FBI disrupted alleged terrorist bombing plot in Los Angeles, according to officials
(LOS ANGELES) — Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Monday that the FBI disrupted a “massive and horrific terror plot” by an anti-government extremist group allegedly planning a series of bombings against multiple targets in Orange County and Los Angeles, California, beginning on New Years Eve.
Bondi said the plot by the so-called “Turtle Island Liberation Front,” which she described in the announcement as a “far-left, pro-Palestine, anti-government and anti-capitalist group,” also “planned to target ICE agents and vehicles.”
At a Los Angeles press conference Monday morning, Bill Essayli, assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, and Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said that four people — identified as Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30, Zachary Aaron Page, 32, Dante Gaffield, 24, and Tina Lai, 41 — were arrested and each charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device.
The FBI on Friday “intercepted a scheme by members of a violent extremist group we believe determined to detonate explosives at multiple businesses on New Year’s Eve,” according to Davis.
The four people arrested, whom Davis said were “members of a radical faction of the Turtle Island Liberation Front, a violent homegrown anti-government group,” allegedly planned to plant backpacks containing improvised explosive devices “to be detonated at multiple locations in Southern California targeting U.S. companies.”
The IEDs were coordinated to detonate at midnight on New Year’s Eve, Davis said, adding that the suspects were arrested Friday by the FBI while they were allegedly assembling the devices in the desert.
All four will appear in federal court Monday afternoon, according to officials.
Though he declined to name the companies that were allegedly targeted, Essayli described them as “logistics centers.” He added that there were “at least five” locations that the suspects allegedly planned to target in Orange and Los Angeles counties.
FBI Director Kash Patel also posted Monday that a fifth person “believed to be linked” to the Turtle Island Liberation Front had been arrested by the FBI in New Orleans for “allegedly planning a separate violent attack.”
(NEW YORK) — At least one person was killed and six others wounded in a shooting Saturday night at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, according to authorities.
Chester County District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe said in a Sunday morning news conference that the shooting occurred outside the university’s International Cultural Center during homecoming celebrations following a football game.
“This is a devastating night,” Barrena-Sarobe said. “It was a chaotic scene and people fled in every direction.”
One person was detained and was in possession of a firearm, Barrena-Sarobe said, adding that it was possible that there might be another shooter. Officials do not believe that the incident was a planned mass shooting, the district attorney said.
“We are investigating with the full power of federal, state and local law enforcement,” Barrena-Sarobe said.
The Chester County District Attorney’s Office said in an initial statement on social media early on Sunday that law enforcement was “investigating the shooting at Lincoln University” and had identified seven gunshot victims.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a post to X that he was briefed on the shooting and offered his support to the university.
Lincoln University, a historically Black university, is located in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania.
This is a screengrab from a video released by the FBI on Jan. 2, 2024, with new information given in the hunt for the Jan. 6 pipe bomber. FBI
(WASHINGTON) — A federal magistrate judge ordered Friday that the Virginia man charged with placing pipe bombs outside of the headquarters of the RNC and DNC the night before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol remain detained pending trial.
Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh said in the court filing Friday that the government’s evidence amassed thus far against Brian Cole established that there were no conditions he could place on him that would ensure the safety of the general public.
Cole was arrested by federal authorities earlier last month following a massive probe that had stymied investigators for almost five years.
“Although home incarceration and a GPS monitor would provide some check against Mr. Cole’s ability to carry out any menacing or dangerous conduct in the community, the Court is simply not satisfied these conditions rise to the necessary level for the reasons explained,” Sharbaugh said.
“This is particularly true based on the severity of the potential danger Mr. Cole is alleged to pose, given his alleged persistent acquisition and retention of so-called ‘bombmaking parts’ and given his reported penchant and capacity to create explosive devices and deploy them in public settings,” the judge added.
Cole, who has not entered a plea, allegedly told investigators in a lengthy confession that he wasn’t targeting the joint session of Congress that was convening to certify former President Joe Biden’s election win, according to a previous court filing from the Department of Justice.
Sharbaugh’s ruling followed a detention hearing earlier this week, where he appeared to waver over whether he could put in place heavy restrictions on Cole and release him on bail under the supervision of his family.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones urged Sharbaugh to reject arguments made by Cole that he would pose no danger if released and remained under house arrest — noting such a setting was similar to where he had carried out his alleged planning to plant the pipe bombs in the first place.
Jones said that on the morning of his arrest, Cole allegedly wiped the memory from his phone for the 943rd time since December 2020, just days before he allegedly planted the devices.
After Cole saw himself on the news in videos released by the FBI seeking tips on his identity, he said in the interview that he discarded all of his bomb-making materials at a nearby dump and said he never told anyone about his actions in the nearly five years since Jan. 6, according to a court filing.
Cole’s attorneys are expected to again seek his release when the case is ultimately assigned to a federal district judge, after prosecutors revealed in court that they secured a two-count indictment of Cole in D.C.’s Superior Court on Monday.
A memorial set up by Brown University outside of the Barus and Holley building on December 18, 2025. (Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — New details about how police caught up to Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, the 48-year-old former Brown graduate student who allegedly perpetrated a mass shooting at Brown University and killed an MIT professor, have emerged after a dayslong manhunt where he made a series of moves designed to evade authorities.
Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said local police helped track down Valente, who was found dead in a New Hampshire storage unit, thanks, in part, to surveillance video and a detailed tip about a vehicle being driven by a person who noted odd behavior by the suspect.
“I’m being dead serious. Police need to look into a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental,” the tipster told police, according to a complaint released by Rhode Island authorities. “That was the car he was driving.”
The tip and surveillance video, along with the use of license-plate reader technology led investigators to a car rental agency in Massachusetts.
There, police obtained a copy of the rental agreement with the suspect’s name, as well as video of the suspect that matched the videos of the person of interest seen on the Brown University campus on the day of the shooting, the complaint said.
That discovery ultimately led investigators to a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, where the suspect was found dead, officials said.
Financial records and video evidence confirmed that the storage unit belonged to the alleged suspect and that the rental vehicle was connected to both the Rhode Island and Massachusetts cases.
Authorities identified the suspect as Valente, a Portuguese national and former Brown University student whose last known address was in Miami, Florida. Officials said Valente died by suicide Thursday evening.
Officials confirmed that Valente was found with a satchel containing two firearms, and evidence recovered from the vehicle matched what was found at the Providence crime scene.
Federal authorities confirmed that shortly before 9 p.m. on Thursday, FBI SWAT teams executed court-authorized search warrants at a storage facility in Salem, which is where they found Valente’s body.
Portugal’s Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) confirmed to ABC News that Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente studied between 1995 and 2000 in the school’s physics engineering program, the same one attended at the time by slain MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro.
A 1998 announcement in Portugal’s official Diario da República referred to Valente’s appointment as a teaching assistant at IST and a 2000 notice in the same publication mentions his termination from the role.
A spokesperson for IST declined to comment further on Valente’s history at the institution, due to the ongoing investigation and out of respect for the friends and family of Loureiro.
Brown officials confirmed that Valente was enrolled at the university from the fall of 2000 through the spring of 2001 as a graduate student in physics, entering Brown’s graduate program in September 2000 before taking a leave of absence in April 2001 and formally withdrawing in 2003.
“He was not a current student, was not an employee and did not receive a degree from the University, attending for only three semesters as a graduate student until taking a leave in 2001 and formally withdrawing effective July 31, 2003,” Brown University President Christina Paxson wrote in a letter to students and faculty Thursday.
During his time at Brown, he was enrolled only in physics courses, which were typically held in the Barus & Holley building. University records indicate he has had no active affiliation with Brown for more than two decades.
Police said the suspect acted alone and that there is no indication, at this time, of additional planned attacks. Investigators have not identified any writings, known criminal history or clear motive.
Officials said forensic teams are still processing evidence recovered in New Hampshire, including firearms, and will compare it with ballistic and DNA evidence from the Providence crime scene.
Paxson said the university is still reviewing how the suspect gained access to the building. She said the building was unlocked that day because exams were being held, and the university will examine security procedures moving forward.
Investigators said Valente obtained lawful permanency in April 2017 and was issued a green card.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in an X post that Valente received his visa through the diversity visa lottery program, and announced that, at President Donald Trump’s direction, she was pausing the program.
Each year, the State Department awards up to 50,000 immigrant visas to “winners” of the diversity visa lottery. The program was created by Congress in 1990 to allow applicants from countries with low rates of immigration into the U.S. to come here.
The winners are selected at random, but they must still go through a lengthy application process, which includes submitting criminal records, being interviewed at an embassy or consulate, and meeting other requirements, such as having a High School Diploma or two years of work experience. Applicants are then allowed to apply for lawful permanent resident status.
Investigators said they identified Valente by name late Wednesday night and weighed whether releasing his identity could cause him to flee or take further action.
Officials said they believed he might return the rental car in Boston or attempt to leave the area, and they wanted the opportunity to arrest him without alerting him that police were closing in.
Officials said it remains unclear exactly when the suspect took his own life, but noted that he signed into the storage facility but was never seen leaving.
The site was secured by federal agents, and investigators said an autopsy will help determine the timing of his death.
ABC News’ Armando Garcia and Christopher Looft contributed to this report.
