Miles Klee
Palm Springs Bombing Suspect Apparently Promoted Human Extinction
Guy Edward Bartkus, a 25-year-old killed in the blast Saturday, may have shared a plan online to end his life on a pro-suicide web forum
Gina Ferazzi/“Los Angeles Times”/Getty Images
Guy Edward Bartkus, the 25-year-old man suspected of bombing a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California on Saturday in a suicide attack that injured four others, left behind what the FBI described as “anti-pro-life” writings full of “nihilistic ideations.” His apparent opposition to human procreation would seem to explain the choice of American Reproductive Centers as a target for a vehicle-born improvised explosive device — though no embryos were lost — and the bureau is treating the blast as “an intentional act of terrorism.”
While authorities have not confirmed any specific online material as authored by Bartkus, the FBI has said it is reviewing a manifesto and social media posts they believe reflect the bombing suspect’s motives. The content they are examining includes a text formerly hosted on the website promortalism.com, which no longer loads but is available in archived form, which linked to an audio file of the author speaking about his reasons for wanting to bomb a fertility clinic. Further legitimizing the manifesto as authentic is the fact that Bartkus’ father, Richard Bartkus, told The New York Times he believes the voice in that recording was his son’s. (He did not return a Rolling Stone request for further comment.)
The associated document likewise laid out a plan to suicide-bomb an IVF clinic, with the author writing that he is in favor of “sterilizing this planet of the disease of life.” The manifesto author went on to explain that “your death is already a guarantee, and you can thank your parents for that one,” expressing frustration at ever having been born, but stresses that he is not a “psycho killer.”
“All a promortalist is saying is let’s make it happen sooner rather than later (and preferably peaceful rather than some disease or accident), to prevent your future suffering, and, more importantly, the suffering your existence will cause to all the other sentient beings,” the author wrote.
The manifesto writer noted that he was motivated to act in part by the recent death of an acquaintance named Sophie who shared his worldview, alleging that she convinced a man she lived with to shoot her while she was sleeping. This narrative suggests a connection between the author and a 27-year-old woman named Sophie Tinney, who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend in Washington state on April 20, with prosecutors suggesting that the homicide “may have been planned in advance and Tinney possibly convinced Nelson to shoot her as she slept,” according to a report in Tacoma, Washington’s The News Tribune. The manifesto additionally links to the TikTok, Reddit, and Tumblr accounts of the woman it names only as “Sophie.” While the TikTok account had been inactive for months, the last posts on the other accounts directly preceded Tinney’s death. The final Tumblr post appeared on the night of April 19.
Obscure philosophies
The manifesto’s author pulled together various references to obscure philosophies in order to flesh out his ideas, indicating a mindset shaped by a confused amalgamation of toxic and despairing internet subcultures. One of these was “negative utilitarianism,” a theory which advocates for the reduction of suffering — this is in contrast to the far better known utilitarian tradition of thinkers including John Stuart Mill, a 19th Century philosopher who argued for the practical benefits of maximizing human happiness. The manifesto elsewhere alludes to “abolitionist veganism,” a call not just to discontinue the eating or use of animals but for the total elimination of animal-based agriculture.
And the author was especially keen on “Efilism,” linking to a YouTuber he said “explains what this is quite well.” The name Efilism derives from “efil,” or “life” spelled backwards, and promotes the anti-natalist tenet that people who have children are cruelly subjecting them to unnecessary misery. Efilism has been the subject of multiple web forums, and a group for its adherents has been banned from Reddit.
The manifesto page even offered links to groups such as The Right to Not Exist, “a global collective fighting for the unconditional right to die” — that is, “universal legal voluntary euthanasia” — and grim, nihilistic YouTube channels, along with transcripts from videos allegedly recorded by Adam Lanza, the mass shooter who perpetrated the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.
A social media web
There are hints that Bartkus not only left behind this document but may have left his fingerprints elsewhere online. Two days before the Palm Springs bombing, a member of a pro-suicide web forum that is currently under investigation by the U.K.’s internet regulator posted a detailed description of how they planned to ignite an improvised explosive device in their car in the near future, receiving encouragement from other suicidal users. Law enforcement officials have said this post is part of their investigation, and the user’s profile advertised that they were a “VegAntinatalist,” signaling a specific interest in anti-natalism, the ideology the FBI has attributed to Bartkus.
In the suicide forum post, the user — who went by the handle “IndictEvolution” — predicted that they would be “passed out very quick” when taking their own life, adding, “I’ll be on opiates,” with a smiley face emoticon. Previously, on May 5, the IndictEvolution account had described how they planned to kill themselves with “a timed high explosive device that will be strapped to my head” and “detonate at 8,000 meters per second.” In a separate post that day, they wrote that they had attempted suicide with this device “last night in the middle of the desert,” but were unable to force themselves to sleep with a drug cocktail as they had hoped to after setting the timer.
The screen name “IndictEvolution” matches that of a YouTube account, which was deleted shortly after the bombing, and previously had close to 300 subscribers. That account, as an archived screenshot of the page reveals, featured videos of experiments with explosives in remote desert areas, which Bartkus would have had easy access to from his home in Twentynine Palms, California. Bartkus’ father told the media that from a young age, his son enjoyed model rockets as well as making “stink bombs” and “smoke bombs” — and once accidentally burned down the family home. This account, too, is part of law enforcement’s investigation into the Palm Springs bombing.
The same screen name and profile image, of a DNA strand behind prison bars, appear on accounts on Tumblr, X, Lemmy, Steam, and Bluesky. On the latter platform, the author responded to a post about saving an endangered wolf species by rhetorically asking, “Save them from what? Nonexistence hurts nothing. Know life, know pain. No life, no pain.” On Lemmy, a web forum alternative to Reddit, the “IndictEvolution” account has a history of comments characterizing reproduction “a form of rape” and endorsing infanticide “as long as it is done humanely, and assuming both parents do not want the child.”
An archive of Reddit comments made using the same “InvoluntaryInception” display name — the account has been suspended — points to Bartkus as the likely author, as the account was often used to post in subreddits for anti-natalism and Efilism. One telling post described life as a “NEET,” or someone “Not in Employment, Education, or Training,” with the user mentioning that they used to work as a school bus attendant for special needs students. In interviews, Bartkus’ father has recalled him previously holding such a job. “I am 25 now and have done a few gigs here and there, but for the most part have been a NEET for a while now and it just does not bother me,” the redditor wrote. “It especially doesn’t bother me now seeing how insanely toxic society is, I don’t owe society a damn thing, and I certainly don’t care what they think of me.”
A YouTube account created under the name “InvoluntaryInception” is no longer available, but an archived screenshot shows thumbnails of livestream clips with a man whose appearance matches photos of Bartkus. The most recent is titled “Losing decent people hard to cope with, but no other option.” It was posted three weeks before the bombing, and several days after Sophie Tinney’s death. Other videos address Bartkus’ usual issues of veganism and anti-natalism, with titles including “The world is clearly overpopulated” and “What is the best way to communicate efilism?”
All together, the accounts and writings linked to Bartkus paint the portrait of a despairing and isolated young man combining niche philosophies that ultimately drove him to an act of incoherent violence. “Life can only continue as long as people hold the delusional belief that it is not a zero sum game causing senseless torture, and messes it can never, or only partially, clean up,” argues the manifesto being investigated by the FBI. As is frequently the case in America these days, those looking for ways to blame an act of terror on distinctly right-wing or leftist extremism will find that the truth lies in a baffling and murky middle where contrary strains of radicalism converge. If there’s one consistent factor in these cases, it’s that the suspect almost always picks up their dark ideas online — and, just as commonly, uses the internet to spread them further.
Dial 988 in the U.S. to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Find other international suicide helplines at Befrienders Worldwide (befrienders.org).