{"id":488460,"date":"2026-01-03T02:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T02:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/488460\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T02:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T02:35:11","slug":"la-terror-plot-suspect-pleads-not-guilty-as-supporter-blows-kiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/488460\/","title":{"rendered":"LA terror plot suspect pleads not guilty as supporter blows kiss"},"content":{"rendered":"

A woman accused of plotting a New Year\u2019s Eve terrorist bombing spree<\/a> in Los Angeles was greeted with smiles and blown kisses from friends as she appeared in a federal court Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tina Lai appeared in beige jail garb, shackled at the ankles and wrists, wearing orange slides, glasses and with her shoulder-length hair tied back as she pleaded not guilty an arraignment hearing.<\/p>\n

The shocking reception came from around fifteen of Lai\u2019s supporters, consisting of men and women. The group sat in the public gallery and were ordered by a U.S Marshal not to attempt to make any contact with the alleged criminal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But when the brief hearing ended, as the supporters filed out of the courtroom, one individual wearing a blue tank top, smiled at Lai and blew her a kiss.<\/p>\n

Tina Lai pleaded \u201cnot guilty\u201d during a five-minute arraignment hearing in downtown Los Angeles. FBI<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old is charged with one count of providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists, and one count of possession of unregistered firearms.<\/p>\n

Lai \u2014 who also goes by the name \u201cKickwhere\u201d \u2014 was arrested Dec. 12 in the Mojave Desert along with three alleged accomplices as they prepared to test bomb making equipment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sat next to her defense attorney, Humberto Diaz, Lai was asked by Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver if she had read and understood the charges against her, to which she responded: \u201cEr, yes I have, Your Honor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Oliver then asked Lai to state her plea. \u201cNot guilty,\u201d she responded.<\/p>\n

A jury trial is scheduled for Feb. 17.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you Your Honor. Have a good New Year,\u201d Lai said to the judge after the brief hearing. <\/p>\n

Lai\u2019s alleged co-defendants. Department of Justice\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Lai\u2019s alleged co-defendants are ringleader Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30, who goes by the nickname \u201cBlack Moon,\u201d\u00a0Zachary Aaron Page<\/a>, a 32-year-old trans woman, and Dante \u201cNomad\u201d Gaffield, 24. All of the group remain in custody without bail and awaiting trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Authorities assert the group is part of a far-left\u00a0\u201canti-capitalist, anti-government\u201d extremist group<\/a>\u00a0known as the \u201cTurtle Island Liberation Front.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifteen of Lai\u2019s supporters sat in the public gallery and were told by a U.S Marshal not to make any contact with Lai.\u00a0 NY Post<\/p>\n

FBI agents, aided by a confidential informant and undercover agent, prevented the alleged attack \u2014 which investigators say was designed to \u201ccompletely pulverize\u201d tech companies and logistics firms in the City of Angels.<\/p>\n

They also allegedly planned to target U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with a series of shootings and pipe-bomb explosions, according to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe charges a federal grand jury returned today reflect the seriousness of the conduct: a planned terrorist attack on American soil on New Year\u2019s Eve,\u201d First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf convicted, this group of self-professed left-wing radicals will face decades in federal prison.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Micah James Legnon, a\u00a029-year-old transgender Marine vet<\/a>, was also arrested in Louisiana in connection with the alleged plot.<\/p>\n

The group used an encrypted messaging group chat called the \u201cOrder of the Black Lotus,\u201d and Carroll appears to have taken a lead role in organizing the group, penning multiple eight-page, handwritten manifestos called \u201cOperation Midnight Sun,\u201d according to court records.<\/p>\n

Tina Lai was arrested on Dec. 12 in the Mojave Desert along with three alleged accomplices as they prepared to test bomb making equipment.\u00a0 Department of Justice\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The plot included details on intended targets, instructions on how to acquire materials and manufacture the bombs, and guidance on how to avoid leaving evidence that could be traced back to the co-conspirators.<\/p>\n

Carroll allegedly advised the other suspects to dump accelerants around the improvised explosive devices \u201cto do as much damage as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

At an in-person meeting on Dec. 7, the suspects laid out the New Year\u2019s Eve bombing plot in blunt, tactical terms, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n

The thwarted New Years plot included instructions on how to acquire materials and manufacture the bombs. Department of Justice\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Page warned the group to keep everything \u201cas clean as possible\u201d because the FBI would be \u201c100,000%\u201d on them, urging measures like covering shoes with socks to avoid footprints and burning the shoes after the operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re about to do, that\u2019s gonna, uh, be like a Luigi level situation,\u201d Carroll allegedly said, apparently referencing Luigi Mangione. Mangioneis on trial for allegedly\u00a0executing a healthcare executive<\/a>\u00a0before setting off a manhunt.<\/p>\n

Lai\u2019s attorney declined to comment to the Post about his client following the arraignment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her supporters also declined to talk to the Post afterwards while they chatted outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building under light rain.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A woman accused of plotting a New Year\u2019s Eve terrorist bombing spree in Los Angeles was greeted with…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":488461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[101128,1582,276,2961,224,5337,5248,145751,5343,1154],"class_list":{"0":"post-488460","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-bomb-threats","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-losangeles","14":"tag-metro","15":"tag-new-years-eve","16":"tag-terrorism","17":"tag-us-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}