A 63-year-old woman riding as a passenger in an Uber vehicle was killed Monday morning when a man allegedly fleeing a warrant crashed a car into the Uber in North Philadelphia, police said.
Just before 7:15 a.m., the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office attempted to serve a domestic-assault warrant for Joseph Cini, 35, on the 900 block of North Watts Street.
Police said Cini fled the scene in a Nissan Maxima heading east on Girard Avenue from Watts. The Maxima crashed into a red Jeep Patriot at the intersection of Ninth Street and Girard Avenue, and Cini allegedly got out of the car and ran north on Eighth Street.
The female Uber passenger was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The 51-year-old driver was taken by medics to Temple University Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
Cini is now also wanted for leaving the scene of a fatal accident, and anyone who knows his whereabouts is asked to call the police Crash Investigation Division at 215-685-3181.
Tips can also be submitted anonymously by calling or texting the police department’s tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477).
A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office said in an email that the agency was “fully cooperating with all investigative authorities.”
The spokesperson added: “The Office extends its deepest condolences to the victim’s family. Support services have been made available to the deputies involved.”
Punk group Pussy Riot was declared an “extremist organization” by a Russian court on Monday.
The ruling, which was made by Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court, effectively outlaws the group from operating in Russia and puts anyone linked with the group at risk of criminal prosecution.
The feminist protest group first catapulted to notoriety in 2012, when its members performed a provocative “punk prayer” against President Vladimir Putin from the pulpit of Russia’s largest cathedral.
Today, members of the group remain part of Russia’s opposition, largely working in exile.
In September, five people linked with Pussy Riot — Maria Alyokhina, Taso Pletner, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot, and Alina Petrova — were handed jail terms by a Russian court after being found guilty of spreading “false information” about the Russian military, news outlet Mediazona reported. Mediazona was founded by Alyokhina along with another Pussy Riot member, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.
The case was linked to an anti-war music video made by the group, as well as an art performance in Germany that saw Pletner urinate on a portrait of Putin.
Alyokhina received a 13-year prison sentence, while Pletner was given 11 years. Burkot, Petrova, and Borisova were given eight years’ imprisonment. All have rejected the charges as politically motivated.
BEIRUT — Western and Arab diplomats toured an area along Lebanon’s border with Israel Monday where Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers have been working for months to end the armed presence of the militant Hezbollah group.
The delegation that included the ambassadors of the United States and Saudi Arabia was accompanied by Gen. Rodolph Haikal, commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, as well as top officers in the border region.
The Lebanese government has said that by the end of the year, the army should have cleared all the border area south of the Litani River of Hezbollah’s armed presence.
Hezbollah’s leader Naim Kassem had said that the group will end its military presence south of the Litani but vowed again over the weekend that they will keep their weapons in other parts of Lebanon.
Parts of the zone south of the Litani River and north of the border with Israel were formerly a Hezbollah stronghold, off limits to the Lebanese national army and U.N. peacekeepers deployed in the area.
During the tour, the diplomats and military attaches were taken to an army post that overlooks one of five hills inside Lebanon that were captured by Israeli troops last year.
“The main goal of the military is to guarantee stability,” an army statement quoted Haikal as telling the diplomats. Haikal added that the tour aims to show that the Lebanese army is committed to the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war last year.
There were no comments from the diplomats.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon in September last year that severely weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.
The war ended in November 2024 with a ceasefire brokered by the U.S.
Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes since then, mainly targeting Hezbollah members but also killing 127 civilians, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
On Sunday, the Israeli military said it killed three Hezbollah members in strikes on southern Lebanon.
Over the past weeks, the U.S. has increased pressure on Lebanon to work harder on disarming Hezbollah and canceled a planned trip to Washington last month by Haikal.
U.S. officials were angered in November by a Lebanese army statement that blamed Israel for destabilizing Lebanon and blocking the Lebanese military deployment in south Lebanon.
A senior Lebanese army official told the Associated Press Monday that Haikal will fly to France this week where he will attend a meeting with U.S., French, and Saudi officials to discuss ways of assisting the army in its mission. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
The Lebanese army has been severely affected by the economic meltdown that broke out in Lebanon in October 2019.
