James Von Brunn

Case overview

James Wenneker von Brunn (July 11, 1920 – January 6, 2010) was an American man who perpetrated the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting in Washington, D.C. on June 10, 2009. Security guard Stephen Tyrone Johns was killed in the shooting, and von Brunn was wounded by two security guards who returned fire. Von Brunn was named the prime suspect in the shooting and was charged with first-degree murder and firearms violations. While awaiting his trial, von Brunn died on January 6, 2010.

Von Brunn was a white supremacist and Holocaust denier. He had written numerous antisemitic essays, created an antisemitic website called The Holy Western Empire, and was the author of a 1999 self-published book, Kill the Best Gentiles, which praised Adolf Hitler and denied the Holocaust. He was also an Obama citizenship conspiracy theorist.

After the shooting, traces of his personal writings and works online were deleted from many websites, including AskArt.com, FreeRepublic and his personal user page on Wikipedia where he was indefinitely blocked; the latter was described as a “violation of policy of hate speech”.

He made posts expressing opposition to the Iraq War and stated that he felt the September 11 attacks were an “inside job”.

Background

Personal background

Von Brunn was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the first of two children to Elmer von Brunn and Hope Wenneker. He had a younger sister named Alice.

Elmer von Brunn was a native of Houston, Texas, and a superintendent at the Scullin Steel Mill in Houston during World War II. Hope von Brunn was an accomplished pianist, piano teacher, and homemaker. The family spent summer months with Hope’s family in Piasa Township, Illinois, and went on road trips to Houston when James was an adolescent.

During his childhood, James was noted by school teachers and family for artistic talents and asked for an oil paint set for his seventh birthday. His first aspiration was to become a famous painter.

Education and military service

Von Brunn enrolled in Washington University in St. Louis in August 1938 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism in April 1943. During his time at the university, von Brunn was said to have been president of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter and a varsity football player.

He served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1957 and was the commanding officer of PT boat 159 during the Pacific Theatre of World War II, receiving a commendation and three battle stars.

Career

Von Brunn worked as an advertising executive and producer in New York City for twenty years. In the late 1960s, he relocated to the Eastern Shore of Maryland where he continued advertising work and resumed painting.

Internet and ideological activity

Von Brunn wrote an anti-Semitic text and maintained conspiracy theories on a website. He used anti-Semitic postings and writings that described the Holocaust as a hoax. He claimed on his website that he had a long-standing relationship with Willis Carto, a publisher of books denying the Holocaust.

Carto denied that he had any relationship with von Brunn. In a phone interview, Carto said he had not heard from von Brunn in years and never had any relationship with him. Carto said that in recent months von Brunn had “spent a great deal of anger” attacking American Free Press, a weekly newspaper Carto publishes, because he said those papers and the people who published them were “too soft on the Jews.”

Affiliation and political contacts

Von Brunn was a member of the now-defunct American Friends of the British National Party, a group that raised funds in the United States for the far right and “rights for whites” British National Party (BNP). The group had been addressed on at least two occasions by Nick Griffin, described as an ex-member of the British National Front and chairman of the BNP. A BNP spokesperson claimed after the shooting that the party had “never heard of” von Brunn.

In 2004 and 2005, he lived in Hayden Lake, Idaho, the town where Aryan Nations, a neo-Nazi organization led by Richard Girnt Butler, was based until 2001.

Family and living arrangements at the time of the 2009 incident

After being released from prison for a prior incident, von Brunn tested for and joined Mensa International, the High-IQ Society; he was later dropped from membership for failing to pay his annual dues.

At the time of the 2009 incident, von Brunn was living in Annapolis, Maryland. He was twice divorced and was living in an Annapolis apartment with his son from his second marriage, Erik von Brunn (32), and his son’s fiancée. The apartment was leased; von Brunn rented a room for $400 a month. The younger von Brunn did not meet his father until he was nearly 11 years old, after the elder von Brunn completed his prison term for the Federal Reserve incident.

The offence

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting occurred at the nation’s memorial to the Holocaust in Washington, D.C. on June 10, 2009, at 12:50 p.m. Museum Special Police Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns was shot and later died from injuries. Suspect James Wenneker von Brunn was wounded by two security guards who returned fire.

Charges and indictment details

Von Brunn was charged in federal court on June 11, 2009, with first-degree murder and firearms violations. On July 29, 2009, von Brunn was indicted on seven counts, including four counts that made him eligible for the death penalty.

A judge ordered von Brunn to undergo a competency evaluation in September 2009 to determine whether he could stand trial.

