On July 5, police in Torrance, Calif., arrested ex-convicts Levar Haney Washington and Gregory Vernon Patterson on suspicion of committing a string of bank robberies in the Los Angeles area from May 30 to July 3. It was more than just a successful end to a bank robbery investigation; the arrests also marked the beginning of what appears to be the latest investigation into indigenous terrorism in the United States. Following the arrests, police searched Washington's apartment for evidence linking the two men to the robberies. Instead, they found materials linking the subjects to a militant Islamist group plotting attacks in the Los Angeles area. Among the items found in the apartment were bulletproof vests, "jihadist materials" and a target list.