WASHINGTON — The two Iowa National Guard members killed in a weekend attack in Syria that the U.S. military blamed on the Islamic State group were identified Monday and remembered as dedicated soldiers.
The U.S. Army named them as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered all flags in Iowa to fly at half-staff in their honor, saying, “We are grateful for their service and deeply mourn their loss.”
The Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, has said a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter also was killed. Three other Guard members were wounded in the attack, the Iowa National Guard said Monday, with two of them in stable condition and the other in good condition.
The shooting Saturday in the Syrian desert near the historic city of Palmyra also wounded members of the country’s security forces, and the gunman was killed. The assailant had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and recently was reassigned amid suspicions that he might be affiliated with IS, a Syrian official said.
The man stormed a meeting between U.S. and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba said Sunday.
Al-Baba acknowledged that it was “a major security breach” but said that in the year since Assad’s fall, “there have been many more successes than failures” by security forces.
The Army said Monday that the incident is under investigation. Military officials and President Donald Trump have blamed the attack on an IS member.
Trump administration vows retaliation
“Our hearts go out to their families, and we lift them up in prayer for strength and comfort during this time of grief,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday on social media. “The United States of America will avenge these fallen Americans with overwhelming force.”
Trump reiterated his promise of retaliation from over the weekend, telling reporters at the White House on Monday that IS will “be hit hard.”
He also reaffirmed his support for Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, saying the Syrian government is not to blame for the deadly attack.
“This had nothing to do with him,” Trump said of al-Sharaa. “This is a part of Syria that they really don’t have much control over. And it was a surprise. He feels very badly about it. He’s working on it. He’s a strong man.”
Trump welcomed al-Sharaa, who led the lightning insurgency that toppled Assad’s rule, to the White House for a historic meeting last month.
Iowa National Guard members remembered as heroes
Meanwhile, Torres-Tovar and Howard were remembered as dedicated soldiers and “cherished members” of the Iowa National Guard family, Stephen Osborn, adjutant general, said in a statement.
“Our focus now is providing unwavering support to their families through this unimaginable time and ensuring the legacy of these two heroes is never forgotten,” Osborn said.
Howard had wanted to be a soldier since he was a young boy, according to Jeffrey Bunn, Howard’s stepfather and chief of the Meskwaki Nation Police Department in Tama, Iowa, about 60 miles northeast of Des Moines.
Howard “loved what he was doing and would be the first in and last out,” Bunn wrote Saturday on the department’s Facebook page.
Howard also was a loving husband and an “amazing man of faith,” Bunn said, adding that Howard’s younger brother, a staff sergeant in the Iowa National Guard, would escort “Nate” back to Iowa.
Howard was inspired by his grandfather’s service and wanted to serve for 20 years, according to an April post on a Facebook page dedicated to sharing stories of the unit. He had served for over 11 years.
Three fellow members of the Iowa Guard who were deployed with Torres-Tovar reflected on his character in a joint statement to local TV broadcast station, WOI.
David Hernandez, Freddy Sarceño, and Luis Corona described him as “very positive,” family oriented, and always putting others first.
The same week Republican National Committee chair Joe Gruters said history predicted “almost certain defeat” for his party in the 2026 midterms, Pennsylvania Republicans partying in Midtown Manhattan projected relative calm about the election cycle.
Gruters, President Donald Trump’s handpicked chair to run the party, said on a conservative radio station last week: “It’s not a secret. There’s no sugarcoating it. It’s a pending, looming disaster heading our way. We are facing almost certain defeat.”
He added that the goal is to win and he “liked our chances in the midterms,” but noted “only three times in the last hundred years has the incumbent party been successful winning a midterm.”
Pennsylvania could decide which party controls the U.S. House next year, as Democrats eye four congressional districts that Republicans recently flipped while the GOP fights to maintain its majority.
But Pennsylvania Republicans in New York City for the annual Pennsylvania Society glitzy gathering of politicos last weekend had a less hair-on-fire view.
