SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal grand jury indictment is expected to be unsealed in Santa Ana today and the arrest of a third defendant will be
announced in the 2022 firebombing of a Costa Mesa clinic operated by Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
The details will be released at a morning briefing at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Defendants Tibet Ergul, 21, of Irvine, and 23-year-old Chance Brannon, of San Juan Capistrano are scheduled to be arraigned on federal charges after the briefing, federal officials said. Brannon is an active-duty Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton.
Both defendants were arrested on June 14 on suspicion of using an explosive or fire to damage real property affecting interstate
commerce which carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
Ergul and Brannon are accused of igniting and throwing a Molotov cocktail at the clinic entrance during the early morning hours of March 13, 2022.
Security video captured the attack.
The alleged role of the third defendant was not immediately disclosed.
"My office takes very seriously this brazen attack that targeted a facility that provides critical health care services to thousands of people in Orange County,'' said United States Attorney Martin Estrada.
"The depraved act of launching an improvised explosive device into a public facility put lives at risk and will not be tolerated,'' said Donald Always, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office.
