A 24-year-old ex-marine who firebombed a Planned Parenthood clinic was sentenced Monday to nine years in jail and ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.
Chance Brannon, the ex-marine who was arrested in June 2023 following the firebombing of the clinic, also planned to attack an Orange County power grid to start a race war and an LGBTQI+ pride night celebration at Dodger Stadium, the DOJ’s press release reads. He also schemed to do “home invasions of Jewish homes in Los Angeles.”
Former Marine Sentenced for Molotov Cocktail Attack Against Planned Parenthood Clinic in Orange County, California
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— DOJ Civil Rights Division (@CivilRights) April 15, 2024
The judge who sentenced Brannon was U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney of the Central District of California, the US court system website said. Brannon had pleaded guilty back in November 2023 to the charges of conspiracy, maliciously destroying property with fire and explosives, possessing an unregistered destructive device, and deliberately damaging a reproductive health services center in violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, the DOJ’s press release reads.
Brannon considered targeting the Anti-Defamation League’s office in San Diego but in the end chose to attack the clinic on March 13, 2022 along with one co-defendant armed with Molotov cocktails, the DOJ said. (RELATED: Alaska Airlines Passenger Pleads Guilty To Touching Woman On Plane To ‘Arouse His Sexual Desire,’ DOJ Says)
“This defendant’s deep-seated hatred led him to commit a firebombing and plan many other acts of violence, including starting a race war,” U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada said, according to the press release.
Brannon held a “neo-Nazi worldview,” Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office Mehtab Syed of the FBI said, the press release adds.
Brannon made remarks to his fellow Marines like “All jews deserve to die” and called Adolf Hitler “a great man who loved his people and tried to save us all from the jews,” according to his sentencing memorandum, the DOJ statement reads. He also would communicate with friends using the number “88,” which is a way to communicate the phrase “Heil Hitler” in code, the Anti-Defamation League said.