The Mormon Church shooter who killed at least four people in an attack on Sunday had a Trump sign outside his house and wore MAGA merch.
Public records show that Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, lived in a brick home on the 4100 block of East Atherton Road in Burton, Michigan, a 15-minute drive away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, where he opened fire on hundreds of congregants, killing at least four and wounding eight others.
Authorities said Sanford rammed into the church’s front door with his pickup truck before he started shooting and later set the building on fire. He was killed in a gunfight with two officers within 10 minutes.
A Michigan State Police bomb squad cordoned off Sanford’s block on Sunday afternoon. Images of the suspect’s residence on Google Maps, dated June 2025, show a blue Trump poster hanging on his fence just above a red “stop” sign.
The Trump sign outside his home has fueled heated speculation about his politics. Some social media users have used the Trump placard to claim that he is a Republican, while those across the aisle see the placement of the poster—just above a “stop” sign—as an indication that he wanted to “stop Trump.”
Records show that Sanford has no recorded party affiliation, but Michigan has open primaries, so party registration is not required.
Mark Grebner, a Democratic consultant, told Bridge Michigan that Sanford had signed two petitions: one for the 2021 “Unlock Michigan” effort to repeal Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s pandemic emergency powers, and a 2020 push by Right to Life Michigan to outlaw an abortion procedure.
Kim Vetter with the Michigan state police said any speculations about Sanford’s motives are “exactly what it is—a speculation.”
“We won’t come to those types of conclusions for some time,” she said in a Sunday night press conference.
The White House did not return a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Trump labeled the attack “horrendous” on Truth Social Sunday, adding that “there was a lot to learn” about the suspect.
“This appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America,” the president wrote. “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!”
Since the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this month, liberals and conservatives have blamed each other’s ideologies for the rise in political violence. Trump has repeatedly pinned the blame on “radical left lunatics,” while Vice President JD Vance and top White House aide Stephen Miller have slammed “left-wing extremism.”
A U.S. Marine Corps spokesperson confirmed to CNN that Sanford was a Marine veteran who served as a mechanic and vehicle recovery operator and was deployed for a year during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
According to a 2007 Clarkston News article about his military career, Sanford followed in the footsteps of his Marine uncle and a grandfather who served in the Navy during World War II.
“He’s a homegrown kid who misses his family when he’s gone,” his father said ahead of his deployment to Iraq at the time. “Jake’s going voluntarily and plans on returning to this community when his service is over. We are very proud of him.”
Bridge Michigan reported that Sanford was a 2003 graduate of Goodrich High School, a hunter, and father to a 10-year-old.
The FBI said Sunday that it was probing the Michigan shooting as “an act of targeted violence.” Authorities have yet to identify a motive.
