On Sunday, FBI officials and local law enforcement held a press briefing on an explosion at a Palm Springs fertility clinic that is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Well first of all welcome to Palm Springs Police Department. We appreciate you taking the time to come and to learn about all the great things that the Bureau and our department has been doing. I'll introduce Assistant Director Akhil Davis in a second. I did want to take a few seconds to recognize the many people who have given us an outpouring of support from the Governor's office. We have over here Donald Keith and the Director of OES. Thank you so much for taking this
00:30time to fly down today. We have Congressman Raul, Dr. Raul Ruiz here also. We appreciate you coming, Dr. Ruiz and your support. You've been on the phone with me for two days and I sincerely appreciate that. In addition to that we have Supervisor Emmanuel Perez who is coming and also as you can see all of our council members are here. This is Grace Garner, Councilwoman Grace Garner, Jeffrey Bernstein and I saw David Reddy.
00:59Oh there he is. David Reddy, Mayor Pro Tem Soto and then City Manager Scott Stiles and Paul Alvarado, the Fire Chief. I want to turn this over. The most important piece of this is the great work that our partners from the FBI have been doing with our detectives and I'm just so grateful Akhil for your partnership. We've worked shoulder to shoulder on this and I really appreciate all you've done. So time is yours as much as you like. Thanks a lot, Chief.
01:29Good morning. As Chief Mills said, my name is Akhil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office.
01:36I'd like to begin by thanking the public as well as members of the media for your patience as we continue through this lengthy investigation. I'd like to start off by saying due to the speed and professionalism of the Palm Springs Fire Department Station 1, the Palm Springs Police Department, as well as the FBI bomb technicians, we are able to save all of the embryos at this facility.
02:02Good guys 1, bad guys 0. They understood the sensitivity and the precious nature of what was inside and they took extreme care to ensure that there was no loss of any sensitive material.
02:15Again, I want to thank all the partners that have arrived here in Palm Springs to help us investigate this scene and ensure this continued safety in this community.
02:25I'd like to address the ongoing search in 29 palms that many of you asked me about yesterday.
02:32I can confirm they were executing a search warrant at that location in 29 palms as a result of this explosion here.
02:41As has been reported, some residents were evacuated in the neighboring area as a practice of protocol and safety.
02:50We do not believe that there's an ongoing threat to the public in the 29 palms area as a result of this investigation.
02:57As I mentioned yesterday, our efforts to positively identify the deceased individual here has been found.
03:03We are fairly confident that that subject is Guy Edward Bartkus, 25 year old from again Palm Springs to I'm sorry from again 29 palms.
03:17This is the same individual that I mentioned yesterday.
03:20However, due to our investigation, we were keeping some of that information close hold, but we were now releasing it to you today.
03:27The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force indicates that we believe he was the subject found near the vehicle.
03:35I also want to provide the vehicle information to you.
03:39He was driving a 2010 silver Ford Fusion sedan with license plate number 8, H is in Henry, W is in William, S is in Sam, 848.
03:52Again, that is license plate number 8 is in Henry, I'm sorry, H is in Henry, W is in William, S is in Sam, 848.
04:01That's critical because we need the public's help in identifying gaps in our investigation.
04:05We know where Mr. Bartkus was at about 6 a.m.
04:08We know the timeline of when he entered the city.
04:10However, we need the public's help for identifying where he traversed within the city before the explosion went off.
04:19We will be providing a photograph of Mr. Bartkus and it will also be displayed on our social platforms.
04:26If anyone has information about this incident, I urge them to call 1-800-CALL-FBI
04:31or we have created a tip line which is FBI.gov backslash Palm Springs vehicle explosion.
04:41I again want to thank you for your cooperation as we get through this lengthy investigation.
04:45We plan on being out here for the next 24 to 36 hours investigating this large scene.
04:52I'd now like to turn it over to Chief Mills.
05:01It goes without saying, at the end of this we'll have opportunity for people to ask questions.
05:06Yesterday a man intent on harming others in our city failed.
05:11Palm Springs survived and we are stronger and more resilient as a result.
05:15Our determination to continue life as we know it here in Palm Springs continues unabated
05:21and you'll see this city dynamically grow as a result of this.
05:27We have already begun to open the streets surrounding the blast site.
05:32Indian Canyon and Palm Canyon will be closed for some time as we still continue to collect evidence as well as process the scene.
05:39For the safety of the detectives and the agents work in the area, we ask all community members to please stay out of the area.
05:47I am absolutely confident that this city is safe.
05:54There is no continuing threat to our community as a result of this incident.
06:00Now, let's get back to the business of rebuilding the city and continuing our tradition and way of life.
06:08This is a city of people celebrating life and it's a beacon and a safe haven for all.
06:15And we really focus on inclusivity and a community that is welcoming to all people.
06:21This is where you want to be.
06:23Palm Springs is the place.
06:25And I think you're going to see that over the upcoming months.
06:28Lastly, I really want to recognize the IVF community.
06:33This has been one of those heartbreaking things for many community members who are going through the process of trying to build families.
06:42And we want you to know that this city is in your court.
06:46Because those embryos that are there right now are going to be the future leaders of this community.
06:52And so we support you, we see you, and we want to be in your camp.
06:57And so, please, as we continue to move forward, this is an opportunity for us to show the IVF community just how much we support them and we can do.
07:06I'm asking all people in Palm Springs, people who live here, people who treasure this as a home, get on social media and show how wonderful this city is.
07:13Take a photo of the best place that you would like to show the world what's going on and post it.
07:19Because that's how special this community is.
07:22I'd like to turn it over to Fire Chief Paul Alvarado.
07:31Thank you, Chief. I appreciate that.
07:33Paul Alvarado, A-L-V-A-R-A-D-O, Palm Springs Fire Chief.
07:38And at first I want to acknowledge the horrific incident that impacted our community yesterday.
07:43And my heart goes out to everyone affected.
07:47And I want to assure the community the effective and quick response that our firefighters took yesterday to make sure that we protected life and property.
07:57Our first arriving fire engine, Fire Station 1, arrived in less than a minute to begin extinguishing fire on the impacted building.
08:05Despite the building suffering structural collapse, this was nothing short of heroic.
08:11And I'm so proud of our firefighters.
08:15We'll continue to work and support with our law enforcement partners to make sure that the community gets rebuilt, our community is safe, and we continue to move forward.
08:26Thank you for your time. I'd like to invite Mayor Pro Tem, Naomi Soto, up to the mic. Thank you.
08:37Good afternoon. Or good morning. It feels like afternoon already.
08:41My name is Naomi Soto. I'm the Mayor Pro Tem here in the city.
08:45Yesterday, Palm Springs experienced a tragedy.
08:48A person who wanted to instill fear in our community with an act of terrorism.
08:53This person may have caused damage to our buildings, but that person only managed to unite our community even more.
09:01We stand united against violence, against hate.
09:05Palm Springs is a city of love, acceptance, joy, and hope.
09:12I want to assure this community they are in good hands with Police Chief Andy Mills and Fire Chief Paul Alvarado and the brave men and women who responded immediately to the scene of the explosion.
09:25And to our partners at the FBI, who are doing everything they can do to find those responsible, we are in deep gratitude to you all.
09:32We also appreciate all our state and local partners who have reached out to offer support and resources, including especially Governor Gavin Newsom, Senator Alex Padilla, Senator Adam Schiff,
09:45Embleman, Greg Wallace, and all of their staff who have reached out to us multiple times.
09:51Thank you to our city council members, our city staff, city manager Scott Stiles.
09:57All of your effort means so much during this time of tragedy.
10:00And to our community members, again, I want to assure you that we are doing everything we can to help those injured and find those responsible.
10:07You are not alone and we are here with you.
10:10To our business community and visitors, as Police Chief Mills mentioned, this is an isolated incident.
10:17Palm Springs is safe.
10:20And we are open for business.
10:22And let's bring the joy and fun of Palm Springs immediately back.
10:27Our city manager Scott Stiles will now share more about the actions and alerts that you can anticipate from the city.
10:37Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.
10:41I'll be very brief, but just a few words, especially for our residents here in Palm Springs.
10:47We want to let you know that all of our city departments are working around the clock, 24-7, to be fully coordinated on everything we can do,
10:57from opening up streets as quickly as possible and to providing services and restoring services as quickly as possible.
11:05That involves all the coordination with our police department, our fire department, public works, who are all out there around the clock.
11:11And we will continue to do that.
11:13We hope to be opening streets up very soon, as soon as possible.
11:18And we'll continue to push that out.
11:20I do want to mention, especially for our residents, we've created a special landing page on our Engage Palm Springs platform.
11:28And that's where people can get all the latest up-to-date information that we're going to be putting out.
11:34So please go to that Engage Palm Springs website.
11:37Many, many of our residents are already watching it around the clock.
11:41The other thing I want to mention very briefly, with the horrific nature of this explosion, as you know, it damaged a great number of businesses and residential properties in and around the vicinity.
11:56We had our business teams out there yesterday going door-to-door to a lot of those businesses, a lot of those residential properties.
12:04And we're going to be moving forward as expeditiously as we can to doing everything we can to help them recover.
12:12Whether it's waiving permits to get them up to speed, providing any resources, loans, grants, anything that might be available to people.
12:22We're going to be working on that with the greatest of speed.
12:27So we'll be continuing to reach out to them.
12:30And so we just want to thank all of our businesses, residents that were affected.
12:37And if you need to reach out to us, please reach out to us if you haven't spoken to us already.
12:43So with that, I'll turn it back over to the Assistant Director for any comments, questions.
12:49Okay.
12:51Okay, we'll open it up for a few questions.
12:55Chief, did you want to...
12:56Mark, did you have a question to start off with?
12:58I would ask Scott and anybody else in the city, a lot of people were impacted by this mentally.
13:05People who came upon the scene and saw horrific things.
13:08Would the city necessarily make any resources available to help people or guide people as they try to emotionally recover from this incident?
13:22Thank you, Mark.
13:24We've had some conversation about that.
13:27We know especially even among our city staff that were on scene and may have witnessed stuff and seen stuff.
13:33We want to make sure that resources are available to them as well as other staff.
13:40And we will be working with our nonprofit partners, other people that provide services.
13:45And I would say more to come on that.
13:47We know this is a traumatic incident.
13:50We want to provide any and every resource that's available to people.
13:55Chief, now a second question.
13:58If anything you can tell us about the suspect in the scene line.
14:01There was something important about his online ramblings.
14:04Was he, in fact, deceived by IBS that they can have something against him because of his conception?
14:09Yeah, I want to be very careful how we respond, so I'd like to keep it under one roof.
14:13And I'll have Assistant Director Davis respond to that.
14:16Thanks, Chief.
14:18So, yes, the subject had nihilistic ideations, and this was a targeted attack against the IDF facility.
14:26Make no mistake, we are treating this, as I said yesterday, as an intentional act of terrorism.
14:31Assistant Director, is the audio recording on the Promortalist website?
14:35Is that confirmed to be the suspect?
14:38I'm not going to answer that at the time.
14:40Investigations ongoing.
14:41Are you aware of a possible manifesto?
14:44Is that part of the investigation?
14:45I am.
14:46We are looking through that.
14:48We are tracking a possible manifesto out there, and it's part of our ongoing investigation.
14:52And was his explosion being live-streamed?
14:55We believe he was attempting to live-stream it, and, yes, that is also part of our investigation.
15:00Was it successful?
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16:00Sir.
16:01up in a 360-degree perimeter and several hundred feet in every direction.
16:07So we are collecting evidence all over from a whole host of sources.
16:11Do you have –
16:13MR.
16:14For those community members who have found pieces of what they believe is evidence,
16:19they really need to get a hold of us.
16:20You can call the local number or the FBI.
16:23This is unacceptable, and let's be really direct with that person, if you can recontact
16:28him for us, and let them know they need to turn it in.
16:31I believe he's been in contact with you, and looking online this morning, the device
16:35is described as one of its commonly used as explosives.
16:39MR.
16:40Well –
16:41I mean, make no mistake, sir, this absolutely were explosives used in this – in this
16:46incident.
16:47A large bomb went off in the city of Palm Springs yesterday.
16:51Could be.
16:52MR.
16:53When you talk about this 25-year-old, was he already known to launch
16:58law enforcement, or was this the first time that he's popped up on your radar?
17:01MR.
17:02This is the first time he's popped up on our radar, not to say that he hasn't
17:05had other contacts, but we are working with our locals to kind of vet that up.
17:09MR.
17:10And do you have an update on those four people, on their injuries?
17:12What's the status of them?
17:14MR.
17:15All of the people who were injured in the blast have been released from the hospital
17:19and medical care.
17:20MR.
17:22Can you speak to the scene in 29 Palms?
17:24What – I think some residents reported hearing an explosion there, possibly was there
17:29a controlled explosion or anything there, and have the perimeters been lifted?
17:33Are people able to return to their homes?
17:35MR.
17:36So it's an ongoing – it's an ongoing scene.
17:38I am aware of some of the noise that the residents were reporting on that.
17:42Some of that was due to us making entry into that residence and dealing with some of the
17:46material that we've come across there.
17:48But that's an active scene right now, and we're working through that.
17:51So I'm not going to comment further on the status of that.
17:53MR.
17:54Mr.
17:55David, Zach Water here with KCAL News.
17:56Thank you for taking the time to be here in Palm Springs.
17:59To clarify, you said the person who died in this explosion is Mr. Barkas.
18:04Is Mr.
18:05Barkas who you believe made this bomb and detonated it?
18:08MR.
18:09Yeah, so that's nuance there.
18:10So we are fairly confident that Mr. Barkas is our primary suspect person of interest.
18:18We are working through some other technical means to positively identify the decedent here.
18:25But we believe, at this moment, based on the evidence that we've gathered, that that
18:29is Mr. Barkas as the decedent here.
18:31Has Barkas' mother and family cooperating with the police?
18:34MR.
18:35I'm not going to – no comment there.
18:37MR.
18:38Sorry.
18:39MR.
18:40This Ford Fusion, 3,000 pounds, essentially creates this 250-yard blast sight.
18:45Talk about the device that was inside this vehicle.
18:48Rudimentary, sophisticated, and walks through it.
18:50MR.
18:51And so there's a lot there that's still under investigation.
18:54What I can say is this is probably the largest bombing scene that we've had in Southern California.
18:59This does eclipse the bombing matter in Aliso Viejo.
19:02It's that big.
19:03And just for reference, to throw pieces of vehicle hundreds of feet in the air and then
19:10several blocks away, you can use your imagine to imagine how big that bomb device was.
19:16Was this individual able to buy the products online?
19:19Was he – did he have to use a special license, military grade?
19:22Mm-hmm.
19:23How did he obtain the materials for the device?
19:26MR.
19:27And so that information is still part of our investigation in order to protect the integrity
19:30of it.
19:31I'm not going to comment on the how and the why yet.
19:34Yes, ma'am.
19:35That is a possibility and our investigation will reveal.
19:52Two more questions?
19:53MR.
19:54Sir.
19:55Timothy Parker, Spectrum News 1.
19:57You mentioned that you believe he was – this person was anti-IVF.
20:02How do you know that?
20:04MR.
20:05Based on our investigation, some of the posts that he's made online, some of the comments
20:09made in his manifesto that we're combing through right now is kind of what led us to that nihilist
20:15belief.
20:16Troy King, News Channel 3.
20:17We had a reporter on scene at the 29 Palms area yesterday and community members were telling
20:23her that there was an FBI presence there in the days leading up to that.
20:28Can you confirm that?
20:29MR.
20:30I cannot.
20:31Okay, folks.
20:32That concludes this press conference.
20:33We're done, folks.
20:34Okay, guys.
20:35Thanks a lot.
20:36Thank you very much for coming here.
20:37MR.
20:38I appreciate it.