An Army veteran who served in Afghanistan was arrested for a Los Angeles terrorist plot that prosecutors say was in “retribution” for last month’s New Zealand mosque shootings, The Daily Beast reports.
Mark Domingo, 26, was charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists in his attempt to make an improvised explosive device (IED) “in order to commit mass murder,” according to federal prosecutors.
Domingo was arrested Friday after he obtained what he thought was a live bomb to carry out the attack but it was a fake explosive provided by an undercover law enforcement officer as part of an FBI operation.
Prosecutors say Domingo wrote online about buying bomb supplies after 50 people were killed in two New Zealand mosques last month.
“There were mosque shootings in New Zealand,” he wrote the day of the shootings, according to prosecutors. “[T]here must be retribution.”
“I feel like I should make a christians life miserable tomorrow for our fallen bros n sis in [N]ew Zealand...maybe a jews life...they shed our blood...no Muslim should have to experience this, a message needs to be sent,” he wrote, according to prosecutors.
Domingo was busted by FBI informant:
According to the indictment, Domingo expressed support for jihad to an FBI informant who was in the message group and an FBI “online covert employee” two days later.
Domingo plotted the attack with the informant for weeks, plotting to kill Christians, Jews, white supremacists, police officers, and his next-door neighbor.
Domingo discussed planting bombs at the Santa Monica pier and at multiple Los Angeles freeways.
Eventually Domingo asked the informant to “find a bomb-maker,” after he had “purchased several hundred nails to be used as shrapnel inside the IED.”
“Domingo said he specifically bought three-inch nails because they would be long enough to penetrate the human body and puncture internal organs,” the indictment says, adding that Domingo also showed up to a meeting with the informant with an AK-47-style rifle.
Plot targeted ‘white nationalist rally’:
Domingo was finally arrested after he revealed to the informant that he planned to attack a “white nationalist rally” in Huntington Beach on April 27.
“This investigation successfully disrupted a very real threat posed by a trained combat soldier who repeatedly stated he wanted to cause the maximum number of casualties,” U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna told reporters at a news conference on Monday.
