Army veteran convicted over attempted bombing at California rally

An Army veteran was convicted by a California jury Wednesday over an attempted bombing of a Long Beach rally in 2019.

Mark Domingo of Reseda, Calif., was found guilty of providing material support to terrorism and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, the Justice Department said in a Thursday statement.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 1 and faces life in federal prison.

Domingo was arrested in April 2019 after authorities investigated him in an online sting operation involving federal and local law enforcement. He allegedly wanted revenge for the shootings at two New Zealand mosques that killed 50 people a month prior.

The investigation began after Domingo, who had recently converted to Islam, expressed support for violent jihad, “a desire to seek retribution for attacks against Muslims, and a willingness to become a martyr,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.

Authorities said he asked a confederate — actually an undercover FBI agent — to invite a bomb-maker into the scheme. He then provided the associate and the bomb-maker, who was also an undercover law enforcement officer, with several hundred nails to be used as shrapnel for the bombs.

Domingo decided to attack a United Patriots National Front rally in Bluff Park in Long Beach, according to officials. The Los Angeles Times reports that the group is affiliated with white supremacy, but its members did not show up for the actual event, which was attended by about 200 counter-protesters.

Domingo drove the confederate and bomb-maker to the site of the rally to plan the attack, including “the most crowded areas that could kill people,” the DOJ said.

On April 26, he received what he thought were two live bombs, and he was arrested the same day with one of the devices in his hand.

Domingo, who was 26 at the time, served in the Army for 16 months, including four months in Afghanistan. Before the plot, he was discharged at the rank of private after violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice.