FBI makes arrest after man died while blowing up California fertility clinic in ‘act of terrorism’
4 June 2025, 17:41
The FBI has arrested a man in connection to last month's car bombing of a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, which officials described as ‘an intentional act of terrorism’.
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Daniel Park, 32, from Kent, Washington, was arrested on Tuesday night at John F Kennedy Airport in New York, one of the officials said.
It was not immediately clear what Park was charged with or how he was connected to the investigation.
The attack on the fertility clinic was said to have been carried out by Guy Edward Bartkus, who was killed in the explosion, according to the FBI. Officials said at the time they were investigating whether Bartkus had any help.
The explosion ripped through the fertility clinic and was felt blocks away, and Bartkus left behind "anti-pro-life" writings before carrying out the attack, authorities said at the time.
A senior FBI official called the attack the "largest bombing scene that we've had in Southern California".
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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.”
Federal prosecutors are expected to release details about the arrest, first reported by NBC News, at a news conference in Los Angeles. The law enforcement officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss a criminal case that has not been publicly disclosed.
Authorities have described Bartkus as a member of the anti-natalist movement, a fringe group that opposes childbirth and population growth and believes people should not continue to procreate.
Officials said he intentionally targeted the fertility clinic as an act of terrorism. He tried to livestream the explosion, but the attempt failed, the FBI says.
The blast gutted the American Reproductive Centre's fertility clinic in Palms Springs and shattered the windows of nearby buildings along a palm tree-lined street.
Witnesses described a loud boom followed by a chaotic scene, with people screaming in terror and glass strewn along the pavement and street. A body was found near a charred vehicle outside the clinic.
Investigators have not said if he intended to kill himself in the attack or why he chose the specific facility. The clinic provides services to help people get pregnant, including in vitro fertilisation and fertility evaluations.
Authorities executed a search warrant in Bartkus's hometown of Twentynine Palms, a city north-east of Palm Springs with a large US Marine Corps base.
Authorities have not shared specifics about the explosives used to make the bomb and where Bartkus may have obtained them.
A senior FBI official called the explosion possibly the "largest bombing scene that we've had in Southern California".
Scott Sweetow, a retired ATF explosives expert, said the amount of damage caused indicated that the suspect used a "high explosive" similar to dynamite and TNT rather than a "low explosive" such as gun powder.
Those types of explosives are normally difficult for civilians to access, but increasingly people are finding ways to concoct explosives at home, he said.
The images of the aftermath also showed that the explosion appeared to blow from the street straight through the building and to the parking lot on the other side, something that could have been intentional or pure luck, Mr Sweetow said.
A part of the car was also blown through the building and landed at the back.
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