel described the arrested individuals as part of a “radical offshoot” of the Turtle Island Liberation Front, a group reportedly motivated by pro-Palestinian, anti-law-enforcement, and anti-government beliefs.
The FBI said an Instagram account linked to the group claimed its goal was to free “Turtle Island,” a term sometimes used to refer to North America. The account’s contents have not been independently verified. Turtle Island is commonly used by Indigenous peoples and activists to refer to the continent.