Before trial, von Brunn pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Investigation

Search and evidence seized after the shooting

After the shooting, federal authorities raided von Brunn’s apartment and seized a rifle, ammunition, computers, a handwritten will, and a painting of Jesus Christ standing adjacent to Adolf Hitler. The FBI also stated it discovered child pornography on one of the seized computers.

Police found the car driven by von Brunn double parked in front of the museum and tested it for explosives. Authorities said they found a notebook on von Brunn that contained a list of District locations, including the Washington National Cathedral; bomb squads were dispatched to at least 10 sites.

The notebook included this passage, signed by von Brunn:

“You want my weapons — this is how you'll get them. The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews. Obama does what his Jew owners tell him to do. Jews captured America's money. Jews control the mass media. The 1st Amendment is abrogated henceforth....”

The FBI and Washington, D.C. police chief Cathy L. Lanier said it appeared von Brunn was acting alone at the time of the shooting, and the FBI said it had no knowledge of any threat against the museum.

The museum’s director of security said the museum received threats but that “nothing this significant recently”.

Authorities searched a red 2002 Hyundai for explosives and found none.

Possible motives and timing

Several news agencies noted the timing of the June 10 shooting came shortly after Obama’s June 5 visit to and speech at the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany and that Obama’s recent visit “may have set off the shooter.”

On his website, von Brunn stated that his conviction in the 1980s was by “a Negro jury, Jew/Negro attorneys” and that he was “sentenced to prison for eleven years by a Jew judge.” A Court of Appeals denied his appeal.

Statements about internet monitoring

The Southern Poverty Law Center, Anti-Defamation League, and FBI stated they had been monitoring von Brunn’s internet postings but were unable to take action because his comments had not crossed the line from free speech into advocating violence.

Arrest

Events at the scene and identification of the suspect

At about 12:49 p.m., the 88-year-old James von Brunn drove his car to the 14th Street entrance of the museum. Von Brunn entered the museum when Museum Special Police Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns opened the door for him.

Authorities said von Brunn raised a .22-caliber rifle and shot Special Police Officer Johns, who later died of his injuries at the George Washington University Hospital. Two other Special Police Officers stationed with Officer Johns, Harry Weeks and Jason “Mac” McCuiston, returned fire, wounding von Brunn.

According to police officers at the scene, a third person was injured by broken glass but refused treatment at the hospital.

The museum was crowded with visiting schoolchildren. The D.C. Metropolitan Police, United States Park Police and the FBI Terrorism Task Force immediately surrounded the museum.

The nearby U.S. Department of Agriculture Administration Building, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the USDA’s Sidney R. Yates Federal Building were closed. Portions of 14th Street and Independence Avenue in the Southwest quadrant were closed until later in the night.

Courthouse charging timeline

Trial

Competency evaluation

In September 2009, a judge ordered von Brunn to undergo a competency evaluation to determine whether or not he could stand trial.

Plea

Von Brunn pled not guilty to all of the charges.

Death before trial

Sentencing

Von Brunn had been sentenced previously in connection with an earlier incident. In 1968, he received a six-month jail sentence in Maryland for fighting with a sheriff during an incident at the county jail.

He was convicted in 1983 for burglary, assault, weapons charges, and attempted kidnapping. His sentence was completed by September 15, 1989, after he had served six and a half years in prison.

Appeals

A Court of Appeals denied von Brunn’s appeal related to his earlier conviction that he described as being based on “a Negro jury, Jew/Negro attorneys” and sentenced by “a Jew judge” for eleven years.

Outcome

Fatality from the 2009 shooting

Special Police Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns (October 4, 1969 – June 10, 2009) died from injuries suffered in the shooting. Johns later died at the George Washington University Hospital. His funeral was held on June 19, 2009 at Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington, Maryland, with 2,000 attendees, and he was subsequently interred.

Johns was married to Zakiah Johns (since May 2008) with a son, Stephen Johns, Jr., and two stepsons, Jeffrey Pollard and Tysean Lawson-Bey. The American Jewish Committee established a memorial fund for the family.

Statements about capacity for further harm

The Washington Post reported that “if it weren't for the quick response of the private guards on duty, more people could have been killed or wounded.”

Mayor Adrian Fenty stated that the officers’ efforts:

“to bring this gunman down so quickly ... saved the lives of countless people... This could have been much, much worse.”

Death of the suspect

James W. von Brunn died in prison while awaiting trial on January 6, 2010.

Von Brunn had Federal Bureau of Prisons ID# 07128-016 and was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina. On January 6, 2010, von Brunn died in a hospital located near the prison. The cause of death was natural causes, not the injury he received from the guards’ returning fire.

According to a statement by von Brunn’s attorney, von Brunn had “a long history of poor health,” including sepsis and chronic congestive heart failure.

