Alleged members of extremist group indicted in suspected SoCal New Years Eve bombing plot

CNN Newsource on December 24, 2025

By KABC Staff

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    LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A federal grand jury indicted four people on Tuesday in connection with a suspected terror plot to bomb targets in Los Angeles and Orange counties on New Year’s Eve.

The four suspects are Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30; Zachary Aaron Page, 32; Dante James Anthony-Gaffield, 24; and Tina Lai, 41. They are all from the Los Angeles area.

Each of them is charged with one count of providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists and one count of possession of unregistered firearms, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

Carroll and Page also are charged with one count of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, the DOJ said.

According to the indictment, the defendants are part of the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), an anti-capitalist and anti-government group. They also are alleged members of what Carroll characterized as a “radical” TILF faction that communicated using an encrypted messaging group called “Order of the Black Lotus.”

In November, Carroll drafted an 8-page, handwritten document titled, “Operation Midnight Sun” that described a bombing plot targeting U.S. businesses across Southern California this upcoming New Year’s Eve, according to the DOJ. Among other things, the plot included details on the co-conspirators’ intended targets, instructions on how to manufacture bombs and source the bomb-making materials, and guidance for the co-conspirators to avoid leaving evidence behind that could be traced to them.

The DOJ said the New Year’s Eve bombing plot was designed to “completely pulverize” the targets, which included technology and logistics companies with offices across Southern California. After drafting the bombing plot, Carroll allegedly recruited others – including Page, Gaffield, and Lai – to join the attack plan.

“The charges a federal grand jury returned today reflect the seriousness of the conduct: a planned terrorist attack on American soil on New Year’s Eve,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “If convicted, this group of self-professed left-wing radicals will face decades in federal prison. We will continue to investigate and prosecute any and all terror groups and bring them to justice.”

According to authorities, throughout early December, the suspects procured bomb-making materials to build and test explosive devices in the Mojave Desert on December 12, including by obtaining bomb-making materials such as potassium nitrate, sulfur, charcoal, and pipes.

On December 12, they traveled to the Mojave Desert to build and test explosives that they planned to use as part of the New Year’s Eve plot, said the DOJ. The FBI arrested them before they could make functional explosive devices.

All four suspects are in federal custody without bond. All the defendants will be arraigned in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Lai’s arraignment is scheduled for January 2, 2026. Carroll and Page are scheduled to be arraigned on January 5, 2026. Gaffield’s arraignment is scheduled for January 20, 2026.

If convicted, Carroll and Page would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, and Gaffield and Lai would face a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison.

A fifth person, believed to be linked to the group, has been arrested in New Orleans for allegedly planning a separate attack.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

First Day of Storm Dampens Santa Barbara County

KEYT on December 24, 2025

Tracy Lehr

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) People expected the storm to arrive on Tuesday and it did with heavy rain and soft showers at times.

Some fallen palm fronds line State Street.

At times the rain looked like snow falling on the Christmas tree near The Arlington Theatre.

Adam Angel’s namesake Adam McKaig said it gave volunteers a reason to get a jump start on poncho deliveries.

“We are out and about making sure that people are not only warm and fed but are protected from the rain, we have a nice rain in the weather right now, so we are trying to get a jump start on the rain storm,” said McKaig.

He said they will give out hundreds of ponchos to keep people dry on Christmas Eve.

“And tomorrow at Pershing park at 5 O’clock we are setting up canopies where we will serve a warm meals, nonperishable bags of food and Christmas cheer,” said McKaig.

“It warms my heart, it is cold outside my heart is warm and my community keeps us going we have a lot of volunteers with big hearts.”

The storm is likely to get heavier.

First responders are already out and about protecting people.

The Holiday trolley also made the rounds in the rain especially at the Milpas Roundabout.

Your News Channel will have more on the storm tonight on the new.

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Man suffers moderate injuries from car crash on Highway 101

KEYT on December 24, 2025

Caleb Nguyen

GAVIOTA COAST, Calif. (KEYT) – Fire crews helped a man to the hospital after his truck rolled over and crashed near railroad tracks on Highway 101 between Refugio and El Capitan State Beaches Tuesday.

Crews arrived just after 8:00 p.m. and spent 30 minutes using the jaws of life to get him out of the car, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

Union Pacific received word and stopped train traffic during extrication before resuming a few hours later, according to the SBCFD.

Highway 101 remained open in both directions, though the SBCFD closed Lane #2 going south for precautionary measures.

The cause of the crash is under investigation with the California Highway Patrol.

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Kimberlee Singler, Colorado Springs mother accused of killing her children, returns to U.S.

KRDO on December 24, 2025

Celeste Springer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — After two years, Kimberlee Singler will face a court for the alleged murder of her two children.

Singler is a Colorado Springs mother accused of drugging and killing her children in December 2023. Police say two of her children, 9-year-old Ellie Wentz and 7-year-old Aden Wentz, were found dead, and her 11-year-old daughter was injured.

On Tuesday, the district attorney’s office said Singler is back in the United States after close to two years abroad following fleeing the country. The district attorney’s office says she will be scheduled for her first court appearance in the coming days.

“Singler is accused of committing an unthinkable act,” said Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez. “I know that these acts have deeply impacted our community, and our hearts remain with the now 13-year-old daughter.”

The district attorney’s office says Singler faces the following charges:

Two counts of first-degree murder (after deliberation with intent)

Two counts of first-degree murder (child victim under 12 years old)

Criminal attempt to commit murder in the first degree

First-degree assault

Courtesy: Colorado Springs Police Department

An El Paso County Coroner’s Office report shows that both Ellie and Aden died from gunshot wounds to the head, and one of them also had an incised neck wound that contributed to their death. The reports also show that both kids had toxic or potentially toxic levels of doxylamine, commonly used as a sleep aid, in their systems.

After the alleged murder, officials say Singler left town for the United Kingdom, and prosecutors have hoped to extradite her ever since. Earlier this year, a judge in the U.K. ruled in favor of her extradition.

“You can run… but we will find you, and we will bring you back, and that’s what we did in this case,” said Chief Vasquez.

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Boone County Fire District adjusts response procedures after assistant chief’s 2021 death

KMIZ on December 24, 2025

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

In the four years since the death of Boone County Assistant Fire Chief Bryant Gladney, the Boone Co. Fire Protection District tells ABC 17 News its made changes to its training and response procedures.

Gladney was killed when a tractor-trailer slammed into his service SUV on Dec. 22, 2021 as Gladney was working at the scene of a crash. A crash report ABC 17 News obtained indicated the driver of the tractor-trailer broke rules about length of driving time when the crash happened.

Joey Rimel, a Boone County Lieutenant Paramedic, said all Boone Co. recruits are now required to take a traffic incident management course. He also said that all members of Boone Co. Fire got retrained this year on driving and operating the emergency vehicles.

Learning new things and promoting new ideas was a key part of Gladney’s message.

“They have no clue their students of Bryant, but most of our EMS program is made up of curriculum and content by Bryant,” Rimel said.

A message that continues to live on through the Bryant Gladney Foundation.

“Our family started after Bryant’s death in 2021,” said Elizabeth Gladney, Outreach Director for the foundation and Gladney’s daughter-in-law. “We started out as just a scholarship and over the years, we’ve kind of just grown and expanded. So now our mission is to empower future generations of EMS providers to be exceptional caregivers.”

The fire district also implemented a HAAS system following Gladney’s death, a safety alert that caution’s drivers encountering emergency scenes, according to Boone Co. Assistant Fire Chief Gale Blomenkamp.

“It can deviate between northbound, southbound, eastbound, westbound. It won’t alert drivers on the wrong side of the road,” Blomenkamp said. “It’s a very smart system and it’s like a geofence around the incident.”

Shaun Gladney, Bryant Gladney’s son, is a first responder in the Dallas area and is no stranger to dangerous roadways. He tells ABC 17 News that distracted driving still remains a major safety hazard for first responders.

“In the DFW metroplex, I feel like we see a fire truck hit once a week,” Shaun said. “It is terrifying for us as first responders to be on the roadway and I am more scared of being on the road than I am going into a fire.”

Rimel described traffic management as a moving target. He explained its never the same due to factors like road construction or where a response is needed at. Road changes like the I-70 improvement project have brought a unique set of new and ongoing challenges to the fire district, according to Rimel.

“We’re gonna have a lot more accidents that are still in the center of the interstate, which are harder to mitigate and protect our people from,” Rimel said.

Rimel expressed the importance and renewed focus of limiting the road exposure of first responders when responding to a crash, especially on the highway.

“If it’s a non-injury and the vehicles can move, let’s get them off the roads, get them off the interstate, let’s get them to a safe location,” Rimel said. “It’s not just a risk for us. It’s a risk for everybody else that has to be there, even the motorist driving on the highway.”

Blomenkamp said the fire district is looking into special signage and portable light units to promote a safer response for Boone Co. first responders no matter the time of day. Special barriers for highway and road emergency responses called attenuators were being explored, but Blomenkamp said that the barriers were found to not be the best or safest option to protect the first responders.

“Those were really originally designed to protect the motoring public, not the workers,” Blomenkamp said.

Shaun Gladney said there is also a need for better public awareness and knowledge on the roads.

“I think people just like don’t really know how to act when first responders are around or they panic,” Shaun said.

Shaun and his wife Elizabeth are planning to continue expanding the Bryant Gladney Foundation. Outside of scholarships, the foundation also promotes continued education to active first responders through its All-Star EMS Conference and webinar videos that highlight Bryant Gladney’s teachings.

Since the Fall of 2022, the foundation has awarded $42,000 in scholarships to 31 paramedic students from 21 different paramedic programs in 17 different states. Eight of those scholarship recipients were students at the University of Missouri or Boone Co. Fire. The foundation has received applications from 42 out of 50 states. In the spring, it will award five more scholarships totaling $7,500. 

