Another Day in the American Way of Life: Mass Murder in Michigan

The mass shooting attacker and arsonist of the Mormon Church in Grand Blanc, Michigan, is a white US-born American, a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq. 40-year old Thomas Jacob Sanford opened fire on a Mormon church service and set fire to the place of worship. Sanford served a stint in Okinawa, Japan, before serving in Iraq from August 2007 through March 2008 and had the rank of sergeant, according to the records. His military occupational specialty was organizational automotive mechanic and vehicle recovery operator.

Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye named Sanford as the lone gunman who shot 10 at the church and intentionally set fire to the structure. Renye said Sanford drove a vehicle into the church, exited the vehicle and shot several rounds. He is also believed to have intentionally set fire to the building. Michigan State Police Special Lt. Kim Vetter said it may take some time to determine his actual motive.

Four of the 10 people in the church have died, and police said earlier Sunday that they expect to find additional fatalities in the rubble of the church.

Sanford's family has a long history of military service, with his uncle having served in the Marines while his grandfather served in the Navy during World War II.

Sanford was a good neighbor who plowed his neighbors's driveways for free. He is a resident of Burton, Michigan, which is about eight miles from Grand Blanc Township, where the attack happened.

“Social media accounts believed to be connected to Sanford show he’s a family man, with a wife and young son."

Sources say “several improvised explosive devices” were found at the church, which a bomb squad is currently investigating. 

President Donald Trump, shortly after the shooting, said it “appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians” in the U.S.

But there has been a long and brutal campaign by the Evangelical Americans, supporters of Trump, against the Mormons which are generally persecuted by US Protestants as being a "cult". Similarly, Evangelicals and other Radical Right Extremists, so-called "Christians" - who are Christians in name only - hate Catholics and other Christian denominations, not to mention their hatred of everyone else, Black African Americans, Jews, Muslims, etc. The history of the United States is peppered with the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) persecuting and discriminating against immigrants who are not WASPs: Irish Catholics stand as the first wave of immigrants allowed in the country by the WASPs, not out of Christian love, but for the cheap labor they provide. "No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs" signs used to adorn the entrance to many public faccilities across the US.

The attack on the Mormon church comes a month after the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. While President Trump says he wants to focus more on anti-Christian attacks and bias, it is his own followers who spew the most hatred against anyone who is not a WASP.