FBI special agents arrested Daniel Jongyon Park, 32, at JFK International Airport in New York last night on charges that he supplied ammonium nitrate used in the May 17 bombing of a fertility clinic in Palm Springs.
A criminal complaint filed today in federal court in Los Angeles alleges that Park, a resident of Kent, Washington, purchased 90 pounds of ammonium nitrate in May and arranged for the chemicals to be shipped to Guy Edward Bartkus, the deceased “anti-life” suspect in the attack.
Ammonium nitrate is a precursor chemical that has been used in prior attacks, including the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
The complaint alleges that Park shipped an additional 180 pounds of ammonium nitrate to Bartkus in January.
Online postings reviewed by the Long Beach Post have linked Bartkus to a fringe “anti-life” ideology called “efilism” invented by Gary Mosher, a 65-year-old New Jersey resident who has spent years promoting his views in YouTube videos.
“This anti-pro-life ideology, we do believe that’s the reason they targeted this fertility clinic,” Bilal Essayli, the U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, said at a press conference today.
According to the complaint, Park visited Bartkus’s home in Twentynine Palms, California, for about two weeks in late January and early February, and the men were “running experiments” in Bartkus’s garage.
“Three days before Park arrived at Bartkus’s house, records from an AI chat application show that Bartkus researched how to make powerful explosives using ammonium nitrate and fuel,” says a press release issued by Essayi’s office.
Bartkus died in the May 17 bombing outside the American Reproductive Center in Palm Springs. Four bystanders were hospitalized and later released.
The complaint alleges that Park left the United States four days after the bombing and flew to Warsaw, Poland.
On May 30, after the FBI’s legal attaché at the U.S. embassy got involved, Park was detained by Polish authorities.
Park was deported to the U.S. yesterday and will appear in federal court in Brooklyn today on terrorism charges. Authorities expect Park to arrive in Los Angeles in about two weeks to face the criminal charges filed here.
When asked if the FBI is investigating other suspects, Davis said: “It’s an ongoing investigation so we’re developing new leads in this case moment by moment.”
Doug Kari is an attorney and freelance investigative journalist, [email protected]