The Terrorist Attack California Nearly Faced
Just this week, the FBI announced a planned terrorist attack in California that it intercepted and thwarted. The suspects are in custody and facing federal charges, but the details of the plot are shocking and unsettling. This planned attack goes far deeper than a random act of violence or extremism. It shows us that ideas, beliefs, and ideologies matter. And some belief systems are just wrong or even dangerous – they justify destroying a world they don’t agree with.
What Happened?
On Monday, the FBI announced that it had thwarted a planned terrorist attack in California.[1] They arrested four members of an anti-capitalist, anti-government extremist group known as the “Turtle Island Liberation front.” The attack was planned for New Year’s Eve specifically in southern California. Authorities obtained a document titled “Operation Midnight Sun,” which outlined the attack details. The plan was to place backpacks with IEDs at five locations across Los Angeles and Orange County and detonate them at midnight on New Year’s Eve, targeting a few different groups – a few U.S. companies, which are not identified for their safety, as well as ICE agents.[2]
There is extensive evidence against them that makes their involvement and plans clear. They apparently congregated at a desert campsite in Twentynine Palms, which is north of Joshua Tree. At this campsite, all members brought bomb-making components, including “PVC pipes, suspected potassium nitrate, charcoal, charcoal powder, sulfur powder, and material to be used as fuses, among others,” as quoted in the legal complaint.[3] They were arrested shortly after beginning to build the bombs. Not only did they have the document outlining their plans, but they also had a signal chat with other participants where they openly discussed the bombing. As if that wasn’t enough, investigators also executed search warrants at the participants’ homes and found posters and other materials with slogans like “DEATH TO ICE” and “DEATH TO AMERICA…LONG LIVE PALESTINE.”[4] Their organization has continually called for revolution and organization against the United States.
Thankfully, the FBI believes all members directly connected to the bombing are in custody and charges will be filed against them and their extremist group. They are facing penalties of five years in federal prison for conspiracy, and an additional 10 years for possession of an unregistered destructive device.[5]
What Caused This?
These details are terrifying. It is terrifying to imagine a group of radical young people coordinating an attack as deadly and destructive as setting off pipe bombs as we ring in the new year. This drives us to ask: what caused this? What was the underlying motive that compelled them to such violence? How could this have happened – in California no less?
The Turtle Island Liberation Front is self-described as being dedicated to “liberation through decolonization and tribal sovereignty.” It has social media posts of fundraisers for Palestinians and indigenous peoples, as well as posts spreading anti-ICE sentiments – which is in line with the types of materials found in the homes of the suspects. The criminal complaint further describes the group as follows:
“TILF also calls for the working class to rise up and fight back against capitalism. Moreover, TILF advocates that liberalism and peaceful protest will be the downfall of those who believe it is enough, and that ‘direct action is the only way.’”[6]
Clearly, believing that peaceful protest isn’t enough will lead to the kind of horrific plans that were discovered by the FBI. So, why do they argue against capitalism? What is their main grievance?
Turtle Island is actually a term used by tribal nations to reference to the formation of North America. These tribes believe that the Earth was created on the back of a giant turtle.[7] In these myths, the world was a vast ocean before the creation of land. A woman (often called Sky Woman or Mature Flower), who fell from a floating island in the sky, was caught by birds and placed on the back of a giant sea turtle. The sea creatures then dove to the bottom of the ocean to retrieve soil, which Sky Woman used to spread on the turtle's back. This soil expanded to become the land, or North America, which is often referred to as "Turtle Island.” Apparently, turtles represent perseverance and longevity, which mirrors the values of their culture.[8]
So, because of these beliefs, the extremist group advocates for land-back policies, like the ones we discussed last week, as well as reparations. Ultimately, members of this group see America not as a flawed system that can be reformed, but as a structure that is inherently illegitimate – something that must be dismantled entirely. And in their worldview, dismantling doesn’t happen through persuasion or policy, but through force – which clearly equates to violence.
This framework also explains why they align themselves so strongly with pro-Palestinian and anti-ICE causes. They interpret national and global politics through a single moral lens: the world divided into colonizers and the colonized. In that framing, the West as a whole is not just historically flawed, but it is also morally guilty. Therefore, its success is viewed as proof of violence against oppressed people groups. Any group that they define as oppressed – Palestinians, illegal immigrants, etc. – is automatically worthy of protection, while the people who oppose them – i.e. Israel versus Palestine, or federal immigration enforcement against illegal immigrants – must be dismantled.
