While many attended the counter protest at Bluff Park, there was no visible presence of members of the “Freedom’s Safest Place” event. A counter protest organized by that group and others, called “No White Nationalism in Long Beach!” was scheduled for the same day.įor the past few weeks leading up to the event, social media posts promoted the counter protest, in addition to fliers throughout the city. The Facebook group, which has since changed its name to Everything Patriot and Tactical, describes itself as “a page for freedom-loving Americans.”īut the event was deleted after community groups, particularly the Long Beach United Anti-Racist Neighborhood Front, built opposition to the rally. Warnings of a ‘white nationalist’ rally first surfaced in March, when a right-wing Facebook group called United Patriot National Front created an event called “Freedom’s Safest Place.”
Hundreds came to Bluff Park in Long Beach on Sunday, to show opposition to an event that groups on social media said had “white nationalist” ties. He was ordered held without bail.Īt an afternoon news conference, federal officials said Domingo had no known co-conspirators, and there is no lingering threat to the public from the plot. He said “yes” to each of Judge Paul Abrams questions.Ībrams ordered Domingo to be held in prison while he awaited trial, saying he posted a significant risk to the safety of the public.ĭomingo will next appear in court on May 31 to enter his plea. In a court Monday, Domingo appeared in a light gray T-shirt and dark gray jeans, with thick-rimmed black glasses, long hair and a beard.Īs he sat in a defendant holding area, he pushed up his glasses as he shifted his weight. He deployed to Afghanistan from September 2012 to January 2013. “I have several magazines,” he said, according to the affidavit.Īccording to his brother who spoke with reporters Monday, Domingo converted to Islam in late 2018 or early 2019.Ĭourt papers showed Domingo was assigned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky while in the Army. “That’s your plan.”Īt first, Domingo plotted to use several firearms to attack people, including an AK-47 rifle. “Your plan is just to go and get caught,” the source said, according to the affidavit. While they drove through one street, Domingo said he wanted to target Jewish people shopping there on a Saturday. “He was just looking for crowds of people.”Īccording to the court papers, Domingo went for a drive with the FBI source, pointing out potential targets along the way - police cars, churches and a National Guard armory. “Any time we have an event like this, this is always in the back of our minds, ” Luna said. He said he believed the suspect simply wanted to cause as much chaos as possible. Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna said his department was notified of the FBI’s investigation into Domingo in the weeks leading up to the rally. They did not say whether he intended to attack the counter-protesters at Sunday’s rally or the white supremacists who planned the event. Law enforcement officials declined to speculate on why he chose those rallies as targets. Reseda neighbor Nataly Lopez, 24, said it was "scary" to find out her neighbor was arrested on suspicion of plotting to carrying out a domestic terrorism bombing during a rally in Long Beach.
The rally was organized by opponents of California’s sanctuary state law. A number of counter-protesters showed up in anticipation of the gathering.ĭomingo also planned to target a rally in Huntington Beach on Saturday as a backup plan. “There must be retribution,” Domingo wrote online in March following the shooting at a Christchurch, New Zealand mosque that killed 50 people.įBI agents said Domingo considered a variety of targets - including police officers, churches and a military facility - but ultimately planned to set off an explosive device during what was anticipated to be a white nationalist rally at Bluff Park in Long Beach on Sunday. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and who was arrested Friday, April 26, 2019, on suspicion of plotting to set off a bomb during a white-nationalist rally in Long Beach is listed as a resident of this home on the 7600 block of White Oak Avenue in Reseda.
Huntington beach bomb newsrack series#
He gave the nails to a person he believed was a collaborator, but who actually was the FBI agent.įBI agents initially were alerted to Domingo after he made a series of online posts and had a series of discussions with an informant describing “his support for violent jihad and his aspiration to conduct an attack in the Los Angeles area.” Mark Steven Domingo, 26, a U.S. Investigators described Domingo purchasing several hundred nails to be used inside the bomb. “These are the kinds of cases that keep you up at night,” Young said Monday at the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles.Īccording to an FBI affidavit, Domingo planned in March and April “to manufacture and use a weapon of mass destruction in order to commit mass murder.”
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