FL Man Who Firebombed CA Planned Parenthood Signs Plea Deal: Report

COSTA MESA, CA — A Florida man who played a role in an attack on a California Planned Parenthood in 2022 signed a plea deal in a federal courtroom in Orange County on Jan. 16, according to the Orange County Register.

Xavier Batten, 21, of Brooksville, was one of three men to firebomb the Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa. He pleaded guilty to possession of a destructive device and was scheduled to be sentenced May 15, the report said.

Batten and his co-defendants — Chance Brannon, 23, of San Juan Capistrano, an active-duty Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton at the time of the attack, and Tibet Ergul, 21, of Irvine — plotted in February and March 2022 to throw a Molotov cocktail at the clinic, according to an earlier U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Brannon and Ergul chose the target, bought the materials needed to build the Molotov cocktail and built it before throwing the flaming weapon at the Planned Parenthood around 1 a.m. on March 13, 2022, the DOJ said.

Batten advised and directed Brannon on how to build the Molotov cocktail, according to the agency.

The device hit the building’s entrance, causing a fire and forcing the Planned Parenthood to close the following morning and cancel about 30 appointments.

The trio considered other targets, including the Anti-Defamation League in San Diego, but chose the clinic to scare pregnant women, to prevent staff from providing abortion services and to encourage similar violent acts by others, the DOJ said.

Batten was arrested by FBI agents in July 2023 and made his first court appearance in the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Florida.

All three defendants were initially charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of malicious destruction of property by fire and explosion.

Brannon and Ergul both were also initially charged with one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device and one misdemeanor count of intentional damage to a reproductive health services facility, which is a violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, the DOJ said.

Brannon pleaded guilty Nov. 30 to conspiracy, malicious destruction of property by fire and explosive, possession of an unauthorized destructive device and intentional damage to a reproductive health services facility, the Orange County Register said. He’s scheduled to be sentenced April 15.

Ergul is awaiting trial.