A U.S. army veteran planned to bomb a white nationalist rally in southern California in retaliation for the New Zealand mosque shootings that left 50 dead, federal authorities said Monday.

Mark Steven Domingo — a 26-year-old former U.S. infantryman who fought in Afghanistan — asked an undercover FBI agent for help creating a bomb powerful enough to kill 50 people. Domingo also allegedly talked about his support for “violent jihad, a desire to seek retribution for attacks against Muslims, and a willingness to become a martyr.”

“There must be retribution,” Domingo wrote after the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March, according to a 30-page affidavit with the criminal complaint. The shooter, a 28-year old Australian, was deeply enmeshed in white nationalist ideology.

When the undercover agent delivered multiple inert IEDs to him on Friday, law enforcement promptly arrested him and charged with him providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists.

"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,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna for the Central District of California in a statement. </s> LOS ANGELES - A terror plot by an Army veteran who converted to Islam and planned to bomb a white supremacist rally in Southern California as retribution for the New Zealand mosque attacks was thwarted, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Mark Domingo, 26, an infantryman who served a combat stint in Afghanistan, was arrested by federal agents Friday while finalizing plans to plant a bomb at a Nazi rally that had been scheduled Sunday in Long Beach.

Domingo was arrested on a charge of providing material support to terrorists and a criminal complaint said he had been planning since March to “manufacture and use a weapon of mass destruction in order to commit mass murder.”

Court papers show that Domingo discussed with an informant different types of attacks that included targeting Jews, churches and police officers.

Domingo allegedly said he wanted revenge for attacks on mosques in New Zealand that killed 50 people last month. </s> (LOS ANGELES) — A terror plot by an Army veteran who converted to Islam and planned to bomb a white supremacist rally in Southern California as retribution for the New Zealand mosque attacks was thwarted, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Mark Domingo, 26, an infantryman who served a combat stint in Afghanistan, was arrested by federal agents Friday while finalizing plans to plant a bomb at a Nazi rally that had been scheduled Sunday in Long Beach.

Domingo was arrested on a charge of providing material support to terrorists and a criminal complaint said he had been planning since March to “manufacture and use a weapon of mass destruction in order to commit mass murder.”

Court papers show that Domingo discussed with an informant different types of attacks that included targeting Jews, churches and police officers.

Domingo allegedly said he wanted revenge for attacks on mosques in New Zealand that killed 50 people last month.

Domingo allegedly bought parts, including nails, for an improvised explosive device that would be remotely triggered, but in fact contained inert materials, FBI agent Tasha Coolidge said in an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

If they survived the planned bombing at Bluff Park, Domingo discussed launching further attacks on the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles or on a train.

White nationalists never showed up to the planned event in Bluff Park, but a large group of counter protesters demonstrated.

A message left on a phone listed for Domingo was not immediately returned. </s> LOS ANGELES (AP) – 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 Domingo 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.

A message left on a phone listed for Domingo was not immediately returned. </s> A 26-year-old former US Army soldier who served in Afghanistan has been charged with plotting terror attacks in the Los Angeles area, the Justice Department said.

allegedly sought to detonate improvised explosive devices containing nails last weekend at a rally in Long Beach that was organised by a white nationalist group, CNN reported.

He was arrested on April 26 after he took receipt of what he thought were pressure cooker bombs, US Attorney Nick Hanna announced at a press conference on Monday.

"Law enforcement was able to identify a man consumed with hate, and bent on mass murder and stop him before he was able to carry out his attack."

Domingo allegedly wanted to "seek retribution for attacks against Muslims" and also considered attacks on Jewish people, churches and law enforcement.

He is accused of targeting "Jews as they walked to synagogue, police officers, a military facility, and crowds at the Santa Monica Pier".

According to the Justice Department, Domingo on March 2 posted a video online professing his Muslim faith and wrote, "America needs another Vegas event", referring to the mass shooting in Las Vegas in October 2017 in which more than 50 people died.

Domingo is a recent convert to Islam, Hanna said.

Following Christchurch mosque shootings in March that killed dozens of people, Domingo posted: "There must be retribution." </s> CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — A white supremacist suspected in shootings at two mosques that killed 49 people during midday Friday prayers posted an anti-immigrant manifesto online and apparently used a helmet-mounted camera to broadcast live video of the slaughter on Facebook.

