Suspect in California Fertility Clinic Bombing Dies in Custody, AI Chatbot Involvement Revealed

Man charged with supplying chemicals to Palm Springs fertility clinic bomber dies in custody

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A man charged with aiding the bomber of a fertility clinic in California has died in federal custody just weeks after his arrest, prison officials said Tuesday. Daniel Park, 32, was accused of supplying chemicals to Guy Edward Bartkus of California, the bomber, who died in the May 17 explosion. The two men connected in fringe online forums over their shared beliefs against human procreation, authorities told reporters Wednesday. The blast gutted the fertility clinic in Palm Springs and shattered the windows of nearby buildings, with officials calling the attack terrorism and possibly the largest bomb scene ever in Southern California. The clinic was closed, and no embryos were damaged. Park, of suburban Seattle, was found unresponsive in Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles Tuesday morning and was pronounced dead at the hospital, prison officials said. No cause of death was provided. Park shipped 180 pounds (about 82 kilograms) of ammonium nitrate to Bartkus in January and bought another 90 pounds (about 41 kilograms) and had it shipped to him days before the explosion, authorities said. Park purchased ammonium nitrate online in several transactions between October 2022 and May 2025, according to a federal complaint. Three days before Park visited him in January, Bartkus asked an AI chat application about explosives, detonation velocity, diesel and gasoline mixtures, the complaint said. The discussion centered on how to create the most powerful blast. Authorities said Park traveled to California to experiment with them in the bomber's garage months before the attack. Park was taken into custody at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, after he was extradited from Poland, where he fled to four days after the attack. Park had been charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists.

Man Charged With Helping California Fertility Clinic Bomber Dies in Custody

Daniel Park, 32, of Washington State, was found unresponsive Tuesday morning and was later pronounced dead at the hospital, the authorities said. No cause was given. A Washington State man who had been charged with helping to plan and carry out a bombing of a fertility clinic in California last month that killed one person and damaged several buildings was found dead on Tuesday in a federal detention center in Los Angeles, the authorities said. The man, Daniel Park, 32, was found unresponsive on Tuesday morning at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, according to a statement from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Employees tried "lifesaving measures" and emergency workers took Mr. Park to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The bureau did not specify a cause of death in its statement and a spokesman for the bureau declined to elaborate on Tuesday. No employees or other people in the detention center were injured, the bureau said. Mr. Park arrived at the detention center on June 13 after he was charged in a federal criminal complaint with providing material support to terrorists. He was accused of helping to plot and carry out the bombing of a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, Calif., on May 17 with Guy Edward Bartkus, a 25-year-old man from California who officials say executed the bombing. Mr. Bartkus died in the blast, which injured four other people and damaged several blocks in downtown Los Angeles, the authorities said. Federal prosecutors say the two men's shared belief in "anti-natalism," a fringe ideology whose adherents consider human procreation unethical, motivated them to target the clinic, which offers treatments like in vitro fertilization and egg freezing. The two planned the attack for more than a year, prosecutors said. Investigators found that part of their plotting involved asking an A.I. chatbot on the best ways to make ammonium nitrate fuel oil, a commonly used explosive. Mr. Park started buying large amounts of ammonium nitrate in October 2022, the authorities said. Beginning in late January, he stayed with Mr. Bartkus in Southern California for two weeks to run "experiments," according to the complaint charging him. In a search of Mr. Bartkus's home after the attack, investigators recovered chemicals that are often used to make homemade bombs, as well as multiple recipes for explosives. A few days after the attack, Mr. Park bought a plane ticket in cash and flew to Poland, Vincent Chiappini, a federal prosecutor with the U.S. attorney's office for New York's Eastern District, said in court this month. Mr. Park tried to harm himself when the Polish authorities made contact to detain him, according to the complaint. He was then deported to the United States, officials said.

