(AP/KSBY) – Authorities say they thwarted a terror plot targeting white supremacists in California by an Army veteran who converted to Islam and wanted retribution for the New Zealand mosque attacks.
Federal prosecutors said Monday that Mark Steven Domingo, 26, of Reseda was arrested for planning to plant a bomb at a Nazi rally Sunday in Long Beach.
Domingo was arrested Friday on a charge of providing material support to terrorists. The rally never happened.
Court papers say Domingo discussed several types of attacks with an informant that included targeting Jews, churches and police officers.
He said he wanted revenge for attacks on mosques in New Zealand that killed 50 people last month.
According to the Department of Justice, Domingo was taken into custody after receiving what he thought was a live bomb but was actually an inert explosive device delivered by an undercover officer. Authorities say he also purchased several hundred three-inch nails to be used as shrapnel inside the bomb.
“He was taken into custody after he took receipt of what he thought were pressure cooker bombs and after he traveled to Long Beach to survey the site where his intended victims were intended to congregate,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna.
If convicted, Domingo faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.
“We believe we caught him very, very early when he started the attack,” said Ryan Young, FBI Special Agent in Charge. “Throughout the course of the investigation, we found no other co-conspirators and we had thorough and exhaustive coverage of him.”
A message left on a phone listed for Domingo was not immediately returned.