“At this point when I was running [for Senate in 2024], the betting market said there was a 3% chance I was going to win,” Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) said after addressing a bipartisan audience at the Pennsylvania Manufacturer’s Association luncheon on Saturday.
“We’re a million miles from Election Day, and we’ve got a great track record of things to talk about and a great vision for how the president’s policies are going to make life better for working families,” McCormick said. “We just got to go out and make that message happen, but also continue to make the policies that are going to make that a reality happen.”
The political environment was, of course, far more favorable to Republicans in 2024, when Trump won Pennsylvania by a larger margin than he did in 2016. But with Republicans in power and popular Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro on the ballot for reelection, the headwinds in 2026 in the Keystone State are different.
Pennsylvania GOP chair Greg Rothman, in an interview outside the PMA event on Saturday, called Shapiro “one of the greatest politicians of my generation” but noted that upsets have happened across various political environments in state history.
“Anything can happen and the voters are smart, and all I can do is prepare the party to ride the waves and ignore the crashes, but I’m optimistic,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rothman predicted that the four Pennsylvania congressional incumbents running for reelection in swing districts will sink or swim based on how Trump and his policies land with voters come November.
“They will be judged by the national economy and by immigration,” he said, and by Trump’s ability to end some international conflicts.
But U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a GOP incumbent running for reelection in Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District, which includes Scranton, had a more local view of how to win in 2026.
“Everything about our job as a member of Congress is about northeastern Pa.,” Bresnahan said.
“Northeastern Pennsylvania has always been our North Star. We know our district. We are out in our district. We’ve done over 250 public events. Our constituency case work is, in my opinion, one of the best offices in the country.”
Bresnahan appeared at a rally with Trump in Mount Pocono last week. He was also one of just 20 House Republicans to sign a successful discharge petition to force a vote for collective bargaining to be restored for federal workers.
“At the end of the day that might have been going against party leadership, but it was what’s right for northeastern Pennsylvania,” he said.
Democrats have begun a full court press. That was evident at the Pennsylvania Society, where attendees seen mingling with other politicians included: Janelle Stelson, who is running for a second time against U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in the 10th Congressional District, as well as firefighter Bob Brooks and former federal prosecutor Ryan Croswell, both of whom are running for the Democratic nomination to take on U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the Seventh.
Bresnahan’s challenger, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, also attended the soiree and walked through the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center with U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.) on Friday night. Coons said the time is now for Democrats to get involved in these races.
“Given the margin, if there were to be four new Democrats in the House this cycle, as there were in 2018, that’d be the difference maker for the country,” Coons added.
Staff writer Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.
WATERBURY, Conn. — A judge on Monday disbarred Hunter Biden in Connecticut for violating the state’s attorney conduct rules, a decision that comes after complaints were made about the federal gun and tax charges Biden was convicted of before being pardoned last year by his father, former President Joe Biden.
In an agreement with the state office that disciplines lawyers, Hunter Biden consented to being disbarred and admitted to attorney misconduct, but he did not admit to any criminal wrongdoing. He was disbarred in Washington, D.C., in May.
Hunter Biden did not speak as he and his lawyer, Ross Garber, appeared via video at a virtual court hearing before Judge Trial Referee Patrick L. Carroll III in Waterbury.
Hunter Biden was convicted last year in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing a gun in 2018 when, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
He had been set to stand trial in September 2024 in a California case in which prosecutors accused him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes. He agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges hours after jury selection was set to begin.
The Connecticut judge found that Hunter Biden violated several ethical rules for lawyers, including engaging in conduct “involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.” In a court document, Hunter Biden admitted to some but not all of the misconduct allegations. The judge also cited the Washington disbarment.
Paul Dorsey, one of the two people who filed the complaints about the former president’s son, told the judge during Monday’s hearing that he objected to the agreement because Hunter Biden did not admit to committing crimes. But Leanne Larson, an attorney with the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, cited the pardon.
Hunter Biden was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1997, a year after graduating from Yale Law School.
In the days after the killing of 93-year-old Lafayette Dailey on Dec. 3, authorities said, street surveillance cameras captured Coy Thomas behind the wheel of Dailey’s white 2007 Chrysler 300.
Then, they said, Thomas sold the car for $900.
On Monday, prosecutors with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office released new details in their case against Thomas, who is charged with murder, robbery, and related crimes in connection with a slaying that unfolded quietly inside Dailey’s Logan home.
Surveillance footage from that day showed a man police believe to be Thomas walking through the front door of Dailey’s house in the 4500 block of N. 16th St. About 10 minutes later, prosecutors said, the man reemerged, slid behind the wheel of Dailey’s sedan, and drove away.
Two days later, police found Dailey dead inside the home. He had been stabbed several times in the chest.
His house had also been “ransacked,” said Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski, with “things thrown around,” indicating “there was a struggle” before Dailey was killed.
Police found no signs of forced entry. Thomas’ unhindered entrance into the home suggested that the men knew one another “in a neighborly way,” Toczylowski said. Thomas, 53, previously lived near Dailey, she said.
Thomas is also accused of stealing and using Dailey’s debit card before he was taken into custody on Sunday.
District Attorney Larry Krasner called the killing “evil,” adding: “Even the mob didn’t target seniors.”
Krasner asked anyone with information about the killing to call police.
“It’s in your hands to make sure that your energy and your eyes and your ears are tuned in, so that we can prevent this next time and we can get a just and appropriate remedy this time,” he said.
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — The government of Trinidad and Tobago said Monday that it would allow the U.S. military to access its airports in coming weeks as tensions build between the United States and Venezuela.
The announcement comes after the U.S. military recently installed a radar system at the airport in Tobago. The Caribbean country’s government has said the radar is being used to fight local crime, and that the small nation wouldn’t be used as a launchpad to attack any other country.
The U.S. would use the airports for activity that would be “logistical in nature, facilitating supply replenishment and routine personnel rotations,” Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. It did not provide further details.
Only 7 miles separate Venezuela from the twin-island Caribbean nation at their closest point. It has two main airports: Piarco International Airport in Trinidad and ANR Robinson International Airport in Tobago.
Hours after the announcement, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said her country was immediately canceling any contract, deal, or negotiation to supply natural gas to Trinidad and Tobago.
She claimed that the government of Trinidad and Tobago participated in the recent U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off the country’s coast, calling it an “act of piracy.”
She also accused Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, of having a “hostile agenda” against Venezuela, noting that the U.S. military installed an airport radar in Tobago.
“This official has turned the territory of Trinidad and Tobago into a US aircraft carrier to attack Venezuela, in an unequivocal act of vassalage,” Rodríguez said.
The office of Trinidad’s prime minister did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Trinidad and Venezuela had previously reached a deal over the development of a gas field in Venezuelan waters, near the maritime border separating the two countries.
In December 2023, Venezuela granted a license for oil giant Shell and Trinidad and Tobago to produce gas from the field. In October, the U.S. government granted Trinidad and Tobago permission to negotiate the gas deal without facing U.S sanctions placed on Venezuela.
Amery Browne, an opposition senator and Trinidad and Tobago’s former foreign minister, accused the Trinidadian government on Monday of being deceptive in its announcement.
Browne said that Trinidad and Tobago has become “complicit facilitators of extrajudicial killings, cross-border tension, and belligerence.”
“There is nothing routine about this. It has nothing to do with the usual cooperation and friendly collaborations that we have enjoyed with the USA and all of our neighbors for decades,” he said.
He said the “blanket permission” with the U.S. takes the country “a further step down the path of a satellite state” and that it embraces a “‘might is right’ philosophy.”
American strikes began in September and have killed more than 80 people as Washington builds up a fleet of warships near Venezuela, including the largest U.S. aircraft carrier.
In October, an American warship docked in Trinidad’s capital, Port-of-Spain, as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump boosts military pressure on Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro.
U.S. lawmakers have questioned the legality of the strikes against vessels in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific Ocean, and recently announced that there would be a congressional review of them.
NEW YORK — Pennsylvania’s political class schmoozed their way across Midtown Manhattan this past weekend, bouncing from cocktail parties to swanky receptions organized to woo the elite ahead of a big midterm election year.
