Michigan church shooter called Mormonism ‘the antichrist’ in hateful tirade to city council candidate
Thomas Michael Sanford is seen in a Facebook post about hunting. Facebook / Brenda Walters-Sanford
Just days before a deadly rampage at a Michigan church, Thomas Sanford voiced bitter hostility toward the Mormon faith during a doorstep conversation with a local political candidate.
Kris Johns, 44, who is running for a seat on the Burton City Council, said he encountered Sanford on September 22 while canvassing his neighborhood. At first, Sanford came across as “extremely friendly,” sharing details about his military service as a Marine in Iraq and his struggles with drug addiction after returning home.
But the tone shifted sharply when religion came up. Johns recalled Sanford pressing him with pointed questions about the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, its founder Joseph Smith, and the role of Jesus in the faith. Sanford, who had once been in a relationship with a woman from a Mormon family while living in Utah, eventually declared that he viewed Mormonism as “the antichrist.”
“It was very much the kind of anti-LDS rhetoric you’d see online,” Johns told the Detroit Free Press, noting the conversation quickly became unsettling.
Johns said he instantly recognized Sanford’s face when news broke of Sunday’s attack. “There are certain people you just don’t forget,” he said.
According to authorities, Sanford, 40, drove his Chevy Silverado into the front entrance of a Latter-day Saints church in Grand Blanc before storming the building with an assault rifle. Hundreds of congregants were inside at the time. He opened fire and set the church ablaze, leaving the structure destroyed.
At least four people were killed and eight others wounded. Officials warned that additional victims may be found in the ruins of the fire.
Law enforcement sources confirmed that both Michigan State Police and the FBI have been in contact with Johns regarding his prior encounter with Sanford.
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