Man charged in bombing of Palm Springs fertility clinic dies in prison

Daniel Park, 32, was accused of supplying chemicals to the bomber, Guy Edward Barktus, who died in May explosion A man charged with aiding the bomber of a fertility clinic in California has died in federal custody just weeks after his arrest, prison officials said on Tuesday. Daniel Park, 32, was accused of supplying chemicals to the bomber, Guy Edward Bartkus of California, who died in the 17 May explosion. The two men connected in fringe online forums over their shared beliefs against human procreation, authorities told reporters Wednesday. The blast gutted the fertility clinic in Palm Springs and shattered the windows of nearby buildings, with officials calling the attack terrorism and possibly the largest bomb scene ever in southern California. The clinic was closed, and no embryos were damaged. Park, of suburban Seattle, was found unresponsive in Metropolitan detention center in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning and was pronounced dead at the hospital, prison officials said. No cause of death was provided. Park shipped 180lbs (82kg) of ammonium nitrate to Bartkus in January and bought another 90lbs (41kg) and had it shipped to him days before the explosion, authorities said. Park purchased ammonium nitrate online in several transactions between October 2022 and May 2025, according to a federal complaint. Three days before Park visited him in January, Bartkus asked an AI chat application about explosives, detonation velocity, diesel and gasoline mixtures, the complaint said. The discussion centered on how to create the most powerful blast. Authorities said Park traveled to California to experiment with the materials in the bomber's garage months before the attack. Park was taken into custody at New York's John F Kennedy airport, after he was extradited from Poland, where he fled to four days after the attack. Park had been charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists.

Man charged with supplying chemicals to Palm Springs fertility clinic bomber dies in custody

LOS ANGELES -- A Washington state man who was charged with aiding the bomber of a fertility clinic in Southern California died Tuesday in federal custody, just weeks after his arrest, prison officials said. Daniel Park, 32, was accused of supplying chemicals to Guy Edward Bartkus of California, the bomber, who died in the May 17 explosion. Park, of suburban Seattle, was found unresponsive at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles Tuesday morning and was pronounced dead at a hospital, the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement. No cause of death was provided. The two men connected in fringe online forums over their shared beliefs against human procreation, investigators said. The blast gutted the clinic in Palm Springs, east of Los Angeles, and shattered the windows of nearby buildings, with officials calling the attack terrorism. The facility was closed, and no embryos were damaged. Park shipped 180 pounds (about 82 kilograms) of ammonium nitrate to Bartkus in January and bought another 90 pounds (about 41 kilograms) and had it shipped to him days before the explosion, investigators said. Park purchased ammonium nitrate online in several transactions between October 2022 and May 2025, according to a federal complaint. Authorities said Park traveled to Twentynine Palms, California, near Palm Springs, to experiment with explosives in Bartkus' garage months before the attack. Three days before Park visited him in January, Bartkus asked an AI chat application about explosives, detonation velocity, diesel and gasoline mixtures, the complaint said. The discussion centered on how to create the most powerful blast. Park was taken into custody at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on June 3, after he was extradited from Poland, where he fled four days after the attack. Park had been charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists. He had been at Metropolitan Detention Center since June 13, federal prison officials said. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, which is prosecuting the case, referred questions about Park's death to the Bureau of Prisons. Park and Bartkus bonded over a "shared belief that people shouldn't exist," Akil Davis, the FBI's assistant director in charge, said earlier this month. They believed in anti-natalism, a fringe theory that opposes childbirth and population growth and contends that people should not continue to procreate. Officials said Bartkus intentionally targeted the American Reproductive Centers, a clinic that provides services to help people get pregnant, including in vitro fertilization and fertility evaluations. Park appeared to be a frequent poster in an anti-natalist Reddit forum going back nearly a decade, according to court papers. In 2016, he spoke of recruiting others to the movement, which he described as hopeful. According to court papers, he wrote: "When people are lost and distraught, death is always an option." Relatives told federal investigators that Park had made "pro-mortalist" statements since high school, according to the complaint. More recently, in March, he posted in the forum to say he was seeking to find fellow anti-natalists in and around Washington state to "start some protests or just any in-person events," according to court papers. The post did not receive any public comments. The Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles is also used to detain people arrested for immigration violations. It's been the site of many recent protests over President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, and Trump has deployed the National Guard to stand guard outside the facility.