Man sentenced to 6 years for firebombing OC Planned Parenthood clinic

OC man sentenced for firebombing Planned Parenthood clinic

Tibet Ergul was sentenced to six years in prison for firebombing a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa in March 2022.

IRVINE, Calif. - An Orange County man was sentenced to six years in prison for firebombing a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa in March 2022.

Tibet Ergul, 22, of Irvine, was also ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution.

Ergul pleaded guilty on February 29 to one felony count of conspiracy to damage an energy facility and one misdemeanor count of intentional damage to a reproductive health services facility.

According to the Department of Justice, in February and March of 2022, Ergul and Chance Brannon, 24, agreed to use a Molotov cocktail to damage a Planned Parenthood clinic in Orange County.

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Ergul and Brannon, who at the time were active-duty United States Marines, targeted the clinic "because it provided reproductive health services and they wanted to encourage others to engage in similar violent acts," the DOJ said in a statement.

"Ergul and Brannon also wanted to make a statement about abortion, scare pregnant women away from obtaining abortions, deter doctors, staff, and employees at the clinic from providing abortions, and intimidate the clinic’s patients," the statement read.

Ergul and Brannon assembled a Molotov cocktail, drove to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa, ignited the Molotov cocktail and threw it in the entrance, intentionally starting a fire, the DOJ stated.

The damage from the fire forced the clinic to temporarily close.

In his plea agreement, Ergul said following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, he and Brannon planned to attack another Planned Parenthood clinic. Ergul also conspired to damage a Southern California Edison electrical substation to debilitate Orange County’s power grid.

Ergul and Brannon also discussed and researched how to attack the Dodger Stadium parking lot or the stadium’s electrical room on a night celebrating LGBTQ pride, including by using a device that could be detonated remotely, Ergul admitted in his plea agreement.

Law enforcement arrested Ergul and Brannon two days before Dodger Stadium’s scheduled "Pride Night."

"This defendant’s hatred toward others led him to plotting and carrying out violence," said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. "We will not allow bigoted intolerance to divide us."

Ergul, who has been in federal custody since June 2023, is the third and final defendant to be sentenced in this case.

Last month, Brannon was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for his role in the attack and plots. On May 13, Xavier Batten, 21, of Florida, was sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for advising Ergul and Brannon on how to construct the Molotov cocktail.

Crime and Public Safety Costa Mesa