This is where this ideology becomes dangerous. It does not merely criticize past injustice; it assigns permanent moral guilt to entire populations in the present. They do not see the victims on the other side as well, they do not see people as individual moral agents responsible for their own actions. Instead, they turn their grievances into their identity, it becomes who they are – and when that becomes your identity, then your purpose is to destroy what is oppressing you. So, once a group of people is defined not as individuals, but as representatives of this illegitimate system, then normal moral limits begin to disappear.
This is where they justify violence as a tool. Innocent people stop being innocent because they represent something much bigger and become symbols of a government or system these extremists hate. It is no wonder then that coexistence becomes impossible, because compromise with something deemed illegitimate in the first place is not accepted by people who have made it their whole mission to dismantle the system. Put simply, these extremists and anyone who shares their worldview has redefined who deserves moral protection, and used it to justify wicked actions, like setting off multiple bombs on what should be a day full of hope and excitement.
Ideology and Policy Matter
This is the perfect example of why beliefs and policies matter. They have real impact. They shape the actions and beliefs of entire groups of people.
And when our government leaders adopt certain moral frameworks that lead to extremism, they give those ideas legitimacy. This is why it matters when – for instance – Gavin Newsom passes a bill acknowledging moral guilt for California being on “stolen land” and promises some type of restitution. The framework this policy position endorses teaches that the state itself is fundamentally illegitimate, and that the current residents living in our state inherit that guilt.
This is why it matters when our state advances socialist-style policies like universal healthcare or government-run affordable housing. These policies are presented as compassionate, but they rest on the deeper ideological claim that individuals are not primarily responsible for their own welfare, and that the state is the ultimate guarantor of security and provision. This reshapes how people, especially young people, understand responsibility, entitlement, and authority. It frames capitalism as evil simply because it depends on individual responsibility, and moves whole groups of people toward an economic framework that isn’t sustainable and that gives credence to their desires to overthrow the system.
This is why it matters when our state tolerates rioting and looting in the name of social justice. Because what that teaches is that peaceful protest is no longer sufficient to be heard. When laws are selectively enforced based on the perceived moral virtue of a cause, the message it sends is conditional justice. It tells the public that disruption is acceptable, even admirable, if it’s framed as righteous anger. Over time, this erodes one of the most important moral guardrails in a democratic society: the idea that change comes through persuasion, not coercion.
These are all ideologies that we see deeply rooted in this Turtle Island Liberation Front – a belief that America (and California) is inherently guilty and indebted to tribal nations, that capitalism equals oppression and true justice is only found in social welfare, and that the time for civil protest and free speech is over, and instead it is time for violence, bombing, and death. But they didn’t get to these conclusions in a vacuum, our leaders allowed them, and even condoned them.
So, what should we take away from this horrible event? We must be honest to see that a healthy society depends on moral boundaries. This means that we can only embrace ideas that reinforce that people are not reducible to systems, that guilt is personal and not inherited, and that change comes through persuasion and not extremism. This is why we have to stand firm in our blue state for conservative values – not just for the sake of conservatism, but because the worldview I advocate for every week here is one that leads to free and open debate, mutual respect, and recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of each person, regardless of their political beliefs.
We don’t talk about stories like these to stoke fear. Yes, I am terrified that this happened so close to home. I am deeply disturbed that I could have witnessed multiple bombings in the place I call home. But this isn’t about fear, it’s about responsibility.
We have a great responsibility to keep pushing back against the kind of evil that was just exposed. Ideas matter. Policy matters. And the moral frameworks we legitimize today shape the violence we either prevent, or permit, tomorrow.
References:
[1] U.S. Department of Justice. “Four Defendants Arrested for Alleged Anti-Capitalist and Anti-Government Plot to Bomb U.S. Companies on New Year’s Eve,” December 15, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/four-defendants-arrested-alleged-anti-capitalist-and-anti-government-plot-bomb-us-companies.
[2] The Associated Press. “4 Charged With Plotting New Year’s Eve Attacks in Southern California, Prosecutors Say.” ABC7 New York, December 16, 2025. https://abc7ny.com/post/4-charged-plotting-new-years-eve-attacks-southern-california-prosecutors-say/18289022/.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] “Four Defendants Arrested for Alleged Anti-Capitalist and Anti-Government Plot to Bomb U.S. Companies on New Year’s Eve.”
[6] Cann, Christopher. “FBI Links ‘Turtle Island’ Group to Terror Plot to Bomb California.” USA TODAY, December 16, 2025. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/12/16/turtle-island-liberation-front-los-angeles-terror-plot/87790593007/.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Grundhauser, Eric. “Why Is the World Always on the Back of a Turtle?” Atlantis Obscura, October 20, 2017. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/world-turtle-cosmic-discworld.
