Baton Rouge, Louisiana — Plans to “carry out an attack” in New Orleans were foiled after a former Marine was arrested while en route to the Louisiana city with weapons and body armor in the car, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Micah James Legnon, 28, was charged with menacing in interstate commerce. Federal authorities said they were monitoring Lignon because of her ties to an anti-capitalist, anti-government extremist group. Four members of the group were arrested Friday in the Mojave Desert east of Los Angeles while rehearsing a failed plot to detonate bombs in Southern California on New Year’s Eve, authorities said.
Authorities said plans for an attack in New Orleans began to intensify after several hundred immigration agents were deployed to southeastern Louisiana. The enforcement operation, dubbed “Catahoula Crunch,” aims to: 5000 arrests. This crackdown is the latest in a series of enforcement operations that have also unfolded in Los Angeles, chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Authorities said in court documents that Legnon believed it was time to “recreate” Waco with an attack in New Orleans. They pointed to a December 4 chat message by Lignon written under the alias “Kateri The Witch” the day after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived in New Orleans. Lignon’s alias had “she/her” written next to it, but prison records listed Lignon as male.
Investigators believe Lignon’s chat message refers to the 1993 siege of the Waco, Texas, compound that ended after 51 days and the deaths of four federal agents, a religious leader and 76 followers.
Eight days after making that post in the group chat, Legnon appeared to put a gun in a car, the FBI agent monitoring Legnon said in the court document.
“On my way” to New Orleans, Lignon said in a group chat. Legnon then shared a video of a gun and bulletproof vest, writing, “Just in case.”
After Legnon’s arrest on December 12, agents found an assault rifle, a handgun, a gas canister and body armor inside the vehicle. Inside Lignon’s apartment in New Iberia, Louisiana, agents found sniper training manuals, SWAT training manuals, assault rifles, and rounds of ammunition.
Court documents did not name an attorney who could speak on Legnon’s behalf. The state’s attorney’s office and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana did not immediately respond to requests for information about Legnon’s attorneys, and prison officials said they did not know who might represent Legnon.
Officials say Legnon is “suspected of being associated” with the Turtle Island Liberation Front. The group calls for “liberation through decolonization of tribal sovereignty,” according to court documents. Federal authorities described the group as a “pro-Palestinian, anti-government, anti-capitalist extremist left-wing group.”
In the California case, a member of the group devised an elaborate plan to bomb five or more businesses across Southern California on New Year’s Eve. The plot involved planting backpacks filled with complex pipe bombs that were scheduled to detonate simultaneously at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Two members of the group also discussed plans to attack ICE agents and vehicles with pipe bombs in 2026, according to the criminal complaint.
Some details of the failed plot in California are eerily similar to this year’s details Deadly attack In the famous French Quarter of New Orleans.
In the early hours of January 1, 2025, Shams al-Din Jabbar He drove his truck down Bourbon Street and plowed into New Year’s revelers, killing 14 people and injuring dozens. before the attack, Jabbar, who was later shot dead by police. They placed several bombs in coolers around the French Quarter. None of the explosive devices exploded. Authorities said Jabbar was inspired by ISIS.