A Florida man will serve 42 months in federal prison after receiving his sentence Monday for helping craft a Molotov cocktail with two men who firebombed a Planned Parenthood clinic in Orange County, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Xavier Batten, 21, of Brooksville, will also pay $1,000 in restitution and will spend the first three years after his release under supervision, “permitting suspicion-less searches of Batten by law enforcement,” according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California.
Batten pleaded guilty on Jan. 19 to “one felony count of possessing an unregistered destructive device and one misdemeanor count of intentionally damaging a reproductive health services facility,” according to the press release.
Batten guided the 24-year-old then-U.S. Marine Chance Brannon through how to make a Molotov cocktail, which Brannon and 22-year-old Tibet Ergul assembled in Ergul’s garage on March 12, 2022, the press release revealed. Batten knew beforehand that Brannon intended to use the incendiary device against the clinic and conspired with both men to carry out the attack, the prosecutors added. Batten’s internet searches betrayed “a violent and racially motivated ideology,” and he sought advice from Brannon on how to “get away with” firebombing another similar facility, the press release reported. (RELATED: Judge Hands Down Sentence To Ex-Marine Who Firebombed Planned Parenthood Clinic)
Florida man sentenced to 3½ years in federal prison for helping two Orange County, California, men firebomb Planned Parenthood clinic in March 2022 https://t.co/ePI8WADnIj
— US Attorney L.A. (@USAO_LosAngeles) May 13, 2024
Judge Cormac J. Carney, who sentenced Batten, called his act “a ‘cowardly crime’ that showed ‘no empathy for women and their rights,'” according to the press release.
Carney also sentenced Brannon on April 15 to nine years in jail and ordered him to pay $1,000 in restitution for firebombing the clinic and planning to ignite a race war and invade Jewish residences, among other charges.
Ergul — who admitted on Feb. 29 to conspiring to sabotage an energy facility and intentionally damaging the clinic — is due to be sentenced May 30, according to the press release.
Under Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Justice Department has faced criticism for cracking down aggressively on acts of vandalism and even peaceful protests targeting abortion clinics while attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers remain unsolved. Garland responded to this criticism in March 2023 by noting that most attacks on pregnancy centers take place “at night.”