SANTA ANA, Calif. — A U.S. Marine and a suspected accomplice accused of using a Molotov cocktail to firebomb a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa were arrested on Wednesday, June 14, and are facing federal charges.
Chance Brannon, a 23-year-old San Juan Capistrano man and active-duty Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, and Tibet Ergul, a 21-year-old Irvine man, are suspected of carrying out what federal officials described as a “brazen” attack during the early morning hours of March 12, 2022.
Each man is charged with using an explosive or fire to damage real property affecting interstate commerce, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Donald Alway, an assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said in a statement that the two men committed a “depraved act of launching an improvised explosive device into a public facility,” while U. S. Attorney Martin Estrada called it a “brazen attack that targeted a facility that provides critical healthcare services to thousands of people in Orange County.”
“While it is fortunate that no one was physically harmed and responders were able to prevent the clinic from being destroyed, the defendants’ violent actions are entirely unacceptable,” Estrada added.
Previously released surveillance photos shows two masked men with dark hooded sweatshirts walking up to the Planned Parenthood facility around 1 a.m., igniting a flaming device and throwing it at the front door. According to the criminal complaint, the device “landed against a wall next to the glass door and erupted in fire, which spread up the wall and across the ceiling above the glass door.”
Fire crews extinguished the blaze.
Investigators determined the device was a glass container with gasoline and other unspecified materials.
The clinic closed that morning, cancelling around 30 appointments, prosecutors said.
In January, FBI officials announced a $25,000 award for information leading to the identification and arrest of the two suspects tied to the attack. That reward followed similar offers for information tied to attacks and threats against reproductive health services across the country, including in Colorado, Tennessee, New York, North Carolina, Washington and Oregon.
The attack was investigated by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service with assistance from Costa Mesa police.
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