A woman accused of plotting a New Year’s Eve terrorist bombing spree in Los Angeles was greeted with smiles and blown kisses from friends as she appeared in a federal court Friday.
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.
The shocking reception came from around fifteen of Lai’s 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.
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.
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.
Lai — who also goes by the name “Kickwhere” — was arrested Dec. 12 in the Mojave Desert along with three alleged accomplices as they prepared to test bomb making equipment.
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: “Er, yes I have, Your Honor.”
Judge Oliver then asked Lai to state her plea. “Not guilty,” she responded.
A jury trial is scheduled for Feb. 17.
“Thank you Your Honor. Have a good New Year,” Lai said to the judge after the brief hearing.
Lai’s alleged co-defendants are ringleader Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30, who goes by the nickname “Black Moon,” Zachary Aaron Page, a 32-year-old trans woman, and Dante “Nomad” Gaffield, 24. All of the group remain in custody without bail and awaiting trial.
Authorities assert the group is part of a far-left “anti-capitalist, anti-government” extremist group known as the “Turtle Island Liberation Front.”
FBI agents, aided by a confidential informant and undercover agent, prevented the alleged attack — which investigators say was designed to “completely pulverize” tech companies and logistics firms in the City of Angels.
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’s Office.
“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,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said.
“If convicted, this group of self-professed left-wing radicals will face decades in federal prison.”
Micah James Legnon, a 29-year-old transgender Marine vet, was also arrested in Louisiana in connection with the alleged plot.
The group used an encrypted messaging group chat called the “Order of the Black Lotus,” and Carroll appears to have taken a lead role in organizing the group, penning multiple eight-page, handwritten manifestos called “Operation Midnight Sun,” according to court records.
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.
Carroll allegedly advised the other suspects to dump accelerants around the improvised explosive devices “to do as much damage as possible.”
At an in-person meeting on Dec. 7, the suspects laid out the New Year’s Eve bombing plot in blunt, tactical terms, according to the indictment.
Page warned the group to keep everything “as clean as possible” because the FBI would be “100,000%” on them, urging measures like covering shoes with socks to avoid footprints and burning the shoes after the operation.
“What we’re about to do, that’s gonna, uh, be like a Luigi level situation,” Carroll allegedly said, apparently referencing Luigi Mangione. Mangioneis on trial for allegedly executing a healthcare executive before setting off a manhunt.
Lai’s attorney declined to comment to the Post about his client following the arraignment.
Her supporters also declined to talk to the Post afterwards while they chatted outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building under light rain.
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