Man charged with aiding Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing suspect dies in custody
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Man accused of aiding Palm Springs bomber found dead in prison
Daniel Park, 32, of Kent, Washington, was found unresponsive at 7:30 a.m. at the Metropolitan Detention Center. He had been accused of sending 180 pounds of ammonium nitrate to Guy Edward Bartkus. Bartkus allegedly used the chemicals to blow up a fertility clinic in Palm Springs on May 17. Park arrived at the facility on June 13 under pretrial status, the Bureau of Prisons said. He was indicted June 17 on charges of providing material support to a terrorist and conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S. The cause of death has not been made clear.
The cause of Daniel Park’s death wasn’t clear. He had been accused of sending 180 pounds of ammonium nitrate to Guy Edward Bartkus, the man the FBI says blew up a car in Palm Springs on May 17.
Both Park and Bartkus were apparently motivated by their belief in concepts known as “pro-mortalism” and “anti-natalism.”
(This story was updated with new information.)
The man accused of aiding the Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing suspect died in a California federal prison on Tuesday, according to a statement from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Daniel Park, 32, of Kent, Washington, was found unresponsive at 7:30 a.m. at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a prison in downtown Los Angeles run by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, the statement said.
Employees initiated live-saving measures, before taking Park to a hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
His cause of death has not been made clear. Park arrived at the facility on June 13 under pretrial status, the statement said.
The FBI alleged Park directly sent 180 pounds of ammonium nitrate, a chemical typically used as fertilizer, to Guy Edward Bartkus, who allegedly used the chemicals to blow up a fertility clinic in Palm Springs on May 17, killing Bartkus and injured four others.
Investigators said Park also and purchased an additional 90 pounds, which was shipped to Bartkus.
He was arrested in Poland earlier this month, having flown there a few days after the bombing, and was indicted June 17 on charges of providing material support to a terrorist and conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States.
The FBI said its investigation showed both Bartkus and Park were motivated by their beliefs in “pro-mortalism,” the concept that life is pointless because it leads to pain and death, and “anti-natalism,” the idea that it’s unethical to bring new life into the world by having children.
The two met at Bartkus’ residence in Twentynine Palms in late January and early February for about two weeks to conduct experiments on explosives, the FBI investigation found. The FBI believes the two visited each other more often in 2023 and 2024 and that Park sent Bartkus money using PayPal.
Park had posted online about his anti-natalist beliefs as far back as 2016, according to the federal complaint against him. He once posted online that “death is always an option” for people who are “lost and distraught.”
The Bureau of Prisons noted in its statement that no other inmates or employees were injured in the incident and there was never a danger to the public.