SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) — A Southern California man pleaded guilty Thursday to firebombing a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa two years ago.
Tibet Ergul, 22, is the third defendant to plead guilty for his part in the March 2022 attack. He also admitted that he and his accomplices were plotting to firebomb an electrical substation to disrupt the power grid in Orange County and were discussing an attack on Dodger Stadium in downtown Los Angeles on LGBTQ pride night in the summer of 2023.
“This defendant’s hateful ideology led him down a dark path of plotting to harm others,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said. “The breadth of his and his co-conspirators’ violent plans is chilling. They planned to attack the power grid to start a race war, target Dodger Stadium on Pride Night, and bomb a second reproductive health services clinic."
As part of Ergul's plea deal, prosecutors have agreed to seek a sentence between 5 and 6 1/2 years in prison at his May 30 sentencing hearing in Santa Ana.
Ergul devised the plan to firebomb the Planned Parenthood clinic with Chance Brannon, who at the time was an active-duty U.S. Marine, in early 2022. They targeted Planned Parenthood to make a statement against abortion, to scare pregnant women from obtaining abortions, and to deter doctors, staff, and employees of the clinic from providing abortions, according to his plea agreement.
They assembled a Molotov cocktail at Ergul's garage and, wearing hoodies and face masks, threw it at the clinic's door in the middle of the night. The clinic was forced to temporarily close and had to reschedule dozens of appointments.
The two intended to attack a second Planned Parenthood clinic in Orange County with a Molotov cocktail in June 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court had overturned Roe vs Wade, but they scrapped that plan when they noticed law enforcement near the targeted clinic.
In 2023, Ergul conspired with Brannon to attack a Southern California Edison substation in Orange County, using a Molotov cocktail or firearms.
Ergul wrote to Brannon that “the rifle is in a box in my room waiting to be used in the upcoming race war," and “Every single day spent alongside these godforsaken 2 party fags make me hate American politics more. I have an unbelievable desire to murder journalists and politicians as soon as some chaotic event begins.”
In addition, Ergul admitted that he and Brannon discussed and researched how to attack the Dodger Stadium parking lot or the stadium’s electrical room on Pride Night. They exchanged sabotage manuals and discussed doing “dry runs” to “case” the stadium. They were arrested two days before the scheduled Pride Night.
Brannon pleaded guilty for his role in the attack and subsequent plots last November. A third defendant, a Florida man who helped the two with their schemes, pleaded guilty last month.
Ergul's attorney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the guilty plea.
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