MOTIVE REVEALED? Michigan Church Sh**ter Made Dark Confession Days Before Attack

One week before carrying out the terrible attack on a Michigan Mormon church yesterday, Thomas Jacob Sanford reportedly made a disturbing confession that appears to reveal his motive.

After crashing his truck into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, the 40-year-old Iraq war veteran opened fire on the hundreds of worshipers gathered there and set the building ablaze.

Ultimately, Sanford killed four people and injured eight others before being killed himself by police.

In the aftermath of the horrific tragedy, city council candidate Kris Johns recalled a conversation he had with Sanford.

Johns said that he met Sanford while campaigning doing door-to-door and that he was “extremely nice” at first, but when the topic shifted to religion, things took a dark twist.

Namely, Sanford went off on a long tangent about how reportedly Mormons were “the anti-Christ.” 

Kris Johns spoke to CNN about the details:

NEW: Suspected Michigan church shooter Thomas Sanford called Mormonism "the antichrist" while speaking with a city council candidate days before the horrific attack.

Kris Johns says he was door-knocking last week when he encountered an 'extremely friendly' Sanford.

The two… pic.twitter.com/OkHzaccOgC

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 29, 2025

NEW: Suspected Michigan church shooter Thomas Sanford called Mormonism “the antichrist” while speaking with a city council candidate days before the horrific attack.

Kris Johns says he was door-knocking last week when he encountered an ‘extremely friendly’ Sanford.

The two spoke for 20 minutes as Sanford opened up about his time in Iraq and his struggles with drug addiction when he got home.

The conversation took a turn, however, when Johns brought up Mormonism.

Sanford said he used to be in a relationship with a woman whose family was Mormon.

“It was very much standard anti-LDS talking points that you would find on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook,” Johns said.

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During their conversation, Kris Johns said that Sanford opened up about his struggle with drug addiction after leaving the military.

Sanford’s hatred of Mormons could have been very personal, as he told Johns about how he moved to Utah following his time in the service, where he was in a relationship with a Mormon woman.

Johns also noted that Sanford did not appear political in any way, and never brought up his political affiliation or beliefs.

Detroit Free Press has more:

While others have been quick to shoo Johns off their properties, while he was making his rounds on Sept. 22 canvassing for a seat on city council, Sanford was different, he said.

Sanford shook his hand, thanked Johns for stopping by. They talked about their children — Johns’ daughter has special needs, and he said Sanford told him his child has a serious health condition. Sanford’s son was the first baby to undergo an experimental therapy for a rare condition called hyperinulinism, according to a 2016 article posted by a Texas hospital.

Sanford asked Johns what he thought about guns, and the city councilmember-hopeful responded that he supports the Second Amendment.

Then they got into Sanford’s life story, Johns said of their conversation that lasted no more than 20 minutes.

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He said Sanford spoke quickly — “it was one thing after another” — as he shared about his time in Iraq and his struggles with drug addiction when he returned home. Johns said Sanford told him he moved to Utah at one point to plow snow and had a relationship with a woman there whose family was Mormon.

Sanford was married. Property records show he took out a mortgage with his wife in 2021 at the house on East Atherton in Burton. He bought the house in 2016.

Johns said Sanford asked him whether he believed in God. He responded, “yes.” Johns told the Free Press he’s Christian and a member of a local non-denominational church.

“From there, the conversation takes a very sharp turn,” Johns said.

He said Sanford began asking him open-ended questions about Mormonism, first asking how Johns felt about the religion. And the more questions Sanford asked on the topic, the more pointed they became, Johns said. He said Sanford asked him about the Mormon bible, the role Jesus plays in the religion, the history of the LDS church and Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of Mormonism and the LDS movement.

 Mormons is a term used for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In Michigan, about 1% of American adults identify as Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, according to the Pew Research’s 2023-24 U.S. Religious Landscape Study. Nationally, that’s 2% of adults. The majority, 69%, live in the West, predominantly in Utah, near where the church’s global headquarters was established in Salt Lake City in the mid-19th century.

“I just didn’t know what the next question was going to be,” Johns said.

But Johns said everything Sanford asked him about Mormonism led to Sanford declaring the religion as “the antichrist.”

Their conversation never delved into politics or current events, Johns said — “there was no mention of anything right or left, blue or red.”

Our friends over at The Gateway Pundit also obtained a voicemail from Kris Johns to his Mormon friend, where he talked about Sandford’s apparent vendetta against Mormons.

Listen here:

EXCLUSIVE @gatewaypundit voicemail message from Burton, MI City Council candidate Kris Johns to Mormon friend living in Utah about an insane campaign stop he made with Thomas Jacob Sandford, who "went on a tirade about the Church of Latter-day Saints."

Johns made a campaign stop… pic.twitter.com/lEtUND2qGe

— PattyMI (@PattyLovesTruth) September 29, 2025

EXCLUSIVE @gatewaypundit
voicemail message from Burton, MI City Council candidate Kris Johns to Mormon friend living in Utah about an insane campaign stop he made with Thomas Jacob Sandford, who “went on a tirade about the Church of Latter-day Saints.”

Johns made a campaign stop last Monday at the anti-Mormon Church, accused of the Grand Blanc Mormon Church terror attack, who said, “Mormons are the anti-Christ.”

“He was NOT political.” Go to http://thegatewaypundit.com for the entire story.

In addition to all of this, Sanford was reportedly battling PTSD.

And, two days before the church attack, Sanford’s mother allegedly posted a cryptic message on her Facebook page, which many speculate was aimed at her son and may have send him over the edge.

BREAKING: Mother of Thomas Jacob Sanford, the Mormon Church shooter, posted this message on her Facebook two days before the attack, implies mental instability & nefarious intention of shooter pic.twitter.com/gO8UKz0Lys

— DannyKPolitics (@DannyKPolitics) September 28, 2025

Per the Daily Mail:

One family friend told journalist Ty Steele that Sanford had been battling PTSD.

‘It’s hard to feel sad for someone who did something so terrible, and I still feel sad. I had heard through family events that he had had PTSD,’ she said.

‘He would make comments occasionally and it was something that was kind of talked about. It wasn’t talked about in depth… so I don’t know the depth of his issues.’

Sanford’s loved ones, including his wife and both of his parents, also frequently shared pro-Trump messaging on their social media pages.

His mother, Brenda Walters-Sanford, posted a chilling message on her Facebook just two days before the incident about people who lack accountability.

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Whizzco

‘Talking to someone who constantly avoids accountability is not a real conversation – it’s a battle. It’s a cycle of deflection, projection, twisting, and playing the victim..,’ the post read.

‘When I try to express how your actions have hurt me, you don’t listen with the intention of understanding; you listen with the intention of defending yourself. That’s not communication – that’s self-preservation of your ego.’

The text appears to have been shared by several Facebook users, suggesting it’s a viral chain. It is unclear if Walters-Sanford was directing it at her son or someone else she knew.

It continued: ‘I don’t owe my peace to someone who only wants to win an argument, not to understand my heart. My energy is not a prize for someone committed to misunderstanding me. At some point, you have to value yourself enough to stop begging someone to hear you.’

The lengthy post by his mother might have been a ‘trigger’ for Sanford, Carole Lieberman, a forensic psychiatrist with over 20 years studying criminals, told the Daily Mail.

‘If in reference to her son. Really mean. Very hurtful kinds of posts. That could’ve been a trigger,’ Liberman said.

‘Very personal. Very intimate. Saying how much he hurt her. Basically I hate my son. Dysfunctional childhood. Sometimes it’s more from the mother [than] from the father.

‘Put together it’s a dysfunctional childhood. [He] Had PTSD from the military, so we know he was particularly vulnerable.’

Sanford served in the Marines from June 2004 to June 2008, working as an automotive mechanic and vehicle recovery operator, according to military records obtained by The Detroit News.

The FBI is still investigating all the details of the attack.

Earlier today, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that FBI Director Kash Patel has all but confirmed that Sanford’s motive was a hatred for members of the Mormon church.

Watch here: