FBI charges man with helping to plan Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing
The FBI has charged a man with helping to bomb a Southern California fertility clinic last month, an attack authorities have described as terrorism.
Daniel Park, 32, of Kent, Washington , was arrested Tuesday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, U.S. attorney for central California Bill Essayli said Wednesday at a news conference. Park was charged with providing material support to a terrorist and is accused of supplying 270 pounds of ammonium nitrate, an explosive precursor commonly used in homemade bombs, to 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus, Essayli added.
Park and Bartkus shared a “pro-mortalist, anti-natalist and anti-pro life ideology,” Essayli said.
“They don’t believe that people should exist,” said Akil Davis, assistant director of the Los Angeles FBI office.
In late January and early February, Park traveled to Bartkus’ home, where they used explosive precursors and lab equipment to experiment with bomb-making, Essayli said.
On May 17, a 25-year-old man with “nihilistic ideations” died in an explosion that collapsed the American Reproductive Centers in Palm Springs. Bartkus of Twentynine Palms, northeast of Palm Springs, was found dead near a vehicle that blew up outside the clinic.
The explosion, which officials have described as probably “the largest bombing scene” in Southern California, has raised questions about whether Bartkus aimed to halt the clinic’s services, which include in vitro fertilization, egg freezing and LGBTQ+ family building. None of the eggs, embryos or other materials in the facility’s lab were harmed , the clinic said.
Four others were hurt in the explosion but were released from a hospital within a day.
Authorities described the attack as “an intentional act of terrorism.” The FBI said it was examining a screed thought to have been written by the suspect.
On May 21, Park flew to Poland, Davis said, and Friday, he was detained by Polish authorities, who deported him back to the U.S. He landed at JFK airport on Tuesday night, where he was arrested, Davis added.