Former Marine jailed for nine years for bombing abortion clinic

A former US Marine has been jailed for nine years for firebombing a California Planned Parenthood clinic and plotting other attacks to spark a "race war".

Chance Brannon, 24, pleaded guilty to the March 2022 attack on the healthcare clinic, which provides abortions in some of its locations.

He also plotted to attack Jewish people and an LGBT pride event taking place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

At the time of his arrest, he was an active duty member of the US Marines.

Prosecutors said Brannon was a neo-Nazi who frequently spoke of "cleansing" the US of "particular ethnic groups".

In November, Brannon pleaded guilty to conspiracy, destruction of property, possession of an explosive and intentionally damaging a reproductive health services facility.

Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, said the attack "was designed to terrorise patients seeking reproductive healthcare and the people who provide it".

The explosion damaged the front entrance to the clinic in Costa Mesa, Orange County. No one was injured.

However, Mehtab Syed, of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said Brannon's "deep-rooted hatred and extremist views... could have killed innocent people".

She added that Brannon plotted to rob Jewish residents in the Hollywood Hills, and had also discussed plans to attack the power grid.

Further to this, in 2022, officials said Brannon, of San Juan Capistrano, placed calls to the governments of China and Russia hoping to offer himself as a "mole" providing US intelligence.

Two co-defendants, Tibet Ergul and Xavier Batten, have pleaded guilty to similar charges and will be sentenced next month.

According to the National Abortion Federation, a group representing US abortion providers, there was a "sharp increase" in violence against clinics in 2022.