4 Dead After White Man Opens Fire At Michigan Mormon Church
4 Dead After White Man Opens Fire At Michigan Mormon Church: Social Media Immediately Argues About His Ideology, As Usual
Yet another white man has been identified as the shooter in yet another mass shooting that appears to be an act of political violence — which essentially means we have another story that will inevitably result in no solutions to the clear pattern of this kind of violence, but plenty of white American bickering about which party or ideology he belongs to.
According to NBC News, four people were killed and several others were wounded on Sunday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, after a man reportedly drove his vehicle into the church, got out and opened fire with an assault rifle. The suspect, who was killed by law enforcement at the scene, was later identified as 40-year-old U.S. Marine veteran Thomas Jacob Sanford.
According to Grand Blanc Township Police Chief Bill Renye, the attack began at around 10:25 a.m., and authorities believe that before the shooter was fatally shot by officers in the church’s rear parking lot, he was able to start a fire that eventually enveloped the church before it was contained. While the fire was reportedly contained, Renye said the church was a “total loss” due to the damage that had already been done.
From NBC:
Paula Maser was among the worshippers in the church for a Sunday service.
“We heard a big bang and it blew the doors in the church, and then everything after that was chaos,” Maser told NBC affiliate WEYI of Clio, Michigan.
Maser said she and others ran outside, where she and a friend got into a car. The gunman also went outside, Maser said, and continued to fire. Three bullets struck the car Maser was in, she said, one of which grazed her friend’s hand.
Janet Peera, who lives nearby, told the news station that she and her family were leaving their home when they saw police vehicles and fire trucks racing toward the scene and heard gunshots.
Amid the chaos, Peera said, the family ended up in the church parking lot.
“There were bodies lying on the sidewalk,” she said. “There was one lying in the back of somebody’s truck that had just gotten shot maybe a couple times in the leg.”
Investigators, who include members of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, have not disclosed a motive for the attack outside of Reuben Coleman, the acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, describing it as “an act of targeted violence.” Of course, that didn’t stop President Donald Trump from immediately declaring that it appeared to be “a targeted attack on Christians,” or White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt from immediately claiming the gunman “hated people of the Mormon faith.” (In stark contrast, conservatives largely warned against jumping to such conclusions when white supremacist Dylann Roof opened fired on parishioners of a Black church South Carolina.)
And, again, white people across social media immediately started arguing about whether he was a “leftist” or a MAGA supporter, just as they did once Charlie Kirk’s accused killer was identified, as well as virtually every time the terrorist is a white male American (*gestures widely towards the overwhelming majority of such attacks*).
It’s almost as if people are more concerned with assigning ideological blame for these attacks than they are with the frequency with which they are happening.
Here’s what authorities have actually learned about Sanford, via NBC:
Sanford, of Burton — a city roughly 6 miles from Grand Blanc Township — has a military background.
Sanford joined the Marine Corps in 2004 and held the titles of organizational automotive mechanic and vehicle recovery operator during his time in the service, according to corps records.
His service included a deployment from August 2007 to March 2008 under Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the corps.
He had become a sergeant and had his last duty assignment at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, according to the corps. He left the military in June 2008, according to the records.
Awards for his service include the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and National Defense Service Medal, the records show.
So, on paper, Sanford was exactly what white conservative America would characterize as the all-American hero — yet he’s also the all-American terrorist.
Go figure.
SEE ALSO:
