Bomb plot revelations from federal prosecutors are drawing scrutiny as California’s top Democrats declined to comment on a coordinated attack planned in Los Angeles. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Monday that the Justice Department arrested four members of Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), an “anti-government, anti-capitalist” group accused of plotting to detonate five bombs across the city on New Year’s Eve.
According to a criminal complaint, the suspects planned to mark targets with Hamas triangles and carried out bomb-making preparations tied to anti-Israel ideology. Despite the seriousness of the bomb plot, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and more than a dozen House Democrats representing the region did not respond to requests for comment.
The silence stood out as officials stayed active online on unrelated matters. Newsom highlighted new public health hires, while Rep. Robert Garcia posted about unrelated violence, writing, “A tragic weekend of shootings, domestic terrorism, and so much evil and pain. Love and light to all impacted,” minutes after Bondi’s announcement.
Federal prosecutors charged Audrey Illeene Carroll, Zachary Aaron Page, Dante Gaffield, and Tina Lai with conspiracy and possession of unregistered destructive devices. Investigators say the group’s materials included “Free Palestine” stickers and photos of alleged bomb-making stations. The complaint also cites protests against Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense company with offices in Los Angeles.
The arrests come amid a documented rise in anti-Semitic violence. Over the weekend, attackers motivated by ISIS killed 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration, including a 10-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor.
TILF’s rhetoric was explicit. “These genocidal war criminals have no place in our city, and no place in Palestine. Never let them live in peace,” the group wrote on Instagram. As details of the bomb plot emerge, questions remain about why so many elected leaders chose not to address a foiled mass-casualty attack in their own backyard.
