A former U.S. Marine who dropped an incendiary bomb on a Southern California family planning clinic and planned other attacks has been sentenced to nine years in prison. Officials claim his “Nazi worldview” was the driving force behind the crime.
Chance Brannon, 24, was an active-duty Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton at the time of the incendiary bombing and arrest in June. He pleaded guilty in November.
of United States Attorney’s Office He said Brannon was also planning additional attacks on a second family planning clinic, an Edison substation in Southern California, and an LGBTQ Pride Night celebration at Dodger Stadium in an effort to “promote a race war.” It revealed that.
“The defendant violently attacked a reproductive health facility and committed multiple potentially fatal assaults in furtherance of his hateful objectives,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “I planned it,” he said.
Mehtab Saeed, acting assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, welcomed the 24-year-old’s sentence.
“Brannon’s deep-seated hatred and extremist views have prompted him to target individuals and groups who do not conform to his neo-Nazi worldview, and in some cases carry out violent attacks that have the potential to kill innocent people. “We have come to the conclusion that this is the case,” Said said. .
Brannon and co-defendants Tibet Ergul, 22, and Xavier Batten, 21, conspired to use Molotov cocktails to destroy commercial properties in February and March 2022, officials said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Brannon considered various targets, including the Anti-Defamation League office in San Diego, but ultimately chose to target Planned Parenthood.
Surveillance footage from the March 13, 2022, bombing shows Brannon and Ergul throwing a Molotov cocktail at the front door of the medical facility, and they later return to monitor the work. .
The clinic was closed at the time and no one was injured.
In May 2022, Brannon advised Batten on how to “avoid” an incendiary bombing and similar attacks.
Brannon and Ergul allegedly planned to use a second Molotov cocktail to destroy another family planning clinic in June after the Supreme Court decided to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The pair reportedly abandoned their plan because police were located near the clinic they had planned to target.
Ergul and Brannon then discuss starting a race war by attacking an electrical substation to disrupt the functioning of Orange County’s power grid.
Brannon kept a file on a USB drive containing the plans disguised as a military-style necklace with the Marine Corps motto.
United States District Court
Brannon used racial slurs against various minority groups, “made hateful comments against all non-white people” and discussed “cleaning up.”[ing]According to the government’s sentencing memorandum, Americans belong to certain ethnic groups.
Prior to his arrest in June, Brannon texted a friend: “Can we end the election and start a race war now?”
Brannon and Ergul also researched ways to attack Dodger Stadium on a Pride night, including using remote explosive devices.
Brannon and Ergul were arrested two days before the incident, according to court documents.
Brannon shared the views of neo-Nazi extremists, often greeting friends with “88,” a code language meaning “Heil Hitler,” and calling Adolf Hitler “the great man.”
Days before his arrest, Brannon and a friend began planning to rob Jewish residents of the Hollywood Hills.
At the time of his arrest, Brannon was in possession of a short-barreled rifle and two unregistered silencers.
At his sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney said Brannon “engaged in a brutal and indefensible act of domestic terrorism.” Newsday reported.
Mr. Ergul and Mr. Batten have also pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced in May.
