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Police arrest suspected accomplice in Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing

Published: 05 Jun. 2025, 13:20

Daniel Jongyon Park, 32, of Kent, Washington, who was arrested by FBI agents on charges alleging he provided material support to the Palm Springs fertility clinic bomber, appears in an undated drivers license photograph. [FBI/REUTERS/YONHAP]

A man was arrested nearly two weeks after a car bombing outside a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, last month that left four people injured and partially damaged the facility.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest on Wednesday and indictment of Daniel Jongyon Park, 32, of Kent, Washington, on charges of providing material support to the late bomber and aiding in the construction of the explosives used in the attack.

Park is accused of conspiring with Guy Edward Bartkus, a 25-year-old from California, to bomb a fertility clinic in Palm Springs on May 17 with “nihilistic ideations." On the day of the attack, Bartkus detonated an explosive-laden vehicle outside the clinic, injuring four bystanders and damaging part of the building. He died at the scene.

The clinic was closed at the time of the attack, which was a weekend, and no staff or patients were directly harmed.

Prosecutors said Park and Bartkus met through an online community that promotes antinatalism, or "pro-mortalism," in Bartkus' words — the belief that procreation and population growth should be opposed. Beginning in October 2022, Park allegedly purchased large quantities of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical, and in January this year, shipped 81.7 kilograms (180 pounds) of it to Bartkus’s residence.

The American Reproductive Centers office is damaged after an explosion, in Palm Springs, California, on May 17, 2025. [EPA/YONHAP]

The two then lived together from Jan. 25 to Feb. 8, during which they reportedly experimented with homemade explosives. Prosecutors said Park had also searched for bomb-making techniques using an artificial intelligence chatbot.

Arrested in Poland, returned to U.S.

Four days after the bombing, Park boarded a flight to Europe.

The U.S. Department of Justice requested his extradition from Poland in late May. Park was arrested there on May 30 and returned to the United States on June 4, arriving at a New York airport, where he was taken into federal custody.

“This defendant is charged with facilitating the horrific attack on a fertility center in California. Bringing chaos and violence to a facility that exists to help women and mothers is a particularly cruel, disgusting crime that strikes at the very heart of our shared humanity,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

“We are grateful to our partners in Poland who helped get this man back to America, and we will prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.”

If convicted, Park faces up to 15 years in prison.

Los Angeles FBI Assistant Director in Charge, Akil Davis, delivers a statement involving the arrest of a Washington State man in connection with the Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing, at the FBI Los Angeles Field Office, in Los Angeles, on June 4, 2025. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Online activity revealed extremist beliefs

According to the New York Times, Park had publicly expressed support for antinatalism since 2016 and had used social media to promote the ideology and recruit like-minded individuals.

Investigators said his family reported that Park had exhibited not only antinatalist but also pro-mortalist views — supporting death — since high school.

A month before the attack, Park reportedly answered “yes” to a social media question asking whether he would press a button that would accelerate the extinction of life on Earth.

At his court appearance in New York, Park was reportedly wearing a green T-shirt printed with the phrase “Fight like the Ukrainians” and a logo in the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag. He also had a white bandage wrapped around one hand.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]