Topline
Two men, including an active duty U.S. Marine, were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail firebomb into a Planned Parenthood facility in southern California, as tensions over abortion access continue to spike following the Supreme Court’s historic overturning of Roe v. Wade last year.
Two men were arrested on Wednesday for hurling a Molotov cocktail at a Planned Parenthood in … [+]
Key Facts
FBI special agents and the federal Naval Criminal Investigative Service arrested 21-year-old Tibet Ergul and 23-year-old Chance Brannon, an active duty Marine stationed at California’s Camp Pendleton, “without incident” Wednesday morning, according to a Department of Justice statement released on Wednesday.
Brannon and Ergul were charged with using an explosive device to damage property affecting interstate commerce, after allegedly throwing a firebomb at a clinic in Costa Mesa, California, operated by Planned Parenthood.
The two suspects allegedly threw the Molotov cocktail at the facility’s entrance around 1 a.m. on the morning of March 13, 2022, forcing the clinic to temporarily shut its doors and cancel roughly 30 appointments—the local fire department extinguished the fire caused by the Molotov cocktail.
Big Number
20. That’s the maximum prison sentence Brannon and Ergul could face if convicted on the charge of using fire or an explosive to damage property affecting interstate commerce.
Tangent
The incident was one of a handful of violent attacks targeting Planned Parenthood facilities in recent months, including an attack in January at a central Illinois clinic, as well as a January 2020 attack on a clinic in Newark, Delaware—a 20-year-old was charged and sentenced in that case to 26 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
Key Background
The Department of Justice has documented 10 criminal cases and one civil case involving violence against reproductive health care clinics and providers since the start of last year. Debate over abortion access resurged in recent years, leading up to the Supreme Court’s momentous decision last June to overturn Roe v. Wade, leaving abortion access up to individual states. Fourteen states have since implemented full bans on most abortions, while another six states have enacted bans at up to 20 weeks into a pregnancy. Meanwhile, California has left abortion largely available. National public opinion on abortion, however, has run counter to bans: A Gallup poll published in February found more than two-thirds of Americans are unhappy with abortion policies in the U.S., with 46% of respondents saying laws on abortion should be less strict, a stark increase from the 30% of respondents in a January 2022 poll. Only one fourth of Americans in an August 2022 poll said they approve of state abortion bans.
Further Reading
American Unhappiness With Abortion Laws At Record High, Poll Finds As Lawmakers Consider Watering Down Bans (Forbes)
Vast Majority Of Americans Don’t Want Abortion Bans, Poll Finds—Even In States Where It’s Already Outlawed (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/06/14/marine-arrested-for-allegedly-throwing-molotov-cocktail-at-planned-parenthood/