BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Plans to carry out an attack in New Orleans were thwarted after an ex-Marine was arrested while on the way to the Louisiana city with guns and body armor in the car, according to court documents obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

Micah James Legnon, 28, was charged with threats in interstate commerce. Federal authorities said they had been surveilling Legnon due to ties to an extremist anti-capitalist and anti-government group. Four members of the group were arrested Friday in the Mojave Desert, east of Los Angeles, as they were rehearsing a foiled plot to set off bombs in Southern California on New Years Eve, authorities said.

Plans of an attack in New Orleans began to intensify after several hundred immigration agents were deployed to southeast Louisiana, authorities said. The enforcement operation, dubbed Catahoula Crunch, has a goal of 5,000 arrests . The crackdown is the latest in a series of enforcement operations that have also unfolded in Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina .

Legnon believed it was time to recreate Waco with an attack in New Orleans, authorities said in court documents. They pointed to a Dec. 4 chat message by Legnon written under the alias Kateri The Witch the day after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived in New Orleans. Legnons alias had she/her written beside it, but jail records referred to Legnon as male.

Investigators believe Legnons chat message referred to the 1993 siege at a Waco, Texas, compound that ended after 51 days and the deaths of four federal agents, a religious leader and 76 of his followers.

Eight days after the post in the group chat, Legnon appeared to place a weapon into a car, an FBI agent surveilling Legnon said in the court document.

On my way to New Orleans, Legnon said in a group chat. Legnon then shared a video of a gun and bullet proof vest and wrote just incase.

After Legnons Dec. 12 arrest, agents found an assault rifle, a pistol, a gas canister and body armor inside the car. Inside Legnons apartment in New Iberia, Louisiana, agents found sniper training manuals, SWAT training manuals, assault rifles, and rounds of ammunition.

Court documents did not list an attorney who could speak on Legnons behalf. The Office of the State Public Defender and the United States Attorneys Office for the Western District of Louisiana did not immediately respond to requests for information on Legnons attorney, and jail officials said they did not know who might be representing Legnon.

Officials say Legnon is suspected to be associated with the Turtle Island Liberation Front. The group calls for liberation through decolonization tribal sovereignty, based on court documents. Federal authorities described the group as a far-left, pro-Palestine, anti-government and anti-capitalist group.

In the California case, a member of the group created a detailed plan to bomb five or more businesses across Southern California on New Years Eve. The plot included planting backpacks filled with complex pipe bombs that were set to be detonated simultaneously at midnight on New Years Eve.

Two of the groups members also had discussed plans to attack ICE agents and vehicles with pipe bombs in 2026, according to the criminal complaint.

Some details of the foiled plot in California are eerily similar to this years deadly attack in New Orleans famed French Quarter.

In the early hours of Jan. 1, 2025, Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove his truck down Bourbon Street, plowing into New Years revelers killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. Prior to the attack, Jabbar, who was later fatally shot by police, had placed multiple bombs in coolers around the French Quarter. None of the explosive devices detonated. Jabbar was inspired by the Islamic State group, authorities said.

美联社周二获得的法庭文件显示，一名前海军陆战队员在前往路易斯安那州新奥尔良市的途中被逮捕，其车内藏有枪支和防弹衣，这挫败了一起计划在该市实施的袭击行动。

28岁的迈卡·詹姆斯·莱格农（Micah James Legnon）因涉嫌跨州威胁行为被起诉。联邦当局表示，由于莱格农与一个极端反资本主义和反政府的组织有关联，他们一直在对其进行监视。当局称，该组织四名成员上周五在洛杉矶东部的莫哈韦沙漠被捕，当时他们正在演练一项已被挫败的阴谋——计划在新年前夕于南加州引爆炸弹。

当局表示，在数百名移民执法人员被派往路易斯安那州东南部后，新奥尔良的突击行动计划开始加强。这项代号为"卡托胡拉行动"的执法行动，目标是逮捕5000人。此次打击行动是近期在洛杉矶、芝加哥和北卡罗来纳州夏洛特市相继展开的一系列执法行动中的最新举措。

据法庭文件显示，当局称莱尼昂（Legnon）认为时机已到，准备在新奥尔良发动袭击以“重现”韦科事件。他们指出，在移民和海关执法局人员抵达新奥尔良次日，莱尼昂于12月4日以化名“女巫卡泰里”（Kateri The Witch）发布聊天信息。虽然该化名旁标注了“她/她的”性别代词，但监狱记录显示莱尼昂为男性。

调查人员认为，莱格农（Legnon）的聊天信息所指的，是1993年发生在得克萨斯州韦科市的一起围攻事件。该事件持续了51天，最终导致4名联邦特工、1名宗教领袖及其76名追随者丧生。

根据法庭文件显示，一名监视莱尼昂（Legnon）的联邦调查局特工称，在群聊帖子发布八天后，莱尼昂似乎将一件武器放入了车内。

莱尼昂（Legnon）在群聊中表示：“正在前往新奥尔良的路上。”随后他分享了一段枪支和防弹背心的视频，并配文“以防万一”。

在12月12日勒农被捕后，探员在其车内发现了一支突击步枪、一把手枪、一个瓦斯罐以及防弹衣。随后在路易斯安那州新伊比利亚市的勒农公寓中，探员还搜出了狙击手训练手册、特警战术手册、多支突击步枪及数发弹药。

法庭文件未列出能代表莱格农（Legnon）发言的律师。路易斯安那州公设辩护律师办公室及西区联邦检察官办公室均未立即回应关于莱格农代理律师的查询请求，监狱官员也表示不清楚谁可能担任其法律代表。

官方称，勒农（Legnon）涉嫌与“龟岛解放阵线”有关联。根据法庭文件显示，该组织主张“通过非殖民化和部落自治实现解放”。联邦当局将其描述为“一个极左翼、亲巴勒斯坦、反政府且反资本主义的组织”。

在加利福尼亚案件中，该组织一名成员制定了详细计划，意图在新年前夕对南加州五家及以上商户实施爆炸袭击。该阴谋包括在午夜时分同时引爆预先放置的、装有复杂管状炸弹的背包。

根据刑事起诉书显示，该组织两名成员还曾讨论过在2026年用管状炸弹袭击美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）探员及车辆的计划。

加州这起挫败的阴谋与今年新奥尔良著名法国区发生的致命袭击事件，在细节上有着令人不安的相似之处。

2025年1月1日凌晨，沙姆斯丁·贾巴尔驾驶卡车冲入波本街的新年庆祝人群，造成14人死亡、数十人受伤。警方称，贾巴尔在发动袭击前，曾在法国区周边放置了多个装有炸弹的冷藏箱，但所有爆炸装置均未引爆。贾巴尔后被警方击毙。当局表示，其作案动机受伊斯兰国组织煽动。