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SunSeeker

(55,757 posts)
Sat May 17, 2025, 05:20 PM 18 hrs ago

Car explosion outside Palm Springs reproductive health facility leaves 1 dead

Source: KTLA.com

A car explosion outside a reproductive health facility in Palm Springs left one person dead late Saturday morning.

Preliminary information from local media outlets indicated that the explosion occurred at American Reproductive Centers, which is located at 1199 North Indian Canyon Drive, around 11 a.m.

No information surrounding the decedent’s identity or where they were when the explosion occurred was available.The FBI also announced they would be deploying assistance, including investigators, bomb technicians and an evidence response team, to the scene to help local authorities. ATF investigators are also being deployed, officials said.

The FBI also announced they would be deploying assistance, including investigators, bomb technicians and an evidence response team, to the scene to help local authorities. ATF investigators are also being deployed, officials said.

Read more: https://ktla.com/news/local-news/explosion-rocks-building-in-palm-springs/amp/



I bet that's one place Noem won't do a photo op. Let's see if she calls this terrorism...
55 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Car explosion outside Palm Springs reproductive health facility leaves 1 dead (Original Post) SunSeeker 18 hrs ago OP
Glass broke at a liquor store around the corner. applegrove 18 hrs ago #1
Here's the center's website GJGCA 18 hrs ago #2
Is it reasonable to consider the possibility that a Christian extremist is responsible? John1956PA 18 hrs ago #3
So-called "abortion abolitionists" are also against IVF for precisely that reason. WhiskeyGrinder 17 hrs ago #6
And, last I remember, MarineCombatEngineer 17 hrs ago #7
The city itself no; the area round about, yep GJGCA 16 hrs ago #17
Yeah, I probably should have stressed that, MarineCombatEngineer 16 hrs ago #20
I looked at the center's website, and one thing it listed was they're happy with LGBTQ clients muriel_volestrangler 16 hrs ago #24
Hegseth will awaken khristian Nationalists magicarpet 16 hrs ago #27
I immediately had similar thoughts. ShazzieB 16 hrs ago #23
Most likely 1) Angry customer, 2) Jilted partner, 3) maga thought "abortion clinic", 4) anti-IVF christian absolutist Bernardo de La Paz 13 hrs ago #34
I will never give that word a capital letter again wolfie001 12 hrs ago #39
So it looks like the vehicle was in the parking lot in the back MarineCombatEngineer 18 hrs ago #4
Watching the news now. sheshe2 17 hrs ago #8
Looking closer at the video, MarineCombatEngineer 17 hrs ago #9
I will put my money on that one. sheshe2 17 hrs ago #13
I can think of two main possibilities Warpy 15 hrs ago #29
I think you hit the nail on the head. MarineCombatEngineer 15 hrs ago #30
Workplace violence is always a possibility though the ones you mentioned seem more likely. Liberty Belle 12 hrs ago #37
I considered that, but the target would be more specific Warpy 11 hrs ago #43
Looks like the person pulled right up to the door of the building in the parking lot and detonated the bomb. LiberalArkie 3 hrs ago #49
They said the explosion caused damage to 5 blocks! sheshe2 11 hrs ago #44
That's the case 99.99% of the time. Bengus81 3 hrs ago #52
My first thought was it was a Tesla Deplorean exploding. AZ8theist 16 hrs ago #19
I confess that my first thought was it's a cybertruck. MarineCombatEngineer 16 hrs ago #21
Looks like pro job: shaped charge into clinic, engine blown all the way to garbage bins at back, no sideways force. nt Bernardo de La Paz 13 hrs ago #35
Wow that definitely was a massive explosion Historic NY 3 hrs ago #50
Thats OKC level n/t gay texan 2 hrs ago #54
Sounds planned to me Jilly_in_VA 18 hrs ago #5
That seems quite likely - this report says all staff were safe and accounted for, and there were no patients muriel_volestrangler 17 hrs ago #12
Looks like the deceased was a passerby on the street. SunSeeker 16 hrs ago #18
Damn - sorry to hear that. I've also seen "several injured" in another report muriel_volestrangler 16 hrs ago #22
Maybe a body, but seems too small in relation to curb. Not sure it was necessary to post that, esp w advertising Bernardo de La Paz 14 hrs ago #33
Now they're saying that was a pody part, not a full body. SunSeeker 12 hrs ago #40
Yes, looks like the bomber was the person killed. SunSeeker 12 hrs ago #42
Apparently this is a IVF clinic. It has nothing to do with abortions. Jacson6 17 hrs ago #10
"Abortion abolitionists" have been targeting IVF clinics here and there with protests and harassment in recent months. WhiskeyGrinder 17 hrs ago #11
But if they are bombing IVF clinics they are destroying embryos or in their twisted mind human beings. Jacson6 17 hrs ago #14
Fortunately, no embryos were lost. SunSeeker 17 hrs ago #15
Also the gays Kali 16 hrs ago #26
I remember an episode to that effect. John1956PA 16 hrs ago #16
With all those different teams and agencies involved dickthegrouch 16 hrs ago #25
People who employ bombs are among the top tier of the worst human beings on earth. colorado_ufo 15 hrs ago #28
Almost as bad as arsonists. Arson is often uncontrolled and more than the target gets destroyed Bernardo de La Paz 14 hrs ago #32
Yea that's so true!! bluestarone 2 hrs ago #55
Ok, I'm caught up now. BootinUp 14 hrs ago #31
While a right-wing attacker seems plausible, we don't know that yet. Liberty Belle 13 hrs ago #36
Sounds like the dead person was probably the shooter: Liberty Belle 12 hrs ago #38
"shooter"? Where do you get that? Bernardo de La Paz 12 hrs ago #41
Where is the Puppy Perforator? Old Crank 7 hrs ago #45
It is looking like the perpetrator was killed Old Crank 7 hrs ago #46
The FBI is investigating the explosion at a California fertility clinic as an act of terrorism Eugene 6 hrs ago #47
"the writings left behind, in which the suspect communicated a belief that the world should not be populated" SunSeeker 6 hrs ago #48
There are probably "better" targets, but not easier ones. Renew Deal 3 hrs ago #51
Sometimes the real world hits too close to home. LastLiberal in PalmSprings 2 hrs ago #53

John1956PA

(4,065 posts)
3. Is it reasonable to consider the possibility that a Christian extremist is responsible?
Sat May 17, 2025, 05:33 PM
18 hrs ago

I know nothing about any movement by Christians to exert violence toward fertility clinics. I am just thinking that, perhaps, some Christians harbor resentment against IVF because it results in the culling of embryos.

MarineCombatEngineer

(15,366 posts)
7. And, last I remember,
Sat May 17, 2025, 05:59 PM
17 hrs ago

Palm Springs, CA is a R/W city, not saying it was a planned attack, but if it looks like a duck, walk likes a duck, quacks like a duck, then chances are it's a duck.

GJGCA

(14 posts)
17. The city itself no; the area round about, yep
Sat May 17, 2025, 07:06 PM
16 hrs ago

PS is a RW city -- not so much.

Wikipedia: In January 2018, Palm Springs ushered in America's first fully LGBTQ comprised city government.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Springs,_California

muriel_volestrangler

(103,644 posts)
24. I looked at the center's website, and one thing it listed was they're happy with LGBTQ clients
Sat May 17, 2025, 07:20 PM
16 hrs ago

which could be another thing that enrages extremists.

magicarpet

(18,211 posts)
27. Hegseth will awaken khristian Nationalists
Sat May 17, 2025, 07:53 PM
16 hrs ago

..... who feel a Crusade for the cross is a dandy idea right now. Why not catch this wave Christo-Fascism with terrorists acts to keep the flame burning.

Also too,...

Abortion clinics and fertility clinics,...
do not subscribe to God's Plan

Humankind has no right to intercede or alter God's Plan in any way, shape, or form. God's Devine Design/Purpose is infallible - and should not be questioned or second guessed by man.

ShazzieB

(20,663 posts)
23. I immediately had similar thoughts.
Sat May 17, 2025, 07:19 PM
16 hrs ago

Like you, I'm not aware of any movement, but it's not hard to imagine some crazed individual deciding to do this for the reasons you mentioned.

I'm trying not to jump to any conclusions, since so little is known at this point, but that certainly is not an impossibility, imo.

Bernardo de La Paz

(55,674 posts)
34. Most likely 1) Angry customer, 2) Jilted partner, 3) maga thought "abortion clinic", 4) anti-IVF christian absolutist
Sat May 17, 2025, 10:03 PM
13 hrs ago

... in that order.

wolfie001

(4,914 posts)
39. I will never give that word a capital letter again
Sat May 17, 2025, 11:20 PM
12 hrs ago

As in: christian-fascist movement. They deserve ZERO respect.

