On September 28, 2025, a man named Thomas Jacob Sanford drove a truck into a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, opened fire, and then set the building on fire. The FBI described it as “ a targeted act of violence believed to be motivated by the assailant’s anti-religious beliefs against the Mormon religious community .” ( NBC News ) That phrasing—“anti-religious beliefs”—is technically accurate but misses the mark. It’s careful. It’s broad. And it hides the real truth: this was an anti-Mormon attack. 1. The violence targeted a specific faith Sanford didn’t attack a church because he hated religion in general. He attacked Mormons. Witnesses and online posts show he fixated on the LDS Church, calling its members “the antichrist.” That’s not generic hostility toward religion—it’s directed hatred toward one particular group. 2. “Anti-religious” erases the victims’ identity When the media calls it “anti-religious,” it softens the truth. The victims weren’t ran...
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