Many questions remain on the motive behind a Sept. 28 attack on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

Law enforcement identified 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford of Burton, Michigan, as the suspect in the attack that killed at least five people and injured several others. Authorities say he drove his pickup truck into the church, opened fire and set the building on fire. Sanford died after a shootout with responding officers in the church parking lot.

At a Sept. 29 press conference, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addressed the unknowns behind this attack, saying "speculation is unhelpful and it can be downright dangerous,” and called on people to "lower the temperature of rhetoric.”

Here is what we know about the suspect's views, though officials have not yet shared what they believe prompted the attack.

Was Thomas Jacob Sanford a Trump supporter?

Sanford's political stance is not yet clear.

A 2019 picture from Facebook shows Sanford wearing a Trump 2020 campaign shirt, and a picture of his house taken Sept. 29, 2025 by the Free Press shows a "Trump-Vance" sign on the fence of Sanford's home.

His Michigan public voting records do not show when he last voted.

Sanford was a former Marine who was deployed in Iraq. Social media posts show he was an avid hunter and fisherman. He also had a son with a rare disease.

A candidate for the local city council campaigned at Sanford's door a week before the church attack and said Sanford asked pointed questions about the Mormon church, according to the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. Candidate Kris Johns told the Free Press that Sanford was "extremely friendly" and did not seem violent when he called Mormonism "the antichrist." Rather, Johns said Sanford raised standard anti-LDS talking points that you would find on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook.”

Johns said "there was no mention of anything right or left, blue or red," in their conversation, but there was a Trump 2024 sign on the fence of the home.

What did Trump say about the Michigan church shooting?

Trump posted on Truth Social on Sept. 28, saying he had been briefed on the shooting.

"The suspect is dead, but there is still a lot to learn. This appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America," Trump said. "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!"

Whitmer said Trump had called her to offer his condolences.

(This story has been updated with additional information.)

Contributing: Andrea May Sahouri, Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press; Joey Garrison, Chris Quintana, Dinah Voyles Pulver, Will Carless, Christopher Cann, USA TODAY

Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Was Thomas Jacob Sanford a Trump supporter? What we know about Michigan church suspect

Reporting by Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY

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