Marine who firebombed Planned Parenthood and allegedly wanted to start a ‘race war’ gets prison time

Justice Department photos depicting former U.S. Marine Chance Brannon on left before throwing a Molotov cocktail at a Planned Parenthood in Costa Mesa, California. On right, the Molotov cocktail in Brannon

Justice Department photos depicting former U.S. Marine Chance Brannon on left before throwing a Molotov cocktail at a Planned Parenthood in Costa Mesa, California. On right, the Molotov cocktail in Brannon’s possession last March (images via DOJ).

A former U.S. Marine corporal who prosecutors say was motivated by neo-Nazism and conspired with two other men to firebomb the entrance of Planned Parenthood in California in 2022 — and planned to set off other violent attacks elsewhere — was sentenced on Monday to nine years in prison.

Chance Brannon, as Law&Crime previously reported, was arrested in June 2023. He was on active duty at the time. He was charged alongside co-conspirator and fellow Californian Tibet Ergul and later, Xavier Batten of Florida was also added to the indictment. Brannon pleaded guilty to four counts including conspiracy, malicious destruction of property by fire and explosives, possession of an unregistered destructive device and a single count of intentionally damaging a reproductive health services facility. The last charge, a statement from the Justice Department noted Monday, is a violation of the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

Batten pleaded guilty in January; Ergul pleaded guilty in February. Batten will be sentenced on May 15, while Ergul goes for sentencing May 30.

“The defendant violently attacked a reproductive health care facility and plotted multiple, potentially deadly assaults to advance his hate-fueled agenda,” Kristen Clarke, assistant Attorney General for department’s Civil Rights Division said. “The defendant’s assault on the Costa Mesa Clinic was designed to terrorize patients seeking reproductive health care and the people who provide it. Such violence has no place in the national discourse on reproductive health. The Justice Department will continue to investigate and prosecute those who seek to use threats of violence, force, and destruction of property to target vulnerable communities.”

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