Fil-Am convicted for trying to bomb a rally in California
Mark Steven Domingo, 28, of Reseda, California, was found guilty of providing material support to terrorism and attempting to use of a weapon of mass destruction.
A federal jury convicted a Filipino American on Aug. 12 for attempting to bomb a rally in Long Beach, California, for the purpose of causing mass casualties.
Mark Steven Domingo, 28, of Reseda, California, was found guilty of providing material support to terrorism and attempting to use of a weapon of mass destruction.
The investigation into Domingo was prompted by his online posts and conversations in which he expressed support for violent jihad, a desire to seek retribution for attacks against Muslims and a willingness to become a martyr.
After considering various attacks – including targeting Jewish people, churches and police officers – Domingo decided to bomb a rally scheduled to take place in Long Beach in April 2019.
As part of the plot, Domingo asked a confederate – who was working with the FBI as part of the investigation – to invite a bomb-maker into the scheme.
Domingo then bought and provided to the confederate and the bomb-maker – who was in fact also working with law enforcers– several hundred 3½-inch nails to be used as shrapnel for the bombs. Domingo specifically chose those nails because they were long enough to penetrate organs in the human body.
Leading up to the attack, Domingo called for another event similar to the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas. Following an attack on Muslims in New Zealand in March 2019, Domingo called for retribution in an online post.
Domingo selected the Long Beach rally as his target and, in April 2019, drove his confederate and the undercover officer to Long Beach to scout the location he planned to attack.
While there, Domingo discussed finding the most crowded areas so he could kill the most people. On April 26, 2019, Domingo received what he thought were two live bombs, but were inert explosive devices delivered by an undercover law enforcement officer. He was arrested that same day with one of the bombs in his hands.
Domingo was convicted of providing material support to terrorism and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 1 and faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Los Angeles Police Department, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Long Beach Police Department investigated the case.