MarineCombatEngineer

(15,366 posts)
4. So it looks like the vehicle was in the parking lot in the back
Sat May 17, 2025, 05:34 PM
18 hrs ago

and blew debris from the building forward into the street.



That must have been a very powerful explosion, I'm not seeing anything left of the vehicle.

sheshe2

(92,036 posts)
8. Watching the news now.
Sat May 17, 2025, 06:14 PM
17 hrs ago

The building is destroyed and stores around it are damaged!

Looking at the scene I am surprised only one is dead. Not sure how the 5 injured are fairing.

MarineCombatEngineer

(15,366 posts)
9. Looking closer at the video,
Sat May 17, 2025, 06:18 PM
17 hrs ago

i do see just the frame and engine, right at the back entrance of the building.
I'm definitely leaning towards a terror attack, probably a domestic terror attack from some anti abortion lunatic.

Warpy

(113,378 posts)
29. I can think of two main possibilities
Sat May 17, 2025, 08:14 PM
15 hrs ago

The most likely: some neck bearded self proclaimed Christian soldier who read "reproductive center" and didn't consider the fine print and assumed it was an abortion clinic instead of a place women went to get pregnant, saw no cops in evidence, and whipped into the unguarded parking lot to detonate his bomb--OR==
The far less likely culprit, someone whose spouse/daughter/sibling had gone through surgical and hormonal hell in an expensive, painful and desperate attempt to get pregnant and it hadn't worked.

I can't really think of a third option, but I'm open to suggestions. I'm wearily waiting for confirmation of this asshole's identity, you know, for science.

Liberty Belle

(9,664 posts)
37. Workplace violence is always a possibility though the ones you mentioned seem more likely.
Sat May 17, 2025, 10:58 PM
12 hrs ago

We had a Jewish dental clinic shot up here with dentist killed, and a lot of people thought it was antisemitism.

Turned out to be a disgruntled patient.

A car bomb by a local college turned out to be planted by a man trying to kill his wife.

Let's hope the cops can find some answers soon.

Warpy

(113,378 posts)
43. I considered that, but the target would be more specific
Sun May 18, 2025, 12:21 AM
11 hrs ago

and one of those "I'll fis YOU' things involving a gun or smaller IED. This was meant to flatten the whole building, but used the wrong type of explosive (I was a teenager from hell). Most of the force went up and the damage from the blast wave looked pretty limited, most of the clinic looked like a mess but structurally intact. Nobody's posted pictures of the interior, but generally if the roof looks good, it's sheetrock and cosmetics. Damage in the area was largely limited to glass, unless the othertruck axle fell on top of something.

Bet it scared the poop out of everybody in Palm Springs.

Still, this was aimed at a specific whole building and everybody in it, not specific targets. For that reason, I just cited the two possibilities I did.

LiberalArkie

(18,215 posts)
49. Looks like the person pulled right up to the door of the building in the parking lot and detonated the bomb.
Sun May 18, 2025, 08:17 AM
3 hrs ago

Propelling the vehicle back towards the dumpster shed (which was not damaged). It looks like there was so much force that the energy went from the parking lot entrance all the way out the door at the street and out through the roof of the building.

I think also that the fruitcake say "Reproductive Center" on the front of the building and in their feeble brain thought it was one of the "after birth baby killer" abortion clinics.

AZ8theist

(6,715 posts)
19. My first thought was it was a Tesla Deplorean exploding.
Sat May 17, 2025, 07:08 PM
16 hrs ago

But that image clearly shows a terrorist bomb, IMO. Hopefully it was the moron who set it off was the one who got killed.

MarineCombatEngineer

(15,366 posts)
21. I confess that my first thought was it's a cybertruck.
Sat May 17, 2025, 07:10 PM
16 hrs ago

Hopefully, the only fatality was the terrorist who set the damn thing off.

Edit: It's now being reported that the fatality is an innocent person just walking in front of the building.
Hope they catch the fucker and anyone else involved and they spend the rest of their miserable lives in prison.

Bernardo de La Paz

(55,674 posts)
35. Looks like pro job: shaped charge into clinic, engine blown all the way to garbage bins at back, no sideways force. nt
Sat May 17, 2025, 10:10 PM
13 hrs ago

Jilly_in_VA

(11,920 posts)
5. Sounds planned to me
Sat May 17, 2025, 05:46 PM
18 hrs ago

and would it be too much to hope that the person who set it off is also the person it killed?

muriel_volestrangler

(103,644 posts)
12. That seems quite likely - this report says all staff were safe and accounted for, and there were no patients
Sat May 17, 2025, 06:26 PM
17 hrs ago

it being a Saturday: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/17/car-explosion-ivf-facility-palm-springs

It's in the car park round the back, really close to the building (I'd guess the car was driven right up to the wall - maybe even through a window/door into it - the damage to the street front of the building is extensive).

SunSeeker

(55,757 posts)
18. Looks like the deceased was a passerby on the street.
Sat May 17, 2025, 07:06 PM
16 hrs ago

There is a shot at this link of a body covered with a white sheet in the street in front of clinic: https://ktla.com/news/local-news/explosion-rocks-building-in-palm-springs/

The car that exploded was in the parking lot behind the clinic.


muriel_volestrangler

(103,644 posts)
22. Damn - sorry to hear that. I've also seen "several injured" in another report
Sat May 17, 2025, 07:16 PM
16 hrs ago
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyvme1e8gd5o

I thought that perhaps streets like that weren't that busy with pedestrians.

Bernardo de La Paz

(55,674 posts)
33. Maybe a body, but seems too small in relation to curb. Not sure it was necessary to post that, esp w advertising
Sat May 17, 2025, 09:56 PM
14 hrs ago

Cropping images is a basic 21st century skill. Nobody is too old or young to do it with all the apps.

SunSeeker

(55,757 posts)
40. Now they're saying that was a pody part, not a full body.
Sat May 17, 2025, 11:32 PM
12 hrs ago

It may have been a chunk of the bomber's body that was blasted through the building or over the building.

Apparently there were body parts at various places at the scene. Gruesome. It appears the bomber was blown to bits, literally. Authorities say they have identified a "person of interest," but are not looking for that person, so that suggest the bits belong to the bomber.

SunSeeker

(55,757 posts)
42. Yes, looks like the bomber was the person killed.
Sat May 17, 2025, 11:51 PM
12 hrs ago

Authorities say they have identified a "person of interest," but are not looking for that person, so that suggests the body/body parts belong to the bomber.

Jacson6

(1,244 posts)
10. Apparently this is a IVF clinic. It has nothing to do with abortions.
Sat May 17, 2025, 06:19 PM
17 hrs ago

I remember a law & order episode where a divorced wife wanted to destroy the embryos so that her now deceased husband's new wife could NOT give birth to their babies.



WhiskeyGrinder

(24,837 posts)
11. "Abortion abolitionists" have been targeting IVF clinics here and there with protests and harassment in recent months.
Sat May 17, 2025, 06:23 PM
17 hrs ago

Jacson6

(1,244 posts)
14. But if they are bombing IVF clinics they are destroying embryos or in their twisted mind human beings.
Sat May 17, 2025, 06:32 PM
17 hrs ago

So they would be killing 'human beings'. But some people have the idea that making human martyrs is in glory to their gods.



It will all come out very soon.

SunSeeker

(55,757 posts)
15. Fortunately, no embryos were lost.
Sat May 17, 2025, 06:50 PM
17 hrs ago

American Reproductive Centers (ARC) put a statement out on social media that called the incident “unexpected and tragic” while confirming that no members of their team were harmed; additionally, the facility’s lab containing “all eggs, embryos and reproductive materials” remains fully secure and undamaged.

John1956PA

(4,065 posts)
16. I remember an episode to that effect.
Sat May 17, 2025, 07:05 PM
16 hrs ago

Assistant D.A. Carmichael, portrayed by Angie Harmon, made the dry, understated comment, "It's just a motive that I do not see very often."

Also, in the first or second season, there was an episode about a bombing at an abortion clinic. Edward Herrmann was excellent as the anti-abortion crusader. Actress Caroline Kava was also excellent in her role as an anti-abortion spokesperson.

dickthegrouch

(4,018 posts)
25. With all those different teams and agencies involved
Sat May 17, 2025, 07:36 PM
16 hrs ago

Is the actual goal to assist, or to obstruct the investigation?
Jurisdiction and evidence chain of custody fights abound in these cases.

"The FBI also announced they would be deploying assistance, including investigators, bomb technicians and an evidence response team, to the scene to help local authorities. ATF investigators are also being deployed, officials said. "

colorado_ufo

(6,054 posts)
28. People who employ bombs are among the top tier of the worst human beings on earth.
Sat May 17, 2025, 07:56 PM
15 hrs ago

They do not care whom they hurt or kill. They are soulless.

Bernardo de La Paz

(55,674 posts)
32. Almost as bad as arsonists. Arson is often uncontrolled and more than the target gets destroyed
Sat May 17, 2025, 09:51 PM
14 hrs ago

Bad enough if only the target gets destroyed or damaged, but fires can go wild and to other structures or as wildfires / forest fires.

Both arson and bombings are particularly cowardly; mind you mass shooters / suicide-by-cop aren't brave either.

It's all a fundamental failure of the system including mental health care (lack) and societal pressures out of control (bullying, medical bills, etc).

Liberty Belle

(9,664 posts)
36. While a right-wing attacker seems plausible, we don't know that yet.
Sat May 17, 2025, 10:55 PM
13 hrs ago

A few years ago a car bomb went off near a local community college and most people were afraid it was terrorism.

It turned out to be a guy trying to kill his wife by planting a bomb under her car. Thankfully she survived,and he wound up in prison.

Maybe someone didn't want their spouse getting impregnated, for all we know.

The big concern is if it was an attack by an anti-reproductive rights nut job, and the Trump administration refuses to investigate or prosecute. Let's hope the local authorities will.

Liberty Belle

(9,664 posts)
38. Sounds like the dead person was probably the shooter:
Sat May 17, 2025, 11:02 PM
12 hrs ago

(If they're not looking for a suspect, that almost surely means the dead guy was the bomber and they're just waiting to notify his family before releasing his ID. They wouldn't be saying there's no current danger otherwise.)

https://www.hidesertstar.com/deserttrail/fbi-in-twentynine-palms-after-explosion-at-palm-springs-fertility-clinic/article_11aff80c-964b-400c-a1a3-3333782e0682.html

Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, Akil Davis, said the clinic was deliberately targeted. Davis said in a press conference that investigators were not searching for a suspect, but he would not speak to whether the bomber was the person killed in the explosion.

"One person who was near the vehicle is deceased," Davis said.

Palm Springs Police Chief Andrew Mills also did not say if the suspect was killed, but assured Palm Springs resident there was no current danger.

"Make no mistake: This was an intentional act of terrorism," he said. "The FBI is investigating it as such."

Old Crank

(5,672 posts)
45. Where is the Puppy Perforator?
Sun May 18, 2025, 04:04 AM
7 hrs ago

Has she launcher a terrorist investigation yet.
I mean they were quick on a book title.

Old Crank

(5,672 posts)
46. It is looking like the perpetrator was killed
Sun May 18, 2025, 04:55 AM
7 hrs ago

In the explosion.
Police, etc, are searching a location out of town.

Eugene

(65,012 posts)
47. The FBI is investigating the explosion at a California fertility clinic as an act of terrorism
Sun May 18, 2025, 05:09 AM
6 hrs ago
The FBI is investigating the explosion at a California fertility clinic as an act of terrorism

The person believed responsible for an attack targeting a Southern California fertility clinic Saturday posted rambling online writings before an explosion that investigators are treating as an act of terrorism, according to a law enforcement official.

The suspect, who died in the explosion that tore through the clinic and rattled the upscale California city of Palm Springs, also attempted to record video or stream the attack, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss details of the attack and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.

“Make no mistake: This is an intentional act of terrorism,” Akil Davis, the head of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, told an evening news conference.

Authorities were still working to piece together a motive and build a chronology of events leading up to the attack. Though the FBI did not say how it had determined the explosion was terrorism, the writings left behind, in which the suspect communicated a belief that the world should not be populated, appear to shed light on the person’s state of mind and help explain investigators’ thesis that the attack was targeted and intentional.


https://apnews.com/article/california-explosion-palm-springs-eb8887fbe5877a20a40916aba86554ea

SunSeeker

(55,757 posts)
48. "the writings left behind, in which the suspect communicated a belief that the world should not be populated"
Sun May 18, 2025, 05:32 AM
6 hrs ago

A fertility clinic in Palm Sptings seems like an odd target if world population is their issue. But they were probably mentally ill, so trying to make sense of this may be pointless.

Renew Deal

(83,918 posts)
51. There are probably "better" targets, but not easier ones.
Sun May 18, 2025, 08:34 AM
3 hrs ago

I wonder if this person would have used WMD’s against living people if they could.

53. Sometimes the real world hits too close to home.
Sun May 18, 2025, 09:01 AM
2 hrs ago

The Palm Springs fertility clinic that was blown up was near the hospital where I had an operation last week.

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