Coxno|Florida man sentenced to 3 years in prison for firebombing California Planned Parenthood clinic

2025-05-07 14:07:18source:Zopes Exchangecategory:My

SANTA ANA,Coxno Calif. (AP) — A 21-year-old Florida man was sentenced Monday to three and a half years in prison for firebombing a Southern California Planned Parenthood clinic in 2022, federal prosecutors said.

Xavier Batten pleaded guilty in January to one felony count of possessing an unregistered destructive device and one misdemeanor count of intentionally damaging a reproductive health services facility.

U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney also sentenced Batten, of Brooksville, Florida, to three years of probation and ordered him to pay $1,000 in restitution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Carney said Batten had committed a “cowardly crime” that showed “no empathy for women and their rights,” according to the statement. He has been in federal custody since July 2023.

The clinic in Costa Mesa was bombed on March 13, 2022. Surveillance footage showed two men throwing a Molotov cocktail at the front door of the medical facility. The clinic was closed at the time and no one was injured.

A co-defendant, 24-year-old Chance Brannon, was sentenced last month to nine years in prison. Brannon, of San Juan Capistrano, California, was an active-duty Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton at the time of the bombing.

Another co-defendant, Tibet Ergul, has pleaded guilty to the charges against him. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 30.

More:My

Recommend

Turbulence slammed Hawaiian Airlines flight because of decision to fly over storm cell, report says

HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaiian Airlines flight crew’s decision to fly over a hazardous storm cell instea

Live updates | Palestinians flee heavy fighting in southern Gaza as US and UK bomb Yemen again

Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip pounded the southern city of Khan Younis, pushing thousands of P

'The Bachelor' contestants: Meet the cast of women vying for Joey Graziadei's heart

The 28th season of "The Bachelor" is set to premiere on Monday, Jan. 22, and this season will featur