A former Marine who firebombed a Planned Parenthood clinic in Orange County, Calif., in 2022 was sentenced Monday to nine years in prison.
Chance Brannon, whom prosecutors described as a neo-Nazi, was serving as an active duty Marine when he lobbed a Molotov cocktail at the Costa Mesa clinic in March 2022, damaging the building.
Prosecutors also alleged that Brannon planned multiple other attacks on public places, including one on the Orange County power grid in furtherance of a race war, an attack at Dodger Stadium during an LGBTQ+ Pride Night celebration, and the home invasions of Jewish homes in the Los Angeles area.
He pleaded guilty last fall to conspiracy, malicious destruction of property and explosives possession.
“Brannon’s deep-rooted hatred and extremist views inspired him to target individuals or groups who did not conform to his neo-Nazi worldview and, in one case, led him to carry out a violent attack which could have killed innocent people,” FBI Los Angeles Assistant Director Mehtab Syed said in a statement. “I’m proud of the hard work and collaboration by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, whose members built this case and apprehended Brannon before additional acts of domestic terrorism could be carried out, as well as the hard work by prosecutors and agents leading to today's sentencing.”
According to investigators, Brannon frequently used slurs for minority groups and discussed “cleans[ing]” the country.
In the weeks leading up to his November 2023 arrest, Brannon allegedly texted a friend, “Can we just be done with elections and have the race war already” and complained that “[p]eople will never do anything if everyone keeps waiting for [a race war] to start on its own.”
Two men who planned the attacks with Brannon, Xavier Batten and Tibet Ergul, also pleaded guilty to charges and have sentencing hearings scheduled next month.
“The Justice Department does not tolerate the use of violence to intimidate and endanger,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. “This prosecution and today’s sentence hold the defendant accountable for placing lives at risk by launching a brazen attack with an explosive device against a health care facility.”
