Lucas Jackson/Reuters
A former U.S. Marine on Thursday pleaded guilty to firebombing a Planned Parenthood clinic in California, prosecutors said.
Chance Brannon, 24, is one of three people charged in connection with the March 13, 2022, Molotov cocktail attack at the clinic in Costa Mesa. Brannon, who was an active-duty Marine at the time, said he selected the target to “scare pregnant women, deter doctors and staff from providing abortion services, and encourage similar violent acts,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Thankfully no one was injured in the early morning attack, though the clinic sustained fire damage and had to reschedule about 30 appointments. According to federal prosecutors, Brannon had considered other targets—including the Anti-Defamation League in San Diego—before the attack, and he said he subsequently planned a second hit on a different Planned Parenthood clinic with one of his co-defendants.