Brenton Harrison Tarrant appeared in court Saturday morning amid strict security and showed no emotion when the judge read him one murder charge. The judge said “it was reasonable to assume” more such charges would follow.

Two other armed suspects were taken into custody while police tried to determine what role, if any, they played in the cold-blooded attack that stunned New Zealand, a country so peaceful that police officers rarely carry guns.

It was by far the deadliest shooting in modern New Zealand history.

“It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, noting that many of the victims could be migrants or refugees.

She pronounced it “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.”

Tarrant, who police say carried out at least one of the shootings, posted a jumbled, 74-page manifesto on social media in which he identified himself as a 28-year-old Australian and white supremacist who was out to avenge attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims.

The gunman also livestreamed in graphic detail 17 minutes of his rampage at Al Noor Mosque, where, armed with at least two assault rifles and a shotgun, he sprayed worshippers with bullets over and over, killing at least 41 people. Several more people were killed in an attack on a second mosque in the city a short time later.

At least 48 people were wounded, some critically. Police also defused explosive devices in a car.

Police did not say whether the same person was responsible for both shootings. They gave no details about those taken into custody except to say that none had been on any watch list. During the Saturday morning hearing, a man who was not in court was charged with using writings to incite hatred against a race or ethnicity, but it was not clear if his case was related to the mosque attacks.

Tarrant’s relatives in the Australian town of Grafton, in New South Wales, contacted police after learning of the shooting and were helping with the investigation, local authorities said. Tarrant has spent little time in Australia in the past four years and only had minor traffic infractions on his record.

On Saturday, outside one of the two mosques, 32-year-old Ash Mohammed pushed through police barricades in hopes of finding out what happened to his father and two brothers, whose cellphones rang unanswered. An officer stopped him.

“We just want to know if they are dead or alive,” Mohammed told the officer.

In the aftermath, the country’s threat level was raised from low to high, police warned Muslims against going to a mosque anywhere in New Zealand, and the national airline canceled several flights in and out of Christchurch, a city of nearly 400,000.

World leaders condemned the violence and offered condolences, with President Donald Trump tweeting, “We stand in solidarity with New Zealand.” Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and other Islamic leaders pointed to the bloodbath and other such attacks as evidence of rising hostility toward Muslims since 9/11.

New Zealand, with a population of 5 million, has relatively loose gun laws and an estimated 1.5 million firearms, or roughly one for every three people. But it has one of the lowest gun homicide rates in the world. In 2015, it had just eight gun homicides.

Before Friday’s attack, New Zealand’s deadliest shooting in modern history took place in 1990 in the small town of Aramoana, where a gunman killed 13 people following a dispute with a neighbor.

On Saturday, the prime minister said the “primary perpetrator” in the shootings was a licensed gun owner and legally acquired the five guns used. Ardern said the country’s gun laws will change as a result of the carnage, but she did not specify how.

New Zealand is also generally considered to be welcoming to migrants and refugees. On Saturday, people across the country were reaching out to Muslims in their communities on social media to volunteer acts of kindness — offering rides to the grocery store or volunteering to walk with them if they felt unsafe. In other forums, people discussed Muslim food restrictions as they prepared to drop off meals for those affected.

The prime minister said the attack reflected “extremist views that have absolutely no place in New Zealand.”

Immigrants “have chosen to make New Zealand their home, and it is their home,” Ardern said. “They are us.”

At the White House, Trump called the bloodshed “a terrible thing” but rejected any suggestion the white nationalist movement is a rising threat around the world, saying it is “a small group of people that have very, very serious problems.”

Tarrant, in his rambling manifesto, deemed Trump “a symbol of renewed white identity.”

At the Al Noor mosque, witness Len Peneha said he saw a man dressed in black and wearing a helmet with some kind of device on top enter the house of worship and then heard dozens of shots, followed by people running out in terror.

Peneha, who lives next door, said the gunman ran out of the mosque, dropped what appeared to be a semi-automatic weapon in his driveway and fled. Peneha then went into the mosque to help the victims.

“I saw dead people everywhere. There were three in the hallway, at the door leading into the mosque, and people inside the mosque,” he said. “I don’t understand how anyone could do this to these people, to anyone. It’s ridiculous.”

