Asian American found guilty of plotting to bomb rally

Steven Domingo's booking photo, left, and an earlier photo, right.

A federal jury convicted a Filipino American Tursday (Aug. 12) for attempting to set off a bomb at a rally in Long Beach, Calif. in retaliation to attacks against Muslims.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Reseda resident Mark Steven Domingo, 28, was found guilty of providing material support to terrorism and attempting to detonate homemade bombs of mass destruction.

Domingo, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan between September 2012 and January 2013, apparently began mulling carrying out a terror attack at the beginning of 2019. He decided to move forward after the March 15 mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that left 50 people dead.

The investigation into Domingo, a convert to Islam, was prompted by his online posts and conversations in an online forum 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 purchased and provided to the confederate and the bomb-maker – who in fact was an undercover law enforcement officer – 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.

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.

He is scheduled to appear in court on November 1 for sentencing.