US officials: Army veteran's plan to bomb Nazi rally stopped

Mark Domingo, 26, was arrested on Friday for planning to plant a bomb at a Nazi rally Sunday in Long Beach. Photo / FBI

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 finalising 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.

Mark Domingo, an infantryman who served in Afghanistan, has been charged with providing material support to terrorists. Photo / FBI

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.

According to prosecutors, Domingo said he was willing to become a martyr.

"There must be retribution," he wrote on an online post, authorities said. He also allegedly expressed allegiance to Islamic State.

Domingo reportedly wrote that "America needs another Vegas event …[to] give them a taste of the terror they gladly spread all over the world".

He was referring to the Route 91 concert massacre that claimed the lives of 58 people in 2017.

Police said during a Monday afternoon press conference that Domingo had posted about potential attacks in online chat rooms.

He allegedly told the informant that he thought about blowing up popular attraction, Santa Monica Pier.

Other conversations included Domingo telling the informant that he wanted to kill officers from the LAPD and set off more explosives along freeways in Los Angeles.

When investigators asked Domingo if he was intending to get caught, he responded: "Martyrdom, bro."

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.