Facebook, Twitter and Google scrambled to take down the gunman’s video, which was widely available on social media for hours after the bloodbath.

In the video, the killer spends more than two minutes inside the mosque spraying terrified worshippers with gunfire. He then walks outside, where he shoots at people on the sidewalk. Children’s screams can be heard in the distance as he returns to his car to get another rifle. He walks back into the mosque, where there are at least two dozen people lying on the ground.

After going back outside and shooting a woman there, he gets back in his car, where a song can be heard blasting. The singer bellows, “I am the god of hellfire!” and the gunman drives off before police even arrive.

The second attack took place at the Linwood mosque about 5 kilometers (3 miles) away. Mark Nichols told the New Zealand Herald that he heard about five gunshots and that a worshipper returned fire with a rifle or shotgun.

The footage showed the killer was carrying a shotgun and two fully automatic military assault rifles, with an extra magazine taped to one of the weapons so that he could reload quickly. He also had more assault weapons in the trunk of his car, along with what appeared to be explosives.

His manifesto was a welter of often politically contradictory views, touching on many of the most combustible issues of the day, among them the Second Amendment right to own guns, Muslim immigration, terrorist attacks and the wealthiest 1 percent.

He portrayed himself as a racist and a fascist and raged against non-Westerners, but said China is the nation that most aligns with his political and social values.

The gunman said he was not a member of any organization, acted alone and chose New Zealand to show that even the most remote parts of the world are not free of “mass immigration.”

Last year, New Zealand’s prime minister announced that the country would boost its annual refugee quota from 1,000 to 1,500 in 2020. Ardern, whose party campaigned on a promise to take in more refugees, called it “the right thing to do.”

Christchurch, sometimes called the Garden City, has been rebuilding since an earthquake in 2011 killed 185 people and destroyed many downtown buildings.

This story has been amended to delete incorrect reference to Tarrant identifying himself by name in his manifesto.

Perry reported from Wellington. Associated Press writers Juliet Williams in Christchurch; Kristen Gelineau in Sydney; Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia; and Chris Blake in Bangkok contributed to this report. </s> Image copyright Department of Justice Image caption Mark Domingo allegedly sought retribution for attacks against Muslims

A US Army veteran has been arrested as he was in the final stages of a plan to bomb a white supremacist rally in California, say authorities.

Muslim convert Mark Domingo, 26, also allegedly plotted terror attacks on Jews, churches and police in revenge for the New Zealand mosque shootings.

He was held on Friday after accepting what he believed to be a live bomb, delivered by undercover officers.

Mr Domingo had expressed support for violent jihad, say prosecutors.

According to court documents, the former infantryman with combat experience in Afghanistan took steps to build and detonate a weapon of mass destruction.

"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," said federal prosecutor Nick Hanna in a statement on Monday.

In online posts and in conversations with an FBI source - posing as an accomplice - Mr Domingo expressed a desire to seek retribution for the March attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and other attacks against Muslims.

He allegedly expressed a willingness to become a "martyr" in an attack.

According to authorities, Mr Domingo considered targets including Jewish people, churches and police officers, before settling on the Long Beach rally.

A far-right group had planned to march on Sunday at Bluff Park in Long Beach, though they did not show up. Anti-racism counter-demonstrators did, however, attend.

The idea to target the Long Beach event was allegedly discussed during a meeting on 19 April between Mr Domingo and the FBI agent.

Mr Domingo arrived at the meeting with an AK-47-style rifle to show he was "serious" about his plans, said prosecutors.

He also allegedly mentioned the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and said he wanted a device that could cause 50 casualties.

Mr Domingo also allegedly contemplated bombing the Santa Monica Pier, where he said a summer attack on the crowded tourist spot would cause maximum casualties.

Prosecutors say he referred to the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas - the deadliest such attack in modern US history, it left 58 dead - as a blueprint for his own assault.

He posted online that "America needs another Vegas event" in order to "give them a taste of the terror they gladly spread all over the world", said prosecutors.

Image caption The Department of Justice announced the charges at a press conference

According to court documents, once Mr Domingo determined the location of his attack, he worked with the FBI source to find a bomb-maker.

The suspect planned to plant home-made explosive devices made with nail-filled pressure cookers that would be remotely triggered or detonated by a timer.

He allegedly purchased "several hundred nails" meant to be used as shrapnel inside the improvised explosive device.

"Domingo said he specifically bought three-inch nails because they would be long enough to penetrate the human body and puncture internal organs," the affidavit says.

In discussions with the FBI agent, Mr Domingo allegedly claimed that if the Islamic State were to come to the US "he would swear allegiance" to the group.

On Thursday, after purchasing the nails, Mr Domingo allegedly sent a message to the undercover agent indicating that the bombing was to proceed.

The FBI operative then delivered several "inert devices", which Mr Domingo purportedly believed to be weapons of mass destruction.

Authorities said that Mr Domingo had travelled to Long Beach to inspect the site of the bombing when he was taken into custody.

In a joint statement, federal authorities celebrated the thwarting of the alleged attack and said there was no outstanding threat to the public.

If convicted, Mr Domingo could face a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison. </s> A US Army veteran who was allegedly plotting a large-scale terror attack near Los Angeles as revenge for the recent mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, has been arrested, authorities said Monday.

Mark Steven Domingo, 26, who had combat experience in Afghanistan and professed to be Muslim, faces federal terror-related charges for plotting to detonate an improvised explosive device (IED) at a white nationalist rally in Long Beach this past weekend with the aim of causing mass casualties, officials said.

Domingo was arrested Friday after receiving what he thought was a live bomb packed with nails that was delivered by an undercover agent.

According to court documents, Domingo expressed support in online posts and conversations with an FBI source for violent jihad and aspired to become a martyr by seeking retribution for attacks against Muslims.

After considering various options -- including targeting Jews, churches, and police officers -- Domingo decided to detonate an IED at the Long Beach rally, which ended up not taking place, authorities said.

"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," said US Attorney Nick Hanna.

Domingo, who served in Afghanistan between September 2012 and January 2013, in one message posted to a private group online in early March referred to a mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017 that left 58 dead.

"America needs another Vegas event... that would give them the taste of terror they gladly spread all over the world," he said.

In another posting on March 14, he wrote: "There were mosque shootings in New Zealand. There must be retribution."

Authorities said he was referring to the New Zealand mosques massacre the previous day in which 50 people were killed.

After several weeks of plotting with an undercover FBI informant and considering various targets, Domingo finally set his sights on the rally in Long Beach and bought several hundred three-inch (7.6-centimeter) nails to be used as shrapnel inside an explosive device "because they would be long enough to penetrate the human body and puncture internal organs," the complaint says.

He was arrested after an undercover officer handed him inert devices and the pair traveled to the Long Beach park where the rally was set to take place to conduct surveillance.

"I'm extremely glad to be announcing that we interdicted a potential terrorist attack, rather than outlining the FBI's response to yet another tragedy," said Paul Delacourt, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office.

"At no time was the public in danger and there is currently no known threat to public safety."

Domingo has been charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists. He faces up to 15 years in prison on the charge.

He was due to make an initial appearance on court later Monday.

Get the latest election news, live updates and election schedule for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 on ndtv.com/elections. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram for updates from each of the 543 parliamentary seats for the 2019 Indian general elections. </s> This frame from video that was livestreamed Friday, March 15, 2019, shows a gunman, who used the name Brenton Tarrant on social media, in a car before the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Shooter's Video via AP)

This frame from video that was livestreamed Friday, March 15, 2019, shows a gunman, who used the name Brenton Tarrant on social media, in a car before the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Shooter's Video via AP)

SYDNEY (AP) — The gunman behind at least one of the mosque shootings in New Zealand that left 49 people dead on Friday tried to make a few things clear in the manifesto he left behind: He is a 28-year-old Australian white nationalist who hates immigrants. He was angry about attacks in Europe that were perpetrated by Muslims. He wanted revenge, and he wanted to create fear.

He also, quite clearly, wanted attention.

Though he claimed not to covet fame, the gunman — who authorities identified as Brenton Harrison Tarrant — left behind a 74-page document posted on social media under his name in which he said he hoped to survive the attack to better spread his views in the media.

He also livestreamed to the world in graphic detail his assault on the worshippers at Christchurch’s Al Noor Mosque.

That rampage killed at least 41 people, while an attack on a second mosque in the city not long after killed several more. Police did not say whether the same person was responsible for both shootings. Tarrant appeared briefly in court on Saturday morning amid tight security and showed no emotion as the judge read the charge against him.

While his manifesto and video were an obvious and contemptuous ploy for infamy, they do contain important clues for a public trying to understand why anyone would target dozens of innocent people who were simply spending an afternoon engaged in prayer.

There could be no more perplexing a setting for a mass slaughter than New Zealand, a nation so placid and so isolated from the mass shootings that plague the U.S. that police officers rarely carry guns.

Yet the gunman himself highlighted New Zealand’s remoteness as a reason he chose it. He wrote that an attack in New Zealand would show that no place on earth was safe and that even a country as far away as New Zealand is subject to mass immigration.

He said he grew up in a working-class Australian family, had a typical childhood and was a poor student. Tarrant’s relatives in the Australian town of Grafton contacted police after learning of the shooting and were helping with the investigation, local authorities said. Tarrant has spent little time in Australia in the past four years and only had minor traffic infractions on his record.

A woman who said she was a colleague of his when he worked as a personal trainer in Grafton said she was shocked by the allegations against him.

“I can’t ... believe that somebody I’ve probably had daily dealings with and had shared conversations and interacted with would be able of something to this extreme,” Tracey Gray told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

The rambling manifesto is filled with confusing and seemingly contradictory assertions about his beliefs.

Beyond his white nationalistic views, he claimed to be an environmentalist and said he is a fascist who believes China is the nation that most aligns with his political and social values. He said he has contempt for the wealthiest 1 percent. And he singled out American conservative commentator Candace Owens as the person who had influenced him the most, while saying “the extreme actions she calls for are too much, even for my tastes.”

In a tweet, Owens responded by saying that if the media portrayed her as the inspiration for the attack, it had better hire lawyers.

The manifesto also included a single reference to President Donald Trump in which the author asked and answered the question of whether he was a Trump supporter: “As a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose? Sure. As a policy maker and leader? Dear god no.”

Throughout the manifesto, the theme he returns to most often is conflict between people of European descent and Muslims, often framing it in terms of the Crusades.

Among his hate-filled statements is a claim that he was motivated toward violence by an episode that occurred in 2017 while he was touring through Western Europe. That was when an Uzbek man drove a truck into a crowd of people in Stockholm, killing five.

He said his desire for violence grew when he arrived in France, where he said he was offended by the sight of immigrants in the cities and towns he visited.

Three months ago, he said, he started planning to target Christchurch. He said he has donated to many nationalist groups, but claimed not to be a direct member of any organization. However, he admitted contacts with an anti-immigration group called the reborn Knights Templar and said he got the approval of Anders Breivik for the attack, a claim that has not been verified.

Breivik is a right-wing Norwegian extremist who killed 77 people in Oslo and a nearby island in 2011. Breivik’s lawyer Oeystein Storrvik told Norway’s VG newspaper that his client, who is in prison, has “very limited contacts with the surrounding world, so it seems very unlikely that he has had contact” with the New Zealand gunman.

The gunman rambled on about the supposed aims for the attack, which included reducing immigration by intimidating immigrants and driving a wedge between NATO and the Turkish people. He also said he hoped to further polarize and destabilize the West, and spark a civil war in the United States that would ultimately result in a separation of races. The attack has had the opposite impact, with condemnation of the bloodshed pouring in from all quarters of the globe, and calls for unity against hatred and violence.

The gunman used various hate symbols associated with the Nazis and white supremacy. For instance, the number 14 is seen on his rifle, a possible reference to the “14 Words,” a white supremacist slogan attributed in part to Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. He also used the symbol of the Schwarze Sonne, or black sun, which “has become synonymous with myriad far-right groups who traffic in neo-Nazi,” according to the center.

His victims, he wrote, were chosen because he saw them as invaders who would replace the white race. He predicted he would feel no remorse for their deaths. And in the video he livestreamed of his shooting, no remorse can be seen or heard as he sprays terrified worshippers with bullets again and again, sometimes firing at people he has already cut down.

The gunman — a licensed gun owner who bought the five guns used in the shootings legally — left a scene of carnage that shocked the nation, and the world. It was, in the words of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.”
A US Army veteran was planning to bomb a white nationalist rally in retribution for the shooting in New Zealand. He was also planning attacks on Jews.