Posted on 09/29/2025 11:03:42 AM PDT by Yossarian
BURTON, MI -- The gunman who killed at least four worshippers at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township on Sunday unleashed an unprovoked, bitter critique of the Mormon faith just days before the deadly assault.
Burton City Council candidate Kris Johns said he met Thomas Jacob Sanford, who police identified as the gunman, while campaigning door to door on East Atherton Road near Center Road on Sept. 22.
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After a few minutes of introductions, Johns said, Sanford steered the conversation directly to the Mormon church and did not turn back, repeatedly telling him that “the Mormons are the anti-Christ.”
“Religion is not a (regular) topic on the doorstep,” Johns said of the encounter, which began with Sanford acting outgoing -- almost jovial -- before his conversation became “unhinged” about the church.
“He asked me what (I knew) about Mormons,” said Johns, who said he’s been interviewed about the encounter by Michigan State Police and the FBI.
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Johns said Sanford told him members of the church “wanted him to get rid of his tattoos” and talked about the various tenets of the faith, including “sealing,” a process that Mormons believe binds a husband, a wife, and their children to each other for eternity. According to the church website, members are not supposed to tattoo their bodies.
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(Excerpt) Read more at mlive.com ...
I grew up in the same town (Goodrich) and graduated from the same high school as the assailant.
All this took place in an area I called home for 16 years - Grand Blanc has much of the needed stores and services for smaller Goodrich.
Police and Feds last night were doing a search of a local dairy farm that I would ride my bike - or do distance runs - past, on the way to school.
It is all a tight-knit, rural community, that is in a total state of shock. (That I can tell from social media. I don't live there now, and am not visiting.)
The fact that Thomas Jacob Sanford grew up to be a Marine, a deer hunter, and an over-the-top super-patriot type is a totally believable thing.
The apparent fact that such a product of Goodrich would shoot up and burn down a church is incomprehensible beyond belief.
Memory hole.
There are a number of zealous misguided so called Christians who vehemently despise LDS. I’m not LDS but can certainly see how someone could be driven to such a level of hatred.
Did he or did he not have PTSD?
Didn’t Broadway do a musical saying the same thing?
That the Perp imagined the antichrist
Then became one.
.
Passing a few Bible tracts perhaps?
Chick publications?
“Did he or did he not have PTSD?”
PTSD possible, but people are responsible for their own malfunctions.
In this case, it appears that Sanford was just an evil human.
A family friend was interviewed, and she said that family members mentioned to her that he had PTSD. Link to interview: https://www.facebook.com/reel/4453658354867472
Even if this was the case, is it right to think that PTSD was a factor in his actions? One of my classmates (another Goodrich alum) had it, and it led to his suicide. But he never harmed others!
Well, the Bible tells us about the Anti-Christ but funny never mentioned Thomas Jacob Sanford.
I wonder why THAT is?/sarc
Maybe all that talk about the Rapture date and the fact that it DID NOT happen, obviously, pushed the guy’s warped mind somehow.
I just had a short exchange with one of them right here on FR.
He was a mechanic in the Marines
Did he get traumatized by dropping a screw driver
He was a mechanic in the Marines
Did he get traumatized by dropping a screw driver
“...zealous misguided so called Christians who vehemently despise LDS...”
Care to narrow this down?
This Guy is aware of seemingly unbridled anti-Catholic bigotry emanating from a certain specific so-called denomination of the “so-called Christian” community. Which one?
That’s not necessarily germane to this discussion. At least not right now! Later today, tomorrow, who knows—the way things seem to be going in this country.
His comment about the church wanting him to get rid of his tattoos? Was he involved with LDS? Maybe his wife or other relatives are Mormon? Maybe he was being shunned by relatives for not being a “good Mormon”? If it there was anything like that going on, will it be brought to light?
He served in USMC about the same time as our 3 sons, who also went to Fallujah. We have been lucky that they seem to have escaped potentially disabling PTSD.
So sorry for you that this is hitting so close to home for you.
There’s that.
I wanna be REAL clear that whatever made someone go on a murder spree killing worshippers has everything to do with the murderer and nothing to do with the worshippers. I don’t want anyone thinking I view the Mormon victims here like the Left views Charlie Kirk.
But I still want to know what drove his hatred. Did they destroy his marriage by excommunicating him over his tattoos? (Is that even a true premise?) Was his wife Mormon? Did he know about the ban before he got involved with her or Mormonism? Again, no judgment on the church in this matter; As a Catholic, for instance, I still want to know that it was the rejection of transexualism that drove the killer at that church school.
I wanna be REAL clear that whatever made someone go on a murder spree killing worshippers has everything to do with the murderer and nothing to do with the worshippers. I don’t want anyone thinking I view the Mormon victims here like the Left views Charlie Kirk.
But I still want to know what drove his hatred. Did they destroy his marriage by excommunicating him over his tattoos? (Is that even a true premise?) Was his wife Mormon? Did he know about the ban before he got involved with her or Mormonism? Again, no judgment on the church in this matter; As a Catholic, for instance, I still want to know that it was the rejection of transexualism that drove the killer at that church school.
Whether the people involved have mental issues, are warped by psychotropic drugs, or are programmed by some shadowy entity to commit acts of terror are questions that must be asked. However, every church, synagogue, and school in America must have armed men, whether police, private security, or just people who are carrying.
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