Translation
The FBI is examining an “anti-natalist” document believed to have been written by the suspect, who died in the blast, a person familiar with the case said.
Today at 3:47 p.m. EDT
The American Reproductive Centers office is damaged after an explosion, in Palm Springs, California, on May 17. (Allison Dinner/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
By Praveena Somasundaram and Jeremy Roebuck
Officials on Sunday identified the suspect in the bombing of a Palm Springs, California, fertility clinic as a 25-year-old with “nihilistic ideations” who authorities said was killed in the blast while attempting to live-stream it.
Guy Edward Bartkus of Twentynine Palms, northeast of Palm Springs, was found dead near the vehicle that exploded outside an American Reproductive Centers clinic Saturday, authorities said in a news conference. Officials did not say whether the suspect intended to die.
The explosion, which officials said had probably created “the largest bombing scene” in Southern California, raised questions about whether it had been carried out to hinder the clinic’s services, which include in vitro fertilization, egg freezing and LGBTQ+ family building. None of the eggs, embryos and other materials in the facility’s lab were harmed in the explosion, the clinic said. Four others were injured in Saturday’s explosion, and they have since been released from a hospital.
On Sunday, officials again described the attack as “an intentional act of terrorism.” They did not directly disclose a motive, though authorities confirmed that the FBI was examining a screed thought to have been written by the suspect.
“This was a targeted attack against the IVF facility,” said Akil Davis, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.
Investigators are also aware of a rambling 30-minute audio recording that surfaced online after the bombing in which a man described his plan to attack an IVF clinic.
The audio, and a website it was posted on, did not identify the speaker or the American Reproductive Centers clinic by name. But a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said both were being examined as part of the FBI’s ongoing probe into Bartkus’s motives, and what they described as his “anti-natalist” views. Anti-natalism refers to the philosophical belief that life inevitably involves suffering and, therefore, it is morally indefensible to bring new life into existence.
In the recording, the speaker complains of various grievances about his personal life and says the government should not restrict a person’s “right to die.”
“Basically I’m anti-life. And IVF is like kind of the epitome of pro-life ideology,” the speaker on the audio said.
The accompanying website — which domain data indicated was created in February — references a hodgepodge of fringe movements, including pro-mortalism, the belief that it is best for individuals to die as soon as possible to minimize suffering, and negative utilitarianism, the notion that individuals should seek to minimize suffering rather than maximizing pleasure in the world.
“The end goal is for the truth to win,” the author wrote. “And once it does, we can finally begin the process of sterilizing this planet of the disease of life.”
Saturday’s explosion brought a resurgence of attention to in vitro fertilization, a reproductive assistance treatment that has been increasingly politicized since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The treatment has drawn scrutiny from antiabortion groups aiming to protect the embryos created during the process, which they believe should legally be considered people. Across the country, tens of thousands of patients rely on IVF, the most common form of assisted reproduction, to have children.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... manifesto/
