Conspired in Last Month's Palm Springs Car Bombing
Prosecutors: "An Extreme Anti-Natalist"
An accomplice in the car bomb attack at an infertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, last month has been apprehended by police.
According to major foreign media outlets on June 4 (local time), the U.S. federal prosecutor's office announced that Daniel Jongyeon Park, a man from Kent, Washington, had been arrested and indicted on charges of providing material support, including bomb-making materials, to the suicide bomber who carried out the attack last month. Park is accused of conspiring with Guy Edward Bartkus, a California resident, to bomb the infertility clinic in Palm Springs on May 17.
The infertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, damaged by a car bomb attack on the 17th of last month (local time). Photo by AFP Yonhap News
On the day of the incident, Bartkus detonated his vehicle loaded with explosives in front of the infertility clinic, damaging part of the building and injuring four people nearby. He died at the scene. Since the attack occurred on a weekend, the clinic was closed, and no staff or patients were harmed. U.S. media outlets such as the New York Post reported that Park is a U.S. citizen. Based on his surname and the middle name "Jongyeon," he is believed to be Korean American.
According to prosecutors, Bartkus and Park met through an online group that shared extreme "anti-natalism" views. Beginning in October 2022, Park purchased large quantities of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material, and in January sent 81.7 kg of ammonium nitrate to Bartkus's home. Park later visited Bartkus's house, where they lived together, manufactured explosives, and conducted experiments. Significant quantities of chemicals used for homemade bomb-making were reportedly found in Bartkus's room and garage. Prosecutors also said that Park had used an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot at home to search for ways to make powerful explosives.
Four days after the attack, Park fled to Poland via Denmark. On May 30, he was apprehended by local authorities in Poland and extradited to New York the following night, where he was arrested at the airport. If convicted, Park faces up to 15 years in prison.
Attorney General Bondi stated, "Committing violence against a facility that exists to help women and motherhood is an extremely cruel and repugnant crime that attacks the core of our humanity," adding, "We will hold him accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
The New York Times, citing the indictment, reported that in 2016 Park posted on social networking services (SNS) to promote anti-natalism and recruit others who shared this belief. Anti-natalism is the belief that opposes human birth and population growth. Park's family told investigators that, since high school, he held not only anti-natalist but also pro-mortalist beliefs, which support death.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