Aftermath

Reaction from political figures and organizations

The Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. condemned the attack.

U.S. President Barack Obama said:

“This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms”

On June 11, 2009, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington led a prayer vigil in front of the museum. Organizers said the vigil was a time to honor Stephen Johns as well as a time to reflect upon the motivations which led to the shooting spree. Approximately 100 people attended the event, including officials from the Israeli and German embassies.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the attack as well.

Museum reopening and public response

When the museum reopened on June 12, 2009, Director Sara Bloomfield said attendance was normal or even higher than usual.

A 17-year-old girl who was in the museum the day of the shooting stated:

“It's important to come back, because if you don't, they win. It's a form of terrorism.”

In a statement, von Brunn’s son, Erik, expressed sorrow and horror and said:

“My father's beliefs have been a constant source of verbal and mental abuse my family has had to suffer with for many years. His views consumed him, and in doing so, not only destroyed his life, but destroyed our family and ruined our lives as well. For a long time, I believed this was our family's cross to bear. Now, it is not only my families lives that are in shambles, but those who were directly affected by what he did; especially the family of Mr. Johns, who bravely sacrificed his life to stop my father. I cannot express enough how deeply sorry I am it was Mr. Johns, and not my father who lost their life yesterday. It was unjustified and unfair that he died, and while my condolences could never begin to offer appeasement, they, along with my remorse is all I have to give. While my father had every right to believe what he did, by imposing those beliefs on others he robbed them of their free will. His actions have taken opportunities away from many people and forced decisions unexpected, not warranted, to be made that otherwise would not have been necessary. For the extremists who believe my father is a hero: it is imperative you understand what he did was an act of cowardice. To physically force your beliefs onto others with violence is not brave, but bullying. Doing so only serves to prove how weak those beliefs are. It is simply desperation, reminiscent of a temper tantrum of a child that cannot get his way. Violence is a cop out; an easy answer for an ignorant problem. His actions have undermined your 'movement,' and strengthened the resistance against your cause. He should not be remembered as a brave man or as a hero, but a coward unable to come to grips with the fact he threw his and his families lives away for an ideology that fostered sadness and anguish.”

Additional reactions and commentary

In a statement from Israel’s government, Information and Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein said the shooting was:

“further proof that anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial have not passed from the world.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said:

“We condemn this apparent bias-motivated attack and stand with the Jewish community and with Americans of all faiths in repudiating the kind of hatred and intolerance that can lead to such disturbing incidents.”

The Rev. David Ostendorf, executive director of the Center for a New Community in Chicago, said von Brunn had described a long relationship in his own writings with Willis Carto, founder of the Liberty Lobby, the Spotlight Newspaper and “a well-known white supremacist and anti-Semite.”

Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center said von Brunn’s web site had long been listed as a hate site. Heidi Beirich said:

“He thinks the Jews control the Federal Reserve, the banking system, that basically all Jews are evil.”

Context of related events

The shooting was described as the third high-profile anti-Semitic incident in the past five weeks. In early May, a Wesleyan University student of Jewish heritage was fatally shot on the Connecticut campus by a suspect who had written in his journal that he thought it was “okay to kill Jews.” In mid-May, four men were arrested in the attempted bombing of two Bronx synagogues.

The Homeland Security Department said the shooting did not appear to have a connection to terrorism, according to a joint Homeland Security and FBI assessment, though Joseph Persichini characterized it as “domestic terrorism.”

Authorities pursued civil-rights and hate-crimes charges. The FBI assistant director for the District of Columbia, Joseph Persichini Jr., said the FBI knew von Brunn had an “established Web site that expressed hatred of African Americans and Jews,” but he had not been under investigation.

Officials and public figures present at the museum

Present during the shooting was former United States Secretary of Defense William Cohen, awaiting his wife Janet Langhart for the premiere of Langhart’s one-act play, Anne and Emmett. The play imagined a conversation between Nazi victim Anne Frank and Jim Crow victim Emmett Till, and it was to be presented in honor of the eightieth anniversary of Anne Frank’s birth.

Other reported remarks at the White House

At the White House, President Barack Obama said:

“This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust Museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honor those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world.”

Described online writings and posts

Von Brunn’s internet writings said the Holocaust was a hoax. One writing included:

“At Auschwitz the 'Holocaust' myth became Reality, and Germany, cultural gem of the West, became a pariah among world nations,”

He also stated in an online posting:

“It's better to be strong than right,” he said in one of his dark online postings, “unless you like dying. Crowds hate good guys.”

He made comments about a supposed Jewish conspiracy and presented statements about his victims and beliefs, including the passage found in the notