A 22-year-old man will spend six years in prison for his role in the 2022 firebombing of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa, closing a case that involved two other defendants.
Tibet Ergul pleaded guilty in February to federal charges of conspiracy to damage an energy facility and intentional damage to a reproductive health services facility. He was one of three men arrested in connection with the crime.
Ergul's co-defendants, Xavier Batten of Brooksville, Florida, and Chance Brannon of San Juan Capistrano, were recently sentenced to three and a half years and nine years, respectively.
Ergul's lawyer, Sheila Mojtehedi, said her client “hopes to close this chapter and move on with his life.”
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney, Ergul apologized for his actions and cited mental health issues, along with other struggles. He added that he was “eager to please” his old friend Brannon, which led him to agree to attack the clinic.
“I had just spent a long time alone, feeling like I didn't belong to any cause, or to any group; “I believed that if I didn’t agree to satisfy my friend’s wishes and somehow earn his respect, I would lose another relationship I had cultivated and end up lonelier than before,” Ergul wrote.
According to Ergul's plea agreement, on the morning of March 13, 2022, he and Brannon, disguised in dark clothing, hoods, masks and gloves, lit a Molotov cocktail and threw it at the clinic's entrance.
The center was forced to temporarily close and staff had to reschedule about 30 appointments.
“This defendant's hatred of others led him to conspire and carry out acts of violence,” the federal prosecutor said. Martin Estrada. “We will not allow bigoted bigotry to divide us. “My office will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute hate crimes to keep our community safe.”
Following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, Ergul and Brannon planned to use a second Molotov cocktail to damage another Planned Parenthood clinic, but did not follow through after seeing law enforcement near their intended target, Ergul's plea agreement states.
Ergul then conspired with others, including Brannon, to use firearms or a Molotov cocktail to damage a Southern California Edison electrical substation, according to the agreement.
The third man, Batten, pleaded guilty to teaching the others how to prepare the Molotov cocktail used in the attack.
