Two men, including an active duty member of the Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton, are in custody after they allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at the entrance to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa, Calif., last year.
The accused Marine, Chance Brannon, 23, a San Juan Capistrano resident, and Tibet Ergul, a 21-year-old from Irvine, Calif., were both arrested Wednesday without incident, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice. The men, who each face a charge of using an explosive or fire to damage real property affecting interstate commerce, are due in court Wednesday afternoon in Santa Ana.
“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,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said, in part, in the news release.
Brannon and Ergul, who were wearing hoodies and facemasks, firebombed the clinic early on March 13, 2022, according to the federal criminal complaint.
“The device landed against a southern wall next to the glass door and erupted into a fire, which spread up the wall and across the ceiling above the glass door,” the complaint states.
The fire was quickly extinguished by the Costa Mesa Fire Department, but not before doing enough damage had been done to force the closure of the clinic the following morning, when 30 appointments had been scheduled, prosecutors said.
The men face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.