Mormon church shooting suspect had Trump sign outside home, records show [View all]

Source: The Guardian

Mon 29 Sep 2025 10.07 EDT
Last modified on Mon 29 Sep 2025 16.44 EDT



Thomas Jacob Sanford’s house. Photograph: Google Maps


The gunman who killed at least four worshippers, wounded eight and was shot to death by police on Sunday at a Mormon church in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, had a sign emblazoned with the last name of Donald Trump outside his house, public records show.

The president responded to the church shooting on Sunday by saying “there is still a lot to learn” about the deceased suspect, identified as 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford. “This appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Trump’s comments were notably calm and measured compared with his remarks following the killing of the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk in Utah 18 days earlier, when the president rushed to blame the “radical left” for the murder and was echoed by his allies. A suspect is in custody in connection with that shooting and faces charges that carry the death penalty.

Images on Google Maps taken in June show that Sanford had a blue sign with Trump’s last name attached to a shed on the side of his house in Burton, Michigan, about a 15-minute drive from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints authorities say he targeted Sunday morning.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/29/mormon-church-shooting-trump-sign