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2025 Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing
Car bombing in California From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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On May 17, 2025, a car bombing occurred at a reproductive center in Palm Springs, California, leaving one person near the vehicle, later confirmed to be the perpetrator, dead[3][4] and four others injured.[5][6] The explosion was described as one of the largest bombing investigations that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has investigated in Southern California since the Aliso Viejo package bombing that killed one person and seriously injured two others in 2018.[3][7] The perpetrator was identified as Guy Edward Bartkus, a 25-year-old man from Twentynine Palms, California. He was the only person killed in the attack, and his motives stemmed from the ideologies of pro-mortalism and efilism.[1][2]
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Background
The American Reproductive Centers in Palm Springs is a fertility clinic operated by American Reproductive Centers, which provides in vitro fertilization, genetic testing, and egg donation services.[8] It is the only facility with full service in the Coachella Valley, located near the Desert Regional Medical Center at 1199 North Indian Canyon Drive.[6]
Bombing
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On May 17, 2025 at 10:52 a.m. PDT, a 2010 silver Ford Fusion sedan[9] exploded in the parking lot behind a fertility clinic building. The bombing occurred outside the clinic's weekday business hours, and a doctor at the clinic reported that no staff members were harmed, nor were the clinic's essential medical operations. Videos posted online showed one of the clinic's buildings with a large hole in a wall and other damage to the structure.[8] Nearby buildings were damaged and windows were shattered.[10] A tripod and camera were found at the scene.[6][9] One person near the vehicle was killed, and four others were injured. The deceased individual has been identified as the bomber, 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus.[3][9] Video and witnesses reported seeing what looked like human remains on a road outside of the building.[6] The blast was felt more than 1 mile (1.6 km) away from the clinic.[9]
Later that day, assistant director of the Los Angeles FBI field office Akil Davis confirmed that the explosion was caused by a car bomb and was being considered an "intentional act of terrorism". Davis also stated that the FBI had a person of interest but were not searching for a person at that time.[11]
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Perpetrators and investigation
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FBI officials identified 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus (September 1999 – May 17, 2025), a former computer technician from Twentynine Palms, California, with childhood ties to Waterbury, Connecticut, as the suspected perpetrator of the bombing; they described him as having "nihilistic views".[12][13] Bartkus reportedly identified himself as the perpetrator of the bombing in a video posted online, in which he described himself as a "pro-mortalist", saying in a manifesto that people did not give consent to exist. He also reportedly left a 30-minute audio recording in which he explained his reasoning for the attack.[14] The FBI stated after the fact that Bartkus was not on their radar.[9] During a news conference on May 18, FBI officials stated that Bartkus was the person killed during the attack.[9]
Bartkus was raised in Yucca Valley, California, where he had a habit on building toy rockets as a child, playing with matches, and making smoke bombs. At the age of 9, Bartkus accidentally burned down his family's house while playing with one of the matches. Bartkus later resided in Twentynine Palms after his parents were divorced in 2012.[15]
A website purporting to be made by Bartkus explains his views by saying in part, "...your death is already a guarantee, and you can thank your parents for that one. All a pro-mortalist is saying is let's make it happen sooner rather than later."
About a month prior to the bombing, Bartkus's friend in Fox Island, Washington, Sophie Tinney, died after she had allegedly convinced her boyfriend to kill her in her sleep. According to reports, Bartkus and Tinney had made pact "that if one of them died, the other would soon follow." On a "pro-mortalist" website Bartkus went on before the bombing, he wrote that main motivation for his decision to bomb the fertility clinic was suicide.[16] Bartkus left a 30-minute audio recording explaining his motive for the alleged attack, saying "I figured I would just make a recording explaining why I've decided to bomb an IVF building, or clinic," he said. "Basically, it just comes down to I'm angry that I exist and that, you know, nobody got my consent to bring me here."[17]
The same day as the bombing, the FBI and San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department executed a search warrant and evacuated dozens of homes on or near Adobe Road in Twentynine Palms in connection to the investigation.[9]
According to Bartkus's father, when Bartkus was a child, he would "tinker with small model rockets" and once set their home on fire while playing with matches. As a teen, Bartkus made "smoke bombs" and "stink bombs" but never anything "major."[18]
On the evening of June 3, 2025, FBI agents arrested a second man at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport. According to authorities, the individual was quickly identified as 32-year-old Daniel Park (born October 1992) of Kent, Washington (with nearby Federal Way ties),[19] may have provided material support but wasn't clear if they knew anything about the bombing.[20] Park was charged with providing material support to a terrorist after allegedly supplying explosive materials to Bartkus.
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Bartkus's 75-year-old father told The New York Times that he hadn't seen his son since he left to live with his mother in Twentynine Palms in 2013. He said he was shocked when a relative told him that his son was implicated in the bombing. He described his son as a "good-hearted" young man who worked monitoring special-needs children on school buses, and was also a "computer whiz" who built his own computers as early as the age of 9. He also described him as always "impressionable" and had often allowed himself to be "drawn in by friends who got him into trouble," mentioning a time when one of Bartkus's friends, whose parents owned a demolition yard, talked him into smashing cars there.[18][21]
Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and professor emeritus at Cal State San Bernardino, opined that Bartkus appeared to be "part of a growing group of radicalized lone wolves influenced by dark websites", stating that they've seen mostly young men, including some related to past childhood incidents and a handful related to the rise of misandry, acting out "grievances as part of a broad movement sometimes or obscure ones towards an anti-life movement".[22]
California Governor Gavin Newsom said he and his wife were "keeping everyone affected in [their] hearts".[12]
Reddit banned its r/efilism subreddit, a community which had over 10,000 members, for violating its rules against inciting violence. Bartkus had directly mentioned several Reddit communities, including r/efilism, in his writings.[23][24][25]
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References
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