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Two arrested, nine citations issued in Cathedral City DUI checkpoint

KESQ on December 24, 2025

City News Service

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ) – Two drivers were arrested for allegedly driving on DUI-suspended licenses during a DUI checkpoint in Cathedral City, authorities said today.

The checkpoint was conducted from 7 p.m. Friday until 1 a.m. Saturday on Date Palm Drive at Victoria Drive, according to the Cathedral City Police Department.

Eight people were cited for driving without a license, and one person was cited for having an open container inside a vehicle, police said.   

Checkpoint locations are selected based on data involving impaired-driving crashes, according to police.

Funding was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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CHP’s Christmas enforcement campaign starts Wednesday night

KESQ on December 24, 2025

City News Service

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – Drive safe, sober, and obey the speed limit during the upcoming Christmas holiday or face consequences, the California Highway Patrol warned today.

The agency will initiate its annual Christmastime “holiday enforcement period” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, when all available officers will deploy to catch drunk or drug-impaired drivers, speeders and other scofflaws.   

The HEP will only span about 30 hours, concluding late Thursday night.   

“Every instance of speeding or reckless driving carries the potential for life-changing consequences,” CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said. “Our officers see the destruction these choices can cause, and we urge every driver to slow down, stay alert and make decisions that protect themselves and others. No destination is worth risking a life.”  

During last year’s Christmas HEP, CHP officers statewide arrested just over 300 motorists on suspicion of driving under the influence, compared to about 900 the year before. The 2024 campaign lasted only a day and night because it fell midweek, like this year’s. The 2023 campaign spanned a full three days and nights because Christmas fell on a Monday.   

According to the agency, 17 people died in crashes within the CHP’s jurisdiction during Christmas 2024, compared to 20 the year before.   

The abridged campaign in 2024 still netted 2,251 speeding tickets — with 132 motorists caught going over 100 mph, the CHP said. The effort to crack down on speeders led to a pilot program initiated earlier this year dubbed Forward Actions for Speeding Tickets, or FAST. The operation involves deployment of “100 low-profile specially marked patrol vehicles,” the agency stated.

“Every decision behind the wheel matters, and obeying the speed limit can make the difference between arriving safely, or not at all,” the CHP said.   

Officers from the Riverside, Blythe, Beaumont, Indio and Temecula CHP stations will be on inland freeways, highways and unincorporated roads, looking to snare traffic violators.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, along with multiple municipal agencies countywide, are currently conducting their own operations, staffing sobriety checkpoints and deploying targeted patrols as part of a year-end enforcement mobilization that began about two weeks ago.

Another HEP is slated for New Year’s Eve.

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FIND Regional Food Bank’s homebound program helping those in dire need of food

KESQ on December 24, 2025

Hernán Quintas

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – As 2025 comes to an end, many in our community continue to struggle to make ends meet. This is why we are highlighting the FIND Regional Food Bank homebound program, which serves those who are in dire need of food.

FIND launched a Home Bound Delivery Program in 2020 in response to the stay-at-home orders mandated by the State of California. Through this program, volunteers utilize their own vehicles to deliver 40-50 pounds of food to families and individuals who are isolated or unable to collect food via the various distribution sites throughout the region. FIND Food Bank is committed to continuing this program beyond the pandemic in order to make sure we best serve our most vulnerable and isolated clients.

Our Telemundo anchor Hernan Quintas spoke to a recipient and volunteers who are truly making a difference.

Contact the Volunteer Programs Department to sign up to become a homebound delivery driver at 760-542-2176 ext. 132 or email volunteers@findfoodbank.org  

For more information on the FIND Regional Food Bank, including how to help, click here.

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Two arrested on suspicion of stealing horse in Thermal

KESQ on December 24, 2025

City News Service

THERMAL, Calif. (KESQ) – Two Temecula residents have been arrested for allegedly stealing a horse valued at around $80,000 from a ranch in the unincorporated community of Thermal, authorities said today.   

The suspects, a 22-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman, were arrested Monday and booked into the Benoit Detention Center in Indio on suspicion of grand theft and conspiracy to commit theft, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

The theft was reported on Nov. 26 in the 56000 block of Monroe Street. A preliminary investigation revealed that a bay thoroughbred mare was stolen, according to Sgt. Ernestina Contreras.  

Sheriff’s officials said deputies are continuing to work on recovering the horse and returning her to her rightful owner.   

Anyone with additional information about the case was asked to call 760-863-8990.

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Living Desert hosting International Desert Conservation Summit in January

KESQ on December 24, 2025

Peter Daut

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens will soon welcome conservation leaders from around the world.

The 5th annual International Desert Conservation Summit will bring together scientists, conservationists, and community leaders to spotlight ways to protect desert wildlife and habitats. The event will be held Jan. 16-18, click here for a schedule and tickets.

News Channel 3’s Peter Daut spoke about the event with Dr. James Danoff-Burg, Vice President of Conservation for the zoo.

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