US Bomb Plot Ringleader Called Herself a “Hamas Fangirl,” Indictment Says
Federal prosecutors say four California activists who allegedly prepared a coordinated bombing campaign also repeatedly voiced violent threats toward Israel and openly embraced Hamas, according to an indictment unsealed this week, Times of Israel reports.
Authorities say the suspects—Audrey Illeene Carroll, Zachary Aaron Page, Dante Gaffield, and Tina Lai, ages 24 to 41—were part of a clandestine offshoot known as the Order of the Black Lotus, described in court papers as a radical faction within a network calling itself the Turtle Island Liberation Front.
The indictment alleges that Carroll authored a planning document titled “Operation Midnight Sun,” which laid out a New Year’s Eve attack across Southern California. Prosecutors say the plan called for striking offices tied to technology and logistics firms and targeting federal immigration agents, with the stated aim to “pulverize” selected sites.
Investigators say Carroll recruited the other defendants into the scheme and that the group began gathering bombmaking components, including PVC pipes, potassium nitrate, sulfur powder, gasoline, electronics, and pistol primers. The materials were allegedly taken to a remote desert campsite for testing, where the FBI moved in and made arrests before any devices were fully assembled.
As the alleged preparations progressed, the indictment says the defendants exchanged messages expressing extreme hostility toward Israel and the United States. Using encrypted messaging, Page wrote to the group, “death to israel death to the usa death to colonizers death to settler-coloniasm [sic.].”
Carroll responded, “Death to them all, burn it all down,” followed by three emojis of a burning heart.
In subsequent exchanges cited by prosecutors, Carroll wrote, “I identify as a terrorist,” and, “I am a Hamas fangirl.” Gaffield later told the group, “I am here to destroy Zionism by any means necessary.”
“Real Activism = Destroying Zionism By Any Means, even if it’s risky. If you aren’t willing to die for or lose your freedom, then you’re just another toy in the machine,” he added.
Carroll replied, “Glory to the martyrs and death to Israel.”
The indictment further alleges that Carroll argued the collapse of the United States would hasten Israel’s downfall. Prosecutors say images recovered from her home show posters marked with inverted red triangles—a symbol associated with Hamas—and slogans including, “Death to America, long live Turtle Island and Palestine.”
The Turtle Island Liberation Front, described by authorities as far-left, anti-Israel, anti-government, and anti-capitalist, also surfaced publicly during the same period. Prosecutors say the group promoted and joined a heated protest outside a Los Angeles synagogue, where demonstrators reportedly entered the building to disrupt a private event.
On social media, the group advertised the demonstration with incendiary language, calling synagogue members “genocidal monsters.”
“These genocidal war criminals have no place in our city, and no place in Palestine. Never let them live in peace,” the post said.
Photos released by prosecutors from the arrest scene show bomb components laid out alongside signs reading “Free Palestine,” reinforcing, they argue, the ideological motive behind the alleged plot.
The charges include providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists, possession of unregistered firearms, and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. Carroll and Page face potential life sentences if convicted, while Gaffield and Lai could each receive up to 25 years in prison.
{Matzav.com}
