What we know about the alleged Palm Springs Bomber Guy Edward Bartkus

Twentynine Palms, California – – The authorities examine a radical views that the suspect from Palm Springs bomb attacks expressed online in a fertility clinic in the months before the attack on Saturday.

The FBI confirmed that it checked a manifesto and other content to determine whether it was the work of Guy Edward Bartkus, a 25-year-old “with nihilist ideas” that they believe was killed in the explosion. One reason for the interest in the manifesto is that his author expressly threatened an attack on a fertility clinic.

Bartkus is suspected of detonating a massive bomb outside the American reproductive centers and causing extensive damage.

What do we know about Bartkus?

Bartkus lived in Twentynine Palms, in which the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center was located and when the world's largest training base of the Marine Corps was advertised.

Bartkus was not a marine, said Yvonne Carlock, a marine spokesman for workers and reserve. Times have not yet been able to check whether Bartkus had a different belonging to the basis that could enable him to access explosives.

When the authorities equip their neighborhood for an extensive search this weekend, the neighbors surveyed by The Times said that they did not know him.

Victoria and Austin Shupe, artists who moved from Century City to Twentynine Palms a year ago, said when the name of the suspect was released, there was a curiosity: they had never seen him before, nobody had anyone to talk to.

“Twentynine Palms is a really small town,” said Austin Shupe, who has a music studio in the area called Yucca Man Records. “It is the type of city where you go to the grocery and see everyone.”

What about the explosives used?

The FBI described the explosion of Palm Springs – powerful enough to damage buildings several blocks – as “probably the largest bombard scene that we had in Southern California”, and one day in the diagonal of the bombing in Aliso Viejo 2018.

The authorities are still trying to determine which types of explosives were used and how they were purchased.

The explosion had a car mutilated behind the clinic and killed a person who was temporarily identified as a beard. Officials are not sure whether he intended to kill himself.

Sources of law enforcement agreed that the bomber used a very large amount of explosives – so much that the bomb destroyed its remains.

“We believe that he was the topic found by the vehicle,” said Akil Davis, deputy director, who is responsible for the FBI field office of the FBI and indicates a Silver Ford Fusion sedan from 2010 near the explosion location. Davis said the investigators believed that the suspect tried to live the attack.

The clinic published a photo of the consequences of the explosion on which the roof of the building broke, rubble that flow on the streets and smoke from the inside.

Tim Prender guest, co -owner of the Christopher Anthony Ltd. gallery, was about two blocks from his company's explosion site. At first he felt that the shock wave hit the building and thought it was the beginning of an earthquake.

“But when I felt, I heard the explosion, then I knew that it wasn't an earthquake,” he said.

Prender guest ran down the road to the explosion location after a black cloud of smoke and arrived there in a few minutes. He saw a vehicle on fire and the medical building devoured on fire. There were several people who went through the area. Some were bloody but able to stand.

Then he came across body parts on the street.

What do we know about Bartkus' beliefs and the possible motive?

An online website that did not contain a name but was connected to the bombings determined the case for “a war against pro-Lifers” and said that a fertilizer clinic would be targeted.

“Here you can download the recorded stream of my suicide and bombing of an IVF clinic,” the website began, but there was no such file. The author quotes numerous edge philosophies, including

• Abolitionist veganism: The opposition to all animal use by humans.
• Negative utilitarianism: The idea that we should act to minimize suffering instead of maximizing pleasure in the world.
• Pro mortalism: The philosophical marginal position that it is best for sensitive beings to die as soon as possible to prevent future suffering.

Davis rejected it to confirm whether the manifesto was written by the suspect and said that his team had “followed a possible manifesto out there and it is part of our ongoing studies”.

In the manifesto, the author condemned those who bring human life into the world and declared a final goal to “sterilize this planet of life disease”.

Accompanying the website, a 30-minute audio file with the name “Pre”, which began with the spokesman, was that he would explain: “Why I decided to bomb an IVF building or a clinic.”

“Basically, it only depends on the fact that I am angry that I exist and that nobody received my consent to bring me here,” said the spokesman.

On the website with the manifesto and in the underlying code of the website, the author converted the recent death of a person who described the writer “Sophie” as a close friend. The references correspond to the death on April 20 of a woman from Washington State, who was supposedly shot her request by her partner.

A law enforcement authorities checked by The Times said that Palm Springs, who is suspected of bombing, seemed to be more depressed after the recent death of a friend.

What do experts say?

Brian Levin, the founder of the center for studying hatred and extremism as well as emeritus professor at Cal State San Bernardino, said that the author of the manifesto was part of a growing movement of alienated only actors who were radicalized on obscure internet locations and misinformations.

“The Antinatalism movement expressly condemned violence,” said Levin. “Nevertheless, his alleged, wandering, idiosyncratic” political “statements draw a completely different image of a hopeless, unstable young man, whose confidence in suicide moves him to a self-useful brutal death, which is justified by a personally distorted hug an obscure anti-life ideology.”

What's next in the case?

The Task Force of the FBI Joint Terrorism works with local and federal authorities to determine the lines of the explosives. On Sunday, they appealed to the public for helping Bartkus' movements before the explosion.

Sources said that at least one weapon was recovered from the scene, but that the investigation of the area was questioned by the damage that the bomb was created.

Leonard Perez, a retired LAPD lieutenant, said that the federal authorities will search the scene for bomb residue in their investigation. From there, the investigators will “work backwards” to try to determine what kind of exposed materials were used.

Until such tests are completed, the investigators cannot indicate the source of the explosion, which is only based on the size of the explosion crater.

“It could be either a homemade device or a explosive from Military Coal,” he said. “He comes from Twentynine Palms, and so my question would be: is he ex-military?” said Perez, who worked on explosives with the marine during his time. “And that's one of the questions that the investigators have to determine: did he have access to these materials?”

“Where was [the bomb] in the car? Was it ahead, was it in the back, was it under the car? ” He said.

“At the same time, the investigators will” deal with a reappraisal “of the suspect, a strict background check that is looking for evidence of how and when it came to the explosive.” What is your background, where do you have any work? Perez said about some of the questions you want to answer.

Twentynine Palms houses the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, which is advertised as the world's largest training base of the Marine Corps. Bartkus was not a marine, said Yvonne Carlock, a spokesman for the US Navy for Manpower and Reserve.

Times have not yet been able to check whether Bartkus had a different belonging to the base.

Times Staff Writers Melody Gutierrez, Julia Wick and Rebecca Plevin contributed to this report.