A brother and sister have been indicted after authorities say one of them planted a potentially deadly improvised explosive device outside MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, then fled to China before the bomb was even discovered.
Alen Zheng allegedly placed the IED in a secluded location outside the base's visitor center on March 10. Minutes later, he placed a cryptic 911 call stating a bomb had been planted, but refused to provide the exact location. Two days after that, both Alen and his sister Ann Mary Zheng boarded a flight to the People's Republic of China.
The device sat undetected for six days. An Air Force airman finally discovered it on March 16.
The sequence of events, laid out by U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Greg Kehoe during a Thursday afternoon news conference, paints a picture of deliberate planning and attempted escape.
As Fox News reported, on March 10, the IED was planted. On March 11, the day after, prosecutors allege the siblings attempted to cover their tracks by selling a 2010 Mercedes-Benz to car dealer CarMax. On March 12, they fled to China. On March 16, the bomb was found. On March 17, Ann Mary Zheng was apprehended after returning to the U.S. via a Detroit airport. Alen Zheng remains in China.
A search of the siblings' home uncovered IED components consistent with the bomb found at the base. Investigators traced the 911 call to a burner phone Alen Zheng purchased at Best Buy.
The device was secured and flown via a borrowed Pasco County Sheriff's Office helicopter to an FBI explosives lab in Huntsville, Alabama. Kehoe, who served in Iraq, did not mince words about what investigators found:
"Anytime somebody puts an IED together — and I spent a lot of time in Iraq and I saw a lot of IEDs — there always is a level of professionalism. And quite a bit of professionalism when they end up being deadly. … [The explosive] certainly could have caused significant damage to people that were in the range."
This was not a teenager's firecracker stunt. This was a functional explosive planted outside a facility that houses the headquarters of U.S. Central Command, which is currently handling Operation Epic Fury against Iran.
Alen Zheng faces charges of attempted damage to government property by fire or explosion, unlawful making of a destructive device, and possession of an unregistered destructive device. He is looking at up to 40 years in prison. He is currently in China.
Ann Mary Zheng is charged with accessory after the fact and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors accuse her of hiding or damaging the Mercedes-Benz to prevent its use in legal proceedings. She faces up to 30 years.
Their mother, who has not been named, is currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody pending deportation for a visa overstay. She has not been criminally charged as of Thursday afternoon.
Officials have not yet publicly confirmed a motive or ties to the Chinese government. But Kehoe noted the suspects "obviously felt quite strongly about something or anything that the United States government was doing."
As if the primary plot weren't enough, a third indictment was unsealed Thursday against Jonathan James Elder for an unrelated copycat threat. On March 18, just two days after the device was found, Elder allegedly called the base, making explicit threats and taunting officials about the "surprise at MacDill Visitor Center."
Investigators tracked Elder via cell phone and Facebook data. He was arrested at a care facility. He faces up to 10 years in prison for making a threat of an explosive.
Kehoe delivered a warning that applied to Elder and anyone else feeling inspired:
"If you harm somebody, if you threaten to harm somebody, or if you decide that you are going to get on the telephone and you're going to telephone a threat to someplace like MacDill Air Force Base, … you will be charged by this office."
FBI Director Kash Patel framed the indictments as proof that targeting American military personnel carries a guaranteed response. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Patel was direct:
"No one who targets our brave service members and military facilities will ever get away with it — and this FBI will pursue all those responsible for the incident at MacDill Air Force Base to the ends of the earth."
That pledge matters because one of the suspects is sitting in China right now. Alen Zheng planted a bomb outside a base that runs combat operations in the Middle East, called in a vague warning designed to terrorize rather than save, tried to sell off the evidence, and flew to a country that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
The question of motive hangs over this case like a cloud. Officials are careful to say they haven't confirmed a connection to Beijing. Fair enough. But the facts speak their own language: a bomb at CENTCOM's front door, a flight to the PRC within 48 hours, and a mother in ICE custody for overstaying her visa. Whatever investigation follows will need to pursue every thread without diplomatic squeamishness.
MacDill Air Force Base is not a symbolic target. It is an operational nerve center. CENTCOM coordinates military action across the most volatile region on earth from behind those gates. An IED outside the visitor center is not just a criminal act. It is an act aimed at the people who defend this country.
The airman who found the device six days after it was planted deserves recognition. The investigators who traced a burner phone, a CarMax transaction, and a flight manifest to build this case in days deserve credit. The system worked, eventually.
But "eventually" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. A functional IED sat undetected outside a major military installation for nearly a week. The suspect who built it is beyond the reach of American law enforcement. And within 48 hours of the bomb's discovery, a copycat was already calling in threats.
Kehoe said it plainly:
"We are simply not going to tolerate this type of conduct here in the Middle District of Florida."
Good. Now bring the one in China home to prove it.
