The group, Turtle Island Liberation Front, planned to blow up buildings in Los Angeles marked by painted Hamas triangles
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass, and more than a dozen House Democrats who represent parts of Los Angeles have remained silent on the coordinated bomb plot a radical anti-Israel group was planning before it was foiled by the federal government.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Monday the Justice Department arrested four members of Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), an “anti-government, anti-capitalist” group that promotes anti-Israel ideologies. The group planned to detonate five bombs across Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve, painting Hamas triangles near their targets, according to a criminal complaint.
None of the elected Democrats who represent the city or state responded to requests for comment. That includes Reps. Pete Aguilar, Derek Tran, Maxine Waters, Ted Lieu, Luz Rivas, Linda Sánchez, Brad Sherman, Norma Torres, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Laura Friedman, Jimmy Gomez, George Whitesides, Nanette Barragán, Julia Brownley, Judy Chu, and Gil Cisneros.
That’s not to say the elected officials were inactive on social media. Newsom, for example, announced new hires to the state’s public health department. Rep. Robert Garcia (D.) posted a statement that lamented the murders of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife and referenced “domestic terrorism” without providing additional details.
“Really horrible news about the Reiner family. A tragic weekend of shootings, domestic terrorism, and so much evil and pain. Love and light to all impacted,” Garcia wrote minutes after Bondi’s announcement.
Anti-Semitism has been on the rise, both in the United States and globally, with a slate of high-profile attacks. Over the weekend, 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor, were killed at a Hanukkah celebration by two gunmen motivated by ISIS.
In the plotted Los Angeles bombings, federal prosecutors charged Audrey Illeene Carroll, Zachary Aaron Page, Dante Gaffield, and Tina Lai with conspiracy and possession of unregistered destructive devices following their Friday arrest. The criminal complaint shows the defendants hold significant ties to the anti-Israel movement, with TILF centered around militant, anti-Israel rhetoric and open endorsement of violence. The document showed photos of their alleged bomb-making stations, which included “Free Palestine” stickers.
The complaint notes that the group planned to target two companies in their attack. While neither was named, TILF protested Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense company, outside its Los Angeles office earlier this month.
“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.
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