A U.S. Marine and a second man were arrested on charges that they threw a burning Molotov cocktail at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Southern California last year, federal prosecutors said.
Chance Brannon, a 23-year-old Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, and Tibet Ergul, 21, are both charged in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana with using explosives or fire to damage property.
Agents with the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service arrested Ergul, of Irvine, and Brannon, of San Juan Capistrano.
Both men appeared Wednesday in federal court in Santa Ana. A bond hearing for Ergul was postponed, but U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Douglas McCormick denied bail for Brannon.
His attorney, Kate Corrigan, told McCormick she found it “a little ironic” that officials cited Brannon’s military training as a reason for considering him as “dangerous.” She indicated he specialized as a Farsi language expert.
Corrigan said her client would surrender his passport, could be monitored with a GPS device and had strong local family ties with the means to pay for his bond. Brannon has no prior criminal history, she added.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathrynne Seiden told the court that Brannon crossed over into Mexico on foot without notifying Camp Pendleton officials as required. She also said his biological father owns an online betting company in Costa Rica that has been investigated for money laundering.
Corrigan countered that Brannon’s parents divorced “two decades ago” and that his father “abandoned the family years ago … and there’s no indication I’ve heard there’s any communication or financial ties.”
Seiden argued though that Brannon “has a very serious motivation” to flee and has the means to do it. And despite being in the military he still “felt emboldened” to commit “an act of domestic terrorism,” she argued.
Agents seized silencers from him, along with a short-barrel rifle, Seiden said. Some of the weapons were banned by state laws, she added.
The agents also found “neo-Nazi” paraphernalia in his room as well as a drawing of a service member shooting someone who is Jewish holding money with the caption, “Thank you for keeping America pure,” Seiden said.
There were also writings in his room that included a declaration of “an unbelievable desire to murder journalists,” the prosecutor alleged.
Corrigan noted that the government was alleging her client possessed the material but did not create it. She also said it was irrelevant to the Planned Parenthood case.
“I can see if it was a crime against a synagogue,” Corrigan said.
McCormick said Brannon is accused of “very serious allegations” and added he was “gravely concerned” not just by the written material found in the room, but also the seizure of guns.
No one was hurt in the attack at around 1 a.m. on March 13, 2022, but the exterior of the clinic in Costa Mesa was damaged. Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion provider, while providing other health services.
“My office takes very seriously this brazen attack that targeted a facility that provides critical health care services to thousands of people in Orange County,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a written statement announcing the arrests.
Abortion has become an incendiary political issue in the U.S. following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision legalizing the procedure nationwide.
Since that decision 14 U.S. states have sought to ban or restrict abortion, touching off court fights and protests.
Surveillance footage captured images of two men in hooded sweatshirts running toward the clinic short before 1 a.m. on the morning of the bombing. One of the suspects can be seen carrying something under his left arm.
The FBI issued a poster in January offering a $25,000 reward to help identify the suspects, prompting an individual who attended high school with Brannon and Ergul to come forward, according to the criminal complaint.
That person, who is not named in the complaint, told investigators that Ergul texted him boasting about his involvement in the bombing, as well sending along a photo of a hand holding a Molotov cocktail inside a moving car. The FBI identified the vehicle as Brannon’s.
The estimated damage to the clinic building was about $1,050, according to an affidavit from an FBI agent. Clinic employees told investigators about 30 appointments had to be rescheduled.
– Staff and wire reports