FBI: Palm Springs Bombing an Act of Terrorism, Agents Focus on Subject’s Anti-Life Views
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) calls the bombing of a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, an “intentional act of terrorism.”
Law enforcement is also piecing together how the suspect, Guy Edward Bartkus, got his hands on such a powerful explosive as well as Bartkus’s alleged “nihilist” views, in what’s believed to be the largest ever bombing investigation in southern California.
The bomb, believed to be a large vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, gutted the American Reproductive Centers clinic on Saturday, May 17, injuring four people. Police confirm that Bartkus was killed in the blast. Police say Bartkus backed his Ford Fusion into a parking spot behind the clinic and detonated the bomb. The explosion could be felt more than a mile away and sent shrapnel flying at nearby buildings.
FBI teams are using drones, 3D scanners, bomb-sniffing dogs, and other methods to map out fragments and trace chemicals that may have been used to make the car bomb.
“Nihilistic Views” May Hold Key to Motive
Law enforcement is also combing through the writings and recordings that Bartkus left behind.
Bartkus posted writings that seemed to indicate anti-natalist views, which hold that people should not continue to procreate and bring children into the world “against their will.” The clinic he attacked provides services to help people get pregnant, including in vitro fertilization and fertility evaluations. The FBI is also investigating a possible manifesto as well as a rambling audio recording.
“This was a targeted attack against the IVF facility,” said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI Los Angeles field office. “The subject had nihilistic ideations.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi also spoke out against the attack with a post on X. “Let me be clear: the Trump administration understands that women and mothers are the heartbeat of America. Violence against a fertility clinic is unforgivable,” she wrote.
According to experts like retired senior FBI profiler Dr. Mary Ellen O’Toole, nihilistic ideations include a “preoccupation with themes of violence, hopelessness, despair, pessimism, hatred, isolation, loneliness, or an ‘end-of-the-world’ philosophy.”
Meanwhile, Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills said that Bartkus was a prolific user of online chat rooms, and that others in the chat rooms should have notified law enforcement.
“There were people in chat rooms, there were people who were connected to him, who had to have known, in my opinion, that he was up to nefarious deeds,” Mills told CNN, adding, “That should have been brought forward.”
Bartkus was from Twentynine Palms, California, about an hour from Palm Springs, and home to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, the world’s largest Marine Corps training base.
A spokesperson said Bartkus did not have any affiliation with the Marines Corps.