An online website without a name, but appeared in the case of bombing related, listed “war against loved ones” and said it would target fertilization clinics.
Palm Springs – The suspect was temporarily identified by the FBI as Guy Edwards Bartkus, 25, during a bombing at the Palm Springs fertility clinic on Sunday.
Akil Davis, assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said the bomb suspect appeared to have been killed in an explosion at the U.S. Reproductive Center on Saturday morning. FBI officials said they are investigating the incident as “intentional act of terrorism.”
Law enforcement sources told The New York Times they believed the suspect was “anti-life” and responded to the death of a recent friend.
An online website without a name, but appeared in the case of bombing related, listed “war against loved ones” and said it would target fertilization clinics.
The website begins by saying, “Here you can download the recorded stream of my suicide and bombing the IVF clinic, but such files do not exist. It praises the philosophical trash from “abolitionist vegetarians,” human opposition to all animal use, and “negative pragmatism” – we should act to minimize suffering rather than maximize the happiness of the world.
“Basically, I am a pro-constructor,” the author wrote, referring to a marginal philosophical position that is best suited to all beings to die as soon as possible to prevent future suffering.
Times cannot independently confirm that Bartkus has created the website. Domain data shows that the site was created in February.
FBI assistant director Akil Davis said on Sunday that the suspect “has a nihilistic idea, a targeted attack on the IVF facility.” He refused to verify whether the manifesto was written by the suspect, adding that his team “tracked the possible manifesto as part of our ongoing investigation.”
The site comes with a 30-minute audio file labeled “Pre”, which begins with the speaker, who said he will explain “why I decided to bomb an IVF building or clinic.”
“Basically, it's just me being angry at my presence and you know, no one agrees to bring me here,” the speaker said.
When the bomb exploded, the clinic was surrounded by other medical buildings and was closed. Although the bomb ripped the building in half, the clinic's directors said no embryos were harmed.
“Our labs – including all eggs, embryos and reproductive materials – are still completely safe and undamaged,” the company said in a statement posted online. “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like this we remember how fragile and precious life is.”
All hidden in the basic regulations of the website, the author mentions the recent death of a person who the writer claims to be a close friend “Sophie”. References match the April 20 death of a Washington woman who allegedly shot her request in her request.
The Times reviewed law enforcement announcement said the suspect seemed to have become even more frustrated after the recent death of a female friend.
Brian Levin, founder of the Center for Hate and Extremism Research, said in a professor emeritus at Cal State San Bernardino, California State University, that the suspect appears to be part of a growing movement of radical traits on obscure Internet sites.
“We see the landscape of violent extremism being severely affected by lone actors, a free and extensive social media and a wave of traits that are able to find niches in part of the existing widespread movement, or among a particularly obscure person.”
Levin said historically, it has been difficult for individuals to obtain obscure ideological verification and legalization and gain knowledge to conduct such attacks.
“Today, we basically have a DIY ecosystem where lonely people can engage in behaviors that were previously more inclined toward groups and small cells,” Levin said. “The whole cauldron involves radicalization, misinformation, a way to legalize violence into this set of complaints, and that's what you have.
“The ability to have radical capabilities, and the ability to truly gain technical knowledge and the ability to cause anger and an angry social media landscape – that’s the world we live in,” he added. “Unfortunately, California has seen all kinds of aspects.”
Investigators were at Bartkus' home within hours of Saturday's explosion.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies asked residents on one end of the community to leave their homes while cleaning up the explosion radius and then wait for a judge’s warrant to search the house kidnapped by the bomb suspect.
An online address catalog shows that Bartkus has used the house since 2019.
Directly living across the street is Jeanette Hogan, who says she doesn't know Bartkus' name and hasn't seen residents in the house for months. “We've never seen him, so it's all shocking for us,” Hogan said. “It's a little disturbing to know that our neighbors are doing such a evil thing.
“Thank goodness it's a Saturday and they don't have any patients.”
Thomas Bickel, who lives directly behind the suspect's house, also said he had never met Bartkus. He said the sheriff's deputies asked him to leave the house at about 1 p.m., and then he went to the cactus bar to wait for a search.
Eight hours later, Bicker was still there, caring for beer on the terrace, watching federal agents on the street enter and exit the suspect's house. At one point, they sent a robot into the house, while the drone and a helicopter were hovering overhead.
A FBI agent whose vehicle was parked on the periphery told Bickel that the bomb used in Palm Springs was “large”. A veteran of Bickel's service in Afghanistan said he was familiar with the destructive power of roadside bombs.
“I'm not saying this in a positive way, but someone who knows what they're doing.”
The car explosion was so big that it tore the clinic and blocked debris, broke windows in a nearby hospital while pushing the suspect's crumpled car along the other direction in the rear parking lot.
Nick Jacob Sivetz was about 9 blocks in the graffitiyard when he heard the explosion. He said his roommate also heard explosions at his home about six miles away.
Sivetz ran to the scene and found the business, the windows were blown open and debris were scattered across the road. He said that in the chaos, many residents believed a gasoline explosion occurred.
“I would say the whole city is shaking,” Sievez said. “It's surprising for a lot of people, especially in such a quiet city.”
