Communities Increase Security at Houses of Worship After Shooting at LDS Church in Michigan

The shooting of worshipers at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan is leading several communities across the nation to increase their security around houses of worship amid concerns of violence targeting faith-based groups.Grand Blanc township, where the shooting and arson attack at the Mormon church killed four and injured another eight during Sunday morning services, increased patrols around Catholic, Mormon, Muslim, and other religious buildings. Nonetheless, a Catholic priest in the town, Father Joseph Krupp, said a bomb threat had been called into his church on Sunday evening.“Right now, local and state police have blocked off the area around our church and we are waiting for a bomb squad to come to do a sweep,” he posted on X.Following Sunday’s attack, the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, where the township is situated, said it is also coordinating with the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to monitor threats and deploy tactical units around other places of worship. The acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, Reuben Coleman, said the bureau is investigating the incident at Grand Blanc “as an act of targeted violence.” More than 100 officials have been assigned to the case.In the nearby Detroit metro area, police dispatched additional security around mosques and synagogues during Sunday evening services. Similar actions were taking place at Salt Lake City, where LDS headquarters is situated, as well as at Provo and Ogden, Utah, which have large Mormon communities. In addition, New York City, Long Island, and Westchester police were upping their visibility and assessing vulnerabilities around religious buildings while local news outlets at Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, and San Francisco reported that police would increase weekend patrols and work with religious communities to review emergency protocols. Washington, D.C., also increased police visibility at churches and synagogues, while the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force works on monitoring online chatter about religious gatherings. The Marine accused of the shooting, Thomas Jacob Sanford, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police, did not appear to have a relationship to the church, Latter Day Saints officials indicated on Sunday. Sanford rammed his truck into the building, causing worshippers to run out of it before he started shooting, and then set the church on fire. A federal investigator with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, James Deir, said late Sunday that Sanford set the fire with “an accelerant of some sort” while three “rudimentary” explosive devices had been found at the scene. Emergency responders searching for additional victims on Sunday evening found two additional bodies in the burned building, where several people returned when the shooting started. The scene had not been cleared by late Sunday evening as responders looked for more victims. However, a Burton city council candidate, Kris Johns, told podcaster Dave Bondy that he is certain he spoke with the shooter just last week while canvassing for votes and suggested Sanford held animosity toward Mormons. Mr. Johns said he did not get a read that the man was planning an attack, but he stepped gingerly through a conversation in which the man mentioned having been in a relationship with a woman who was a member of the LDS church.“For whatever reason the conversation shifted from chit-chat to what are your thoughts about the Church of Latter-day Saints,” Mr. Johns said. “What I just walked away from was a person who was very animated and had mentioned that, for lack of a better term, Mormons are the anti-Christ.”President Trump issued a statement on Truth Social in response to the shooting, saying the FBI will lead the investigation and provide full support to state and local officials. The president noted that this is the latest attack on Christians. Political commentator and faith leader Charlie Kirk was assassinated earlier this month while Catholic schoolchildren in Minneapolis were targeted by a former student in August during Mass on the first day of classes.“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. THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY,” he wrote. He also posted a memorial for the president of the LDS Church, Russell M. Nelson, who died a day earlier at age 101.Several Trump administration officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI director, Kash Patel, as well as governors across the nation, condemned the attacks on religious communities. “Sacred places of worship should never fear violence in America,” the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, posted on X, noting that her department is also working with interagency partners to review the incident. With hate crimes against Jews on the rise since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, forcing an increase in security at synagogues nationwide, the Orthodox Union on Sunday expressed its solidarity with other faith communities. “It is devastating to see yet another outburst of violent hatred against faith and its practitioners, precisely as so many in our blessed country are turning to focus more on God, prayer, love for each other, and our shared religious and moral values,” the union posted on X. “Our hearts have again been broken but our resolve is even stronger to stand together with all Americans against hate.”

Communities Increase Security at Houses of Worship After Shooting at LDS Church in Michigan

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