The gunman who attacked a Mormon church in Michigan displayed support for Donald Trump at his residence and wore clothing bearing the slogan “Make Liberals Cry Again”.
Thomas Jacob Sanford, the 40-year-old suspect who authorities say killed four people at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township had a Trump campaign sign attached to a shed at his home, according to Google Maps imagery from June.
A Facebook photograph shows Sanford with his wife and son, who wore a “Re-elect Trump 2020” shirt featuring the phrase “Make Liberals Cry Again”, a variation on Trump’s signature campaign slogan.
The discoveries come as investigators work to establish why Sanford targeted the religious facility.
The assault unfolded on Sunday morning when Sanford drove a silver pickup truck bearing two American flags through the church’s front entrance whilst hundreds of worshippers were inside.
He then opened fire with a rifle before igniting the building, which authorities say was deliberately torched.
Two people died from gunshot wounds, whilst two additional bodies were later recovered from the church ruins.
Eight others sustained injuries in the attack, with all congregants now accounted for, according to Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye.
The image of the suspect was shared on social media
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Police officers fatally shot Sanford in the church car park approximately eight minutes after the assault began at 10.25am.
The religious building was completely destroyed by the fire, which investigators believe Sanford started by dousing it with petrol.
Sanford served as a Marine from 2004 to 2008, including a seven-month deployment to Iraq where he worked as an automotive mechanic, military records indicate.
The Burton resident had previously been arrested, though Police Chief Renye did not elaborate on the circumstances.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS FROM GRAND BLANC
People gather at the site as smoke and fire rise, following an incident in which a man crashed his vehicle through the front doors of a Michigan church and opened fire with an assault rifle
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REUTERS
A week before the attack, Sanford told Burton city council candidate Kris Johns that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were “the antichrist”, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Johns described Sanford’s comments as “standard anti-LDS talking points that you would find on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook”, though he noted their conversation gave no indication of impending violence.
Democratic consultant Mark Grebner told Bridge Michigan that Sanford had signed petitions supporting the 2021 “Unlock Michigan” campaign against Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s pandemic powers and a 2020 anti-abortion initiative by Right to Life Michigan.
The FBI is treating the incident as “an act of targeted violence” whilst continuing to investigate the attacker’s motives, according to Reuben Coleman, acting special agent-in-charge of the Detroit field office.
Law enforcement officers work near the burnt Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that FBI Director Kash Patel had informed her “this was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith”.
President Trump responded on Truth Social, stating “there is still a lot to learn” about the deceased suspect and describing the incident as “yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America”.
His reaction contrasted markedly with his response to the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in Utah 18 days earlier, when he immediately blamed the “radical left”.
State police have cautioned that any speculation about the attack’s motivation remains “exactly what it is – a speculation”.
Grand Blanc Township police chief William Renye speaks during a press conference
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REUTERS
Grand Blanc Township, a suburb of Flint with a population around 40,000, is about 60 miles (100 km) northwest of Detroit.
The Michigan violence came a month after a gunman fired through the stained-glass windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis, killing two children and wounding 17 other people.
Sunday’s assault marked the 324th mass shooting in the US in 2025, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks shootings in which four or more people are shot or killed, not including the shooter.
