A former Marine from Orange County pleaded guilty on Nov. 30 to firebombing a Planned Parenthood clinic in Southern California last year and admitted to plotting other attacks, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Chance Brannon, a 24-year-old resident of San Juan Capistrano, was an active-duty Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton when he firebombed the clinic in March 2022, the department stated in a press release.
Mr. Brannon also admitted to plotting other attacks on another Planned Parenthood clinic and an LGBTQ pride night celebration at Dodger Stadium. He has remained in custody since his arrest in June.
He pleaded guilty to four counts: “Conspiracy, malicious destruction of property by fire and explosives, possession of an unregistered destructive device, and intentional damage to a reproductive health services facility.”
“This defendant exemplifies the insidious danger posed by domestic extremism,” U.S. attorney Martin Estrada stated.
“We must never waver in our commitment to protect the American people from violent extremist ideology,” he added.
According to his indictment, Mr. Brannon conspired to hurl a Molotov cocktail on a Planned Parenthood clinic on March 13, 2022, to scare pregnant women and deter doctors from providing abortion services.
No one was injured, but the clinic’s exterior was damaged.
Mr. Brannon also admitted to planning attacks on a second Planned Parenthood clinic, an LGBTQ pride celebration at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and an electric utility substation in Orange County.
None of those plots came to fruition. But prosecutors said Mr. Brannon prepared an “operation plan” and “gear list” that he kept on a thumb drive, and he shared a World War Two sabotage manual with one of his collaborators.
He was found to be in possession of a short-barreled rifle along with two silencers when arrested, which he had not registered with the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
“Extremist violence fueled by an insular hatred intended to intimidate law-abiding Americans will not be tolerated,” FBI Los Angeles Assistant Director-in-Charge Don Alway said in a statement.
“It is crucial that individuals who seek reproductive health services be able to obtain them in an environment that is free from interference, intimidation, and fear,” he added.
Mr. Brannon faces five to 20 years in prison on each of the conspiracy and malicious destruction counts. The count of possession of an unregistered destructive device is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison.
The intentional damage to a reproductive health facility charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of one year in federal prison.
His two co-defendants—Tibet Ergul, 22, of Irvine, California, and Xavier Batten, 21, of Brooksville, Florida—have pleaded not guilty to the charges they face and are scheduled for trial in March 2024.
