Federal investigators have identified Guy Edward Bartkus, 25, of Twentynine Palms, as the man behind the deadly bombing at a Palm Springs fertility clinic on Saturday. Bartkus died in the explosion, which injured four others and destroyed the American Reproductive Centers building.
The FBI confirmed that Bartkus attempted to live stream the attack, though the video never uploaded. He was found dead near a charred vehicle outside the clinic.
“This was a targeted attack,” said Akil Davis, head of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. “Make no mistake: we are treating this, as I said yesterday, as an intentional act of terrorism.”
After the bombing, a website surfaced containing a manifesto, audio recordings, and written materials that investigators have tied to Bartkus. Though he never used his real name on the site, the FBI linked the content to him and cited it as a key piece of evidence during a Sunday press conference.
The person speaking in the audio appears calm and collected, referencing handwritten notes but speaking largely off the cuff. In one clip, he says:
“Basically I’m anti-life. And IVF is like kind of the epitome of pro-life ideology.”
He continues: “ It just comes down to I am angry that I exist, um, and that, uh, you know, nobody got my consent to bring me here, and I know what you’re gonna say. How could we have got your consent because you didn’t exist, blah, blah, blah.”
Bartkus describes himself as a “promortalist”—someone who believes it’s ethical to end lives to end suffering—and a “misandrist.” He also attacks IVF directly, calling clinics like the one he bombed “extremely wrong.”
“These are people who are having kids after they sat there and thought about it. How stupid is that?” he said.
Authorities say the writings reflect nihilistic ideations and a deep opposition to in-vitro fertilization. U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli called the writings “anti pro-life.” The Associated Press reported that Bartkus believed “the world should not be populated.”
On the same site, Bartkus talks about a close friend who he says died by suicide. He wrote that the two of them shared extreme beliefs: they were anti-sex, and negative utilitarian.
“I’ve known for a few years now I wasn’t going to allow myself to make it past my 20s…we had agreed that if one of us died, the other would probably soon follow,” he wrote.
In the recording, he also argues that the U.S. needs a better “right to die” system.
“A graceful way to exit,” he calls it—adding that it would reduce mass shootings if people had legal access to euthanasia.
Despite the destruction caused by the blast, no patients were present. Dr. Maher Abdallah, who leads the clinic, told reporters:
“Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
FBI agents confirmed that all embryos were saved. Davis added, “Good guys one, bad guys zero.”
“This is probably the largest bombing scene that we’ve had in Southern California,” Davis said. Investigators are now executing a search warrant at Bartkus’s home and digging into his online activity. The motive, they say, was clear—and deeply disturbing.
