SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS) - Two of three men indicted in a firebombing attack last year on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court, while the third defendant remained behind bars in Florida, where he was arrested Friday.
Xavier Batten, 21, of Brooksville, Florida, was arrested by the FBI and was ordered held without bail. U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Santa Ana Monday that his office was working with prosecutors in Florida on a transfer of the defendant to Orange County.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, he is charged along with two previously identified defendants -- Tibet Ergul, 21, of Irvine, and 23-year-old Chance Brannon of San Juan Capistrano. Brannon is an active-duty Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton. Both defendants were arrested June 14.
Brannon and Ergul pleaded not guilty to federal charges at their arraignment Monday morning. A pretrial conference was scheduled for Aug. 28 and a trial date was scheduled for Sept. 5 before U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney.
Ergul and Brannon are accused of igniting and a throwing a Molotov cocktail at the clinic entrance at 1520 Nutmeg Place during the early morning hours of March 13, 2022, according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Jennifer Hirsch, who added that the pair returned to the clinic about two hours later. Security video captured the attack.
"This attack was not random," Estrada said. "It was a planned and concerted effort to attack the clinic on account of the services it provided -- namely reproductive health services."
Estrada added, "There were repeated discussions prior to the attack and Batten instructed Brannon on how to construct a Molotov cocktail."
The defendants "boasted about what they had done" in messages to each other after the attack, Estrada said.
All three defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of malicious destruction of property by fire and explosion. Brannon and Ergul are both also charged with one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device and one misdemeanor count of intentional damage to a reproductive health services facility, which is a violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, prosecutors said.
The conspiracy and malicious destruction charges each carry a sentence of five to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said. The charge 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 maximum sentence of one year in federal prison.
As for the alleged motive for the attack, Estrada said, "Our investigation is ongoing and we're learning more all of the time... But there is strong evidence of animus toward women."
Hirsch said the clinic "was forced to close and cancel dozens of appointments," noting that clinic employees told investigators about 30 appointments had to be rescheduled.
A day after the attack, Ergul "texted an acquaintance, taking credit for the fire and noting that he wished he `could've recorded the combustion,"' Hirsch said.
Ergul sent a photograph to an "acquaintance" showing "his gloved hand holding the Molotov cocktail from inside Brannon's car," according to Hirsch.
Surveillance video from the clinic shows the two approach the building about 12:55 a.m., Hirsch said. They wore hooded sweatshirts and masks, Hirsch said.
The estimated damage to the building was about $1,050, Hirsch said.
In January, the FBI offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest of suspects, prompting a call from a witness who called the FBI in April, Hirsch said. The witness, who was a friend of the suspects in high school, said Ergul sent text messages admitting his involvement in the bombing, according to Hirsch.
She said the text message read, "Boom (fire emoji)" at "1500 Blk nutmeg plaza... Costa Mesa health center/Planned Parenthood clinic."
The FBI agent also said that Ergul was arrested Oct. 21, 2022, in Tempe, Arizona, on suspicion of aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal damage after "punching his roommate in the nose and breaking the doorknob so she could not leave their shared apartment."
Brannon's attorney, Kate Corrigan, declined comment Monday. At her client's initial appearance in court in June, she told U.S. District Judge Douglas McCormick she found it "a little ironic" that officials were citing Brannon's military training as a reason for considering him as "dangerous." She indicated he specialized as a Farsi language expert.
Corrigan said her client would surrender his passport, could be monitored with a GPS device and had strong local family ties with the means to pay for his bond. Brannon has no prior criminal history, she added.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathrynne Seiden told McCormick at the June hearing that Brannon crossed over into Mexico on foot without notifying Camp Pendleton officials as required. She also said his biological father owns an online betting company in Costa Rica that has been investigated for money laundering.
Corrigan said Brannon's parents divorced "two decades ago" and that his father "abandoned the family years ago ... and there's no indication I've heard there's any communication or financial ties."
Seiden said that during a search agents seized silencers, a short- barrel rifle and weapons that are banned.
The agents also found "neo Nazi" paraphernalia in his room as well as a drawing of a service member shooting someone who is Jewish holding money, and the drawing was captioned, "Thank you for keeping America pure," Seiden said.
There were also writings in his room that included a declaration of "an unbelievable desire to murder journalists," Seiden alleged.
Corrigan noted that the government was alleging her client possessed the material but did not create it. She also said it was irrelevant to the alleged crime.
"I can see if it was a crime against a synagogue," Corrigan said.
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