Man suspected of blowing up California fertility clinic left behind ‘anti pro-life’ writings in act of terrorism
A man believed to be behind an explosion that ripped through a Southern California fertility clinic left behind "anti-pro-life" writings before carrying out the attack, authorities said.
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The explosion, which took place just before 11am local time in downtown Palm Springs, was felt blocks away and destroyed a slew of businesses, including an American Reproductive Center (ARC).
Investigators are treating the ‘targeted attack’ as an act of terrorism, and the FBI has named 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus as a suspect in the case.
The apparent car bomb detonation on Saturday damaged the clinic in the upscale city of Palm Springs in the desert east of Los Angeles.
Investigators said Bartkus died in the blast, which a senior FBI official called possibly the "largest bombing scene that we've had in Southern California".
The FBI has identified Guy Edward Bartkus, 25, of 29 Palms as the primary suspect in the #PalmSprings vehicle explosion. The vehicle was a silver Ford Fusion sedan, plate 8HWS848. Please call 1800 CALLFBI with information or upload relevant video/images at https://t.co/CnxyRN1YIv pic.twitter.com/dYAG26xCYY
— FBI Los Angeles (@FBILosAngeles) May 18, 2025
Palm Springs resident Tamara Cash told The Desert Sun newspaper the blast “was so loud it shook me. All I could hear was alarms going off in different buildings.”
“The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke,” another local said.
“Crazy explosion. It felt like a bomb went off. ... We went up to the scene, and we saw human remains.”
Bartkus attempted to livestream the explosion and left behind writings including "nihilistic ideations" that were still being examined to determine his state of mind, said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office.
The writings seemed to indicate anti-natalist views, which hold that people should not continue to procreate.
US Attorney Bilal "Bill" Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in the area, called the message "anti-pro-life".
"This was a targeted attack against the IVF facility," Mr Davis said on Sunday.
"Make no mistake: we are treating this, as I said yesterday, as an intentional act of terrorism."
The bombing injured four other people, though Mr Davis said all embryos at the facility were saved.
"Good guys one, bad guys zero," he said.
In a briefing on Saturday, the FBI confirmed the attack was a “deliberate act of terror.”
"This was an intentional act of terrorism. As our investigation will unfold we will determine if it's international terrorism or domestic terrorism," said Akil Davis, the head of the FBI's Los Angeles office.
The FBI later said it had "a person of interest" in its investigation, but officers were "not actively searching" for the suspect.
Bartkus is believed to be a resident of Twentynine Palms, a town around an hour away from Palm Springs, which is home to a large marine base.
An ARC statement read: "We are heavily conducting a complete safety inspection and have confirmed that our operations and sensitive medical areas were not impacted by the blast.”
"I really have no clue what happened," said Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the clinic.
“Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients."
American advocacy group, the Center for Reproductive Rights, described the attack as “unconscionable.”
"The history of violence against reproductive health centers is why clinics need protections and patients must feel safe," the group said in a statement.