Four Inquirer political writers were among those who traveled to the Pennsylvania Society gathering, chatting with lawmakers and interviewing candidates inside the moody bars and penthouse parties. Here are our takeaways.
Maybe Shapiro doesn’t need Pa. Society anymore
Gov. Josh Shapiro this year has hosted fundraisers in New Jersey and Massachusetts for his unannounced reelection campaign.
But he didn’t need to make the rounds this weekend among Pennsylvania’s political elite as he emerges as a top contender for the 2028 Democratic nomination for president.
Shapiro traveled to New York City only to deliver his annual speech to the Pennsylvania Society and honor former U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David L. Cohen, who received the society’s top award.
Instead of handshaking and fundraising like most incumbent governors would, Shapiro has largely avoided Pennsylvania Society mingling during his time as governor. His reelection campaign did not appear to change that.
Pennsylvania politicians (from left) Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, Gov. Josh Shapiro and State House of Representatives Speaker Joanna E. McClinton last January attending the swearing-in ceremony of Attorney General David W. Sunday, Jr. in Harrisburg.
Instead, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis hosted a solo fundraiser for their joint reelection ticket.
“There’s a lot of demands on the governor’s time,” Davis said following a speech at the annual luncheon hosted by the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association.
The Third Congressional District race was the talk of the town
Three of the candidates vying to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans in the Third Congressional District had a busy weekend in New York. State Sen. Sharif Street, pediatric surgeon Ala Stanford, and State Rep. Morgan Cephas made the rounds.
Sharif Street speaks from the pulpit of Mother Bethel A.M.E. church Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025 as the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity holds a press conference with other community and political leaders to discuss the negative impacts of the ongoing government shutdown. Mother Bethel Pastor Rev. Carolyn Cavaness is at left.
Stanford held a somewhat star-studded fundraiser Thursday evening, hosted, according to a posted listing for the private event, by Hamilton actor Leslie Odom Jr. (who did not attend but lent his name).
Not spotted: StateRep. Chris Rabb, who is running as an anti-establishment progressive.
“That’s not really my thing,” he said in a text message.
The Parker-Johnson relationship was a hot topic
Philadelphia City Council wrapped up its final meeting of the year the day before the Pennsylvania Society began, and the lawmakers gave the chatterati plenty to talk about in Manhattan, with a dramatic close to the session.
One major topic of conversation in New York: What did Council’s recent conflict with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker over her housing plan mean for the unusually tight relationship between Council President Kenyatta Johnson and the mayor?
The consensus: Mom and Dad were fighting, but they’ll probably patch things up.
“Disagreements between Council and mayor — it happens,” said Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia-based public affairs executive whose firm hosted a packed party in Midtown on Saturday. “It’s the way the system is set up.”
City Council president Kenyatta Johnson speaking with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker in June 2024.
Johnson, he said, likely improved his standing with members by holding firm against a last-minute amendment Parker proposed to alter Council’s version of the housing plan’s budget.
Parker and Johnson both made the trek to Manhattan, along with Councilmembers Rue Landau, Nina Ahmad, Jamie Gauthier, Jeffery “Jay” Young Jr., Kendra Brooks, Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Jim Harrity, Cindy Bass, and Quetcy Lozada.
At the PMA luncheon, Parker embraced former Gov. Tom Corbett and gave a warm greeting to Auditor General Tim DeFoor, both Republicans.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker (left) and former Gov. Tom Corbett at the luncheon hosted by the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association on Saturday in New York.
At the same event, Republican U.S. Sen Dave McCormick shouted out Parker multiple times during his prepared remarks. The pair have forged a working relationship despite their partisan differences.
“We talk about challenges in the city that we’re facing right now, and the hope is that we can count on some folks as allies,” Parker said of meeting with members of the GOP.
She added: “It’s great to try to maintain those lines of communication.”
Special interests woo political elite
Many of the events were hosted by special-interest groups and corporations that have business with the government and are looking to win influence over glasses of Champagne.
There were the usual suspects and big law firms: Duane Morris always hosts a marquee late-night event on Friday in the sprawling Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center. Other firms including Cozen O’Connor, Ballard Spahr, and Saul Ewing also hosted cocktail parties.
The company, which has spent millions on political contributions and lobbying, threw a cocktail reception Thursday night at an Italian restaurant attended by a sizable contingent of state lawmakers.
But solutions seemed possible at the Pace-O-Matic party, as Central Pennsylvania Republicans and Philadelphia Democrats milled about the bar in an unlikely alliance.
Another bipartisan event — this one in a sunny room atop the vintage Kimberly Hotel — was hosted by Independence Blue Cross and AmeriHealth Caritas, insurance companies that have Medicaid contracts with the state.
Lawmakers often credit the weekend of partying in New York as a time for civil conversations in a neutral territory that ultimately benefit a philanthropic cause at the Pennsylvania Society’s annual dinner.
But Rabbi Michael Pollack, who leads the government accountability group March on Harrisburg, said the civility seems to come only when special interests are footing the bill.
“It’s absolutely embarrassing that our legislators can only interact with each other when a lobbyist sets up a playdate for them,” he said.
A Christmas budget ballad by DJ Ward
Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward debuted a hidden musical talent on stage at the annual bipartisan Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry breakfast: She canwrite a Harrisburg holiday hit.
“I did live in Nashville for six years and no one discovered me,” she joked, before launching into a three-minute budget balladto the tune of “Deck the Halls.”
Ward (R., Westmoreland) debuted her song after an ugly budget battle that lasted 135 days and ended just last month. Punctuated by fa-la-las, she called out each of the top leaders who were in the closed-door budget talks.
Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) speaking in February 2024 at the Capitol in Harrisburg.
Ward is among Shapiro’s top critics. The two had hardly spoken since 2023 until Ward joined in-person budget negotiations at the end of October.
Shapiro will propose a new budget in February, restarting the budget negotiation process.Ward urged the group of leaders to take a break from fighting during the holiday season.
It’s Christmas and we’re all here together
Republicans and Democrats, and all who matter
Let’s celebrate the birth of Jesus
For the next three weeks, let’s not be egregious
Perhaps next budget season will inspire a mixtape.
LOS ANGELES — Federal authorities said Monday that they foiled a plot to bomb multiple U.S. companies on New Year’s Eve in Southern California, announcing the arrests of members of an extremist anti-capitalist and anti-government group.
The four suspects were arrested Friday as they were testing explosives in the desert east of Los Angeles, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said during a news conference.
Officials showed reporters surveillance aerial footage of the four suspects moving a large black object in the desert to a table shortly before their arrests.
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 pro-Palestinian group dubbed the Turtle Island Liberation Front. Each faces charges including conspiracy and possession of a destructive device, Essayli said, adding that additional charges were expected in coming weeks.
It wasn’t immediately clear if they had attorneys and the Associated Press was unable to reach family members.
Essayli said Carroll last month created a detailed plan to bomb five or more locations across Southern California on New Year’s Eve, and they were trying to hit multiple companies. 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 explosive devices at multiple businesses that were set to blow up simultaneously at midnight on New Year’s Eve, according to officials and the criminal complaint.
Two of the group’s members also had discussed plans for future attacks including targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles with pipe bombs in 2026, according to the criminal complaint.
“Carroll stated that some of those plans would quote ‘take some of them out and scare the rest,’” Essayli said.
The plans were discussed both at an in-person meeting with members in Los Angeles and through an encrypted messaging app, Essayli said.
Evidence 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 stated that the backpacks would contain complex pipe bombs and included instructions on how to manufacture them and also how to avoid leaving evidence behind tracing anything back to the group, officials said. The suspects recently had acquired precursor chemicals and other items, they added.
Last week they were rehearsing their attack and testing devices in the desert near Twentynine Palms, Calif., before federal authorities moved in, officials said.
“They had everything they needed to make an operational bomb at that location,” he 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, who were taken into custody without incident, were scheduled to appear in court in Los Angeles Monday afternoon.
