U.S. Marine Among 2 Accused Of Firebombing Planned Parenthood Clinic

A U.S. Marine and another man were arrested Wednesday morning and accused of firebombing a Planned Parenthood clinic in Southern California last year.

Federal prosecutors announced the arrests of Chance Brannon, a 23-year-old active-duty Marine, and 21-year-old Tibet Ergul for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at the entrance of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa on March 13, 2022. They were charged with using an explosive or fire to damage real property affecting interstate commerce.

Prosecutors said that security footage showed Ergul and Brannon at the Planned Parenthood facility at 1 a.m. disguised in hooded sweatshirts and face masks and throwing the explosive device, which spread up the wall and across the ceiling. The fire forced the clinic to close for a morning and cancel about 30 appointments, authorities said.

“The depraved act of launching an improvised explosive device into a public facility put lives at risk and will not be tolerated,” Donald Alway, assistant director in charge of the FBI ’s Los Angeles field office, said in the statement. 

According to the criminal complaint, an investigation into Ergul and Brannon began on April 3 after an unnamed witness called the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center identifying them as the subjects in the footage that released to the public. The FBI in January offered a reward of $25,000 for information leading to an arrest in the incident.  

The witness told federal investigators that they were friends with Ergul and Brannon in high school and showed investigators a text message Ergul sent a day after the firebombing, allegedly admitting to being involved with an image of the Molotov cocktail. 

According to the complaint, investigators believed that the background of the image in the text message matched the interior of Brannon’s Dodge Challenger, which was occasionally parked by the Camp Pendelton barracks, where Brannon was stationed.

Camp Pendleton and attorneys representing Brannon declined to comment to HuffPost. Attorneys representing Ergul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Marine Corps confirmed in an email to HuffPost that Brannon is still on active duty.

In a statement to HuffPost, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Orange and San Bernardino Counties said they greatly appreciate the work of the FBI, the Costa Mesa Police Department and Costa Mesa Fire Department that led to the arrests. 

“While we are fortunate and grateful that no one was harmed, we stand firm against those who would wish to intimidate our staff, patients and supporters,” the statement read. “Their safety is our highest priority, and we will not be deterred in our mission to provide expert, compassionate care to our community, as we have done for over 50 years.”

The two face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted. 

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