A pair of siblings are facing federal charges after prosecutors say an improvised explosive device was planted at MacDill Air Force Base, a key military installation that houses United States Central Command, which is overseeing operations tied to Iran. Authorities said the suspect allegedly attempted to detonate the device at the base’s visitor center earlier this month.
Alen Zheng, 20, of Land O’Lakes, Florida, is accused of planting the device on March 10 before later calling 911 to report it, U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe said during a press conference. Prosecutors said his sister, Ann Mary Zheng, 27, helped him evade law enforcement after the incident, The New York Post reported.
Authorities initially searched for the device but were unable to locate it following the 911 call. An Air Force service member later discovered the explosive in a secluded area on March 16, prosecutors said.
Both siblings, who are U.S. citizens, allegedly sold the vehicle used to transport the device and fled the country to China days after the incident, Kehoe said. Alen Zheng remains at large and could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted.
“We are exploring every avenue we can to get him back to the United States,” Kehoe said.
The base also houses United States Special Operations Command, which oversees the nation’s elite special operations forces. Prosecutors said a motive for the alleged attack has not yet been determined.
Ann Mary Zheng was taken into custody after returning to the United States on March 17, Kehoe said. “Why she came back is unknown,” he said.
She has been charged with assisting after the fact and evidence tampering, and could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. “She helped the defendant flee and destroy evidence,” Kehoe said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt demanded this month that ABC News retract a story claiming that the FBI has officially warned that Iran may attempt to attack California with drones. ABC News posted weeks ago, “BREAKING: The FBI has warned police departments in California that Iran wants to retaliate for American attacks by launching offensive drones against the West Coast, according to an alert reviewed by ABC News.”
Leavitt shredded the outlet and the X post, writing, “This post and story should be immediately retracted by ABC News for providing false information to intentionally alarm the American people.”
She added: “They wrote this based on one email that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single, unverified tip. The email even states the tip was based on unverified intelligence. Yet ABC News left out this critical fact in their story! WHY?”
“TO BE CLEAR: No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did,” Leavitt went on.
She then retweeted a post featuring side-by-side screenshots of the article written by ABC and the FBI alert that was actually sent out. The post from Assistant Director for Public Affairs at the FBI, Ben Williamson, said, “On the left is the way ABC (or their source) reported the FBI alert. On the right is the actual FBI alert that went to JTFF partners. You will notice the word left out —’Unverified.’”
Eventually, ABC News updated its story with an editor’s note stating, “The FBI has posted a fuller version of its alert to California authorities, which includes that the information was unverified. The latest version of this story has been updated with the full statement.”