What is Turtle Island Liberation Front, the extremist anti-government group whose offshoot planned a NYE terror attack
A squad of splinter‑cell members from the fringe organization Turtle Island Liberation Front, notorious for publishing incendiary slogans such as “Death to America” on social media, were taken into custody last Friday after law‑enforcement officials said they were plotting a New Year’s Eve terror strike in the Greater Los Angeles region.
TILF, a relatively obscure extremist collective that brands itself as “pro‑Palestinian, anti‑law‑enforcement, and anti‑government,” has been quietly gathering money and equipment with the aim of ushering in what it calls a “revolutionary change in government.”
An FBI affidavit revealed that the group urges the working class to rise up against what it sees as an oppressive capitalist system. The affidavit added, “TILF believes that liberalism and peaceful protest will ultimately lead to the downfall of those who think their aims are already achieved. It insists that ‘direct action is the only way’.”
The Origin of “Turtle Island”
The group draws its name from “Turtle Island,” an Indigenous term most often used by the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples to refer to North America. The name comes from legends in which the continent was fashioned atop a giant turtle’s back.
This term predates the United States and neatly dovetails with the organization’s goal of dismantling what it views as an illegitimate nation‑state.
Activist groups such as Black Lives Matter have also adopted the phrase, using it to challenge the colonial nomenclature of the U.S. and Canada. TILF, however, has taken the idea to an extreme, blending a rhetoric of “decolonisation” for both North America and Israel. Its members have circulated statements like “From Turtle Island to Palestine, Occupation is a Crime” to illustrate this blend.
In an October Facebook post, the group clarified its stance, stating, “When we say ‘Death to America’ and call for an end to colonisation, it does not mean the displacement or harm of non‑indigenous citizens.” The organization has also taken pride in social‑media photos of members waving Palestinian flags and brandishing signs such as “Death to ICE!!!”
Links Between TILF and the New Year’s Eve Plot
On Monday, the FBI together with the Department of Justice announced that authorities had thwarted a bomb plot orchestrated by a splinter faction of TILF known as the Order of the Black Lotus. The plot, titled “OPERATION MIDNIGHT SUN,” was alleged to involve the detonation of bombs in the Los Angeles area.
A confidential FBI source received an eight‑page memorandum on the operation. Four members of the Order of the Black Lotus—Audrey Ilene Carroll (30), Zachary Aaron Page (32), Dante Gaffield (24), and Tina Lai (41)—were charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device and conspiracy. A fifth, unnamed suspect faced charges in a related but separate attack.
The plan called for operatives to adopt “BlacBloc” uniforms, purchase pipe‑bomb materials in cash, and take precautions to obscure their identities. According to the complaint, members believed federal agents were already onto them. Page allegedly asserted that the FBI “was at 100,000 %” on their trail during a December 7 meeting.
Both Carroll and Page reportedly entertained future attacks, such as targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers with pipe bombs, hoping the strikes would “take some of them out and scare the rest.” In a dialogue recorded by a Signal contact, Carroll referenced a “terrorist diary” filled with unrealised plans, laughing off the idea with “lmaooooo/ I have to get rid of that.”
President Trump had issued an executive order on September 22 directing the administration to target domestic terror groups, including Antifa. Los Angeles first assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli described these threats as “sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity and direct policy outcomes, and prevent the proper functioning of a democratic society.”
The trio was apprehended in Lucerne Valley, a desert town in the Mojave, where they attempted to detonate an improvised explosive. They will face their first appearance in federal court in Los Angeles next Monday.
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