I want to express our sincere condolences to the victims and their families and all of the members of this church who were gathering on a Sunday in the United States of America to worship Jesus Christ, and a crazed gunman rammed his truck into the church and started firing [00:00:18] at these innocent Americans. And as the president rightfully put in his Truth Social yesterday, this appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians. At least four people were killed yesterday after a gunman drove into a mormon church, [00:00:34] set fire to the building and opened fire on worshipers during their service. Now, this comes not even after 24 hours after another man in North Carolina shot into a crowd, killing three people and injuring another five. Before we get into the details, we'll note that obviously [00:00:52] this investigation is still ongoing and new details will emerge at any time. But this is what we know right now. Hundreds of worshipers were inside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Grand Blanc Township in Michigan at about 10:25 a.m. [00:01:07] On Sunday, when a man got out of a pickup with two US flags raised in the bed and began shooting, according to law enforcement. The attacker also started a fire, apparently by using gasoline. Two officers chased the attacker and exchanged gunfire after he left [00:01:27] the church, killing him about eight minutes later, according to authorities. Three makeshift explosive devices were also recovered at the scene. Two people were killed by gunshots and another two were killed in the fire. Eight others were injured, with one person in critical condition. [00:01:44] And we have a little bit more about the gunman in a second. But, Jack, what were your first thoughts when you heard this story yesterday? First is, My God, we have to stop shooting each other. This is insanity. Number two is the motives. [00:02:02] Now, of course, are going to be analyzed because people are going to want to attach, political motivations and then blame everyone on whichever side this guy is on. So in a minute, we're going to tell you which side he's on. But if you haven't heard yet, can you make an independent judgment on it [00:02:21] before you find out which side he's on? And okay, so instead of just either hating him or making excuses depending on which side. So let's find out what he's about and then we'll come back and talk about it. So the gunman was identified as 40 year old Thomas Jacob Sanford, who lived [00:02:40] in a nearby town, according to reports. He served in the Marines from 2004 to 2008, including seven months in Iraq focusing on vehicle operations and maintenance, and was discharged at the rank of sergeant, according to records released by the Marine Corps, Sanford was deployed [00:03:00] in Operation Iraqi Freedom for just over six months, ending in early 2008. He was awarded the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal. Sea service deployment ribbon. Iraq campaign medal. Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. [00:03:20] He had also been stationed for a brief time in Japan and appeared to be an avid hunter and fisherman, according to USA today. Police are still investigating the motive behind the attack, but do believe this was a targeted attack. However, Burton City Council candidate Chris Johns actually gave a little bit [00:03:39] of insight into Stanford after speaking to him a week prior while canvasing. He said Stanford spoke quickly. It was one thing after another, as he shared about his time in Iraq and his struggles with drug addiction. When he returned home, Johns said. [00:03:56] Stanford told him he moved to Utah at one point to plow snow and had a relationship with a woman there whose family was Mormon. They spoke about a number of things, including family, the Second Amendment. But when religion was brought up, things took a very sharp turn. [00:04:12] Sanford began asking him open ended questions about Mormonism, first asking how Johns felt about the religion and the more questions Sanford asked about the topic, the more pointed they became, Johns said. [00:04:28] He said Sanford asked him about the Mormon Bible, the role of Jesus, the role Jesus plays in the religion, the history of the LDS church, and Joseph Smith Junior, the founder of Mormonism and the LDS movement. Sanford's animosity toward the church didn't seem violent, John said. [00:04:46] It was very much standard anti LDS talking points that you would find on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook. But Johns said everything Sanford asked him about Mormonism led Sanford led to Sanford declaring the religion as the anti-Christ. [00:05:02] Now, Chris Jones even stated during his 20 minute talk with Sanford, quote, there was no mention of anything right or left, blue or red. But he did note there was a Trump Vance sign on Sanford's fence, and Sanford was also seen wearing a Trump 2020 shirt in this picture on Facebook, [00:05:24] according to a database maintained by Practical Political Data. Sanford also appears to have signed two petitions as a Michigan voter favored by conservatives. He appears to have signed a petition to curtail emergency powers [00:05:40] that came amid a Covid 19 backlash to public health orders and Governor Gretchen Whitmer's handling of the pandemic. Sanford also appears to have signaled a petition, supported by Right to Life of Michigan, to restrict abortion access in Michigan. [00:05:55] The database indicates. Indicates. Now, surprisingly, the Trump administration isn't using this event as an excuse to threaten the left like they did with the Charlie Kirk shooting on Truth Social, Trump posted. [00:06:11] I have been briefed on the horrendous shooting that took place at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan. The FBI was immediately on the scene and will be leading the federal investigation and providing full support to state and local officials. [00:06:27] The suspect is dead, but there is still a lot to learn. This appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America. The Trump administration will keep the public posted, as we always do. In the meantime, pray for the victims and their families. [00:06:43] This epidemic of violence in our country must end immediately. And J.D. Vance, simply put, just an awful situation in Michigan. FBI is on the scene and the entire administration is monitoring things. Say a prayer for the victims and first responders. [00:07:00] Now, Jake, maybe this is the time that prayer ends. Gun violence once and for all. Yeah. Very unlikely. And so, look, first, our hearts go out to those poor