The perpetrator of a bombing at a California fertility clinic has been identified as a 25-year-old man who left a manifesto of his “pro-mortalist” beliefs, including that people could not consent to being born.
Guy Edward Bartkus, of Twentynine Palms, a small city close to Palm Springs, where the attack took place, posted a 30-minute audio recording in which he explained his beliefs and his motive for the attack.
“I figured I would just make a recording explaining why I’ve decided to bomb an IVF building, or clinic,” he said at the beginning of the recording.
“Basically, it just comes down to I’m angry that I exist and that, you know, nobody got my consent to bring me here.”
Bartkus went on to describe himself as anti-life: “I’m very against [IVF], it’s extremely wrong. These are people who are having kids after they’ve sat there and thought about it. How much more stupid can it get?”
He also appears to have attempted to film the attack using a tripod, but the file failed to upload to his personal website.
In an FAQ section on the website, he describes the death of a friend he called “Sophie,” who convinced her boyfriend to shoot her as she slept.
The description appears to match the death of 27-year-old Sophie Tinney in Fox Island, Washington on April 22. Police arrested her boyfriend, 29-year-old Lars Eugene Nelson. They believe Tinney convinced Nelson to shoot her in the head as she slept. Nelson was charged with second-degree murder.
Bartkus is believed to be the only person who died in the attack, which devastated the clinic and caused widespread damage in the surrounding area. Four others were injured and taken to hospital. The clinic was closed at the time of the attack.
“Make no mistake, this is an intentional act of terrorism,” an FBI spokesman said at a briefing.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi said she was being briefed on the attack.
“We are working to learn more, but let me be clear: the Trump administration understands that women and mothers are the heartbeat of America,” she said.
“Violence against a fertility clinic is unforgivable.”