people. I'm going to tell you something terrible that happened there. So, you know, four people were killed. [00:07:17] You know, Earmuff the kids here, two of them were killed by gunfire. The other two burned to death. So this is just horrific. So why does somebody, like, do somebody do something like this? Right. So, so he's wearing the Trump 2020 shirt and, [00:07:36] and all the things that Trump that Jordan told you about not just supporting Trump, but, also pro-life, not the exact right way to go to pro-life cause, obviously. Right. So should you blame all the right wing? [00:07:52] Well, of course not. That's preposterous. Right. So why do we have so many of these shootings in. And it's not just the churches. And it's not certainly not, just that, you know, I don't know if it's a white church. Mormons, they're probably white. But you remember, of course, the black church in South Carolina, [00:08:09] the Dylann Roof shot up. You remember a couple of synagogues that were shot up by folks. So, and, and mosques that have been attacked as well. And so when you see all of that, is it really, quote unquote, a yet another targeted attack on Christians? [00:08:24] Well, I suppose it depends on what you mean by that. So did this guy target Mormons who certainly looks like that. Is it part of a coordinated, targeted attack on Christians overall by some nefarious forces? No, not at all. And so that's why Trump and Caroline Leavitt saying that is not at all helpful. [00:08:42] That's really what it does, is it drives up division and and potentially hatred etc.. So in this case, if you just say, oh my God, this these poor folks who are attacked and this is outrageous and everyone has to stop shooting each other. Great. That's wonderful. [00:08:58] Can we get a unifying message? Ever. Ever. Right. So in this case, he doesn't seem like he's connected to anything else. And so why do we have so many of these shootings at these religious organizations and the schools and everywhere else? Well, number one, in this case, for example, I mean, I looked at it [00:09:18] and I was like, who hates Mormons? Who hates Mormons enough to shoot him? That's crazy. Right? But the reality is we have a country of over 330 million people. So can you find a couple of dozen people who hate Mormons? [00:09:33] Yeah, I guess you probably could. Right. But so every country has folks who hate a certain race or religion, etc.. But then you layer in two other problems in America. One is mental health, issues that we never address. [00:09:48] So, you know, I don't know how well other countries do in addressing mental health. I've heard that Europe does a lot better with it. Some Asian countries do better with it. We're miserable at it. So we just let it fester. Oh, you hate Mormons randomly. Okay. Keep going. And then, of course, the number one unifier for all of these [00:10:06] shootings is, unsurprisingly, weaponry. Guns. And so now you could say, oh, well, you know, he also used gasoline and fire. So it's not just guns. That's true. But there's not a lot of mass burnings going on. But there is a lot of mass shootings going on. [00:10:21] So when you have some people, as you will in any country who's who are driven by hate, and then you have mental health issues on top, and then you layer in an ocean of guns. Well, that's a recipe for disaster. And that's the disaster we live in right now. I want to point out the rhetorical sleight of hand [00:10:39] you're seeing from the right today. They're saying this is an attack on Christians. If you were to ask, I'd say most conservatives, most MAGA Republicans, I'd say behind closed doors, not on like Fox News, not on cable news. Whether or not they think Mormons are Christians, I think most of them [00:10:56] would distinguish the two. They have a term for LDS. It is Mormon. It's distinct from evangelical Christians, which is what they opt for primarily in the MAGA movement. But you see here, you see Katharine. [00:11:14] What is her name? The press secretary for for Trump. You see Trump himself saying this is a targeted attack on Christians, and they're trying to push this viewpoint, and they're trying to push this narrative because they see this as an inconvenient situation for them as they politicize the past couple attacks [00:11:35] or incidents or tragedies. And then you see reporting and the justifications of in this EO, you see the reporting from Ken Klippenstein, which we'll get into later. They're using these as springboards to crack down on the broader left in America. And they're using this to say there's a one sided problem of political violence. [00:11:54] And that's left wing political violence. Never mind the mind. The past 30 years it has largely been and dominated by the right. Violence is bad no matter what. I think we can agree on that. I think our viewers would agree with that as well. But they're trying to spin this into a purely Partizan problem. [00:12:11] So by saying this is an attack on Christianity, it feeds into that narrative without them having to look at the fact that this guy was, by all accounts, a Trump supporter. And based on his what we see as limited political engagement, [00:12:27] conservative in viewpoint. Guys. So for the folks who are blaming the entire left for any left wing shooter, we say that's absurd. Right. So now when you have a guy who seems to be a Trump supporter shooting Mormons and burning them alive, do you see how absurd it is? [00:12:47] No matter which side you're on to say, all Trump supporters want to burn Mormons alive. That's crazy. That's nuts. That's obviously not true, right? Also, when a left wing guy does a shooting, the fact that he represents 100 million Americans is absurd. [00:13:05] Obviously not true. So I here at the Young Turks, we keep hoping that one day logic is going to break out, reason is going to break out, and we're going to realize we're not each other's enemies, and we should stop shooting each other. And we're going to realize, oh, right, the people causing all of our problems [00:13:24] are not to the left of us or to the right of us, or based on this religion or that religion or the other one. It's the folks who control our government. Right. And by the way, you shouldn't do violence against them either. Right. But we should take political action to regain our government, [00:13:40] regain our senses, and pass laws based on what the American people want so that we can actually address problems like this, instead of using problems like this to divide one another and to hate one another. Stop going in that direction and there might be a smidge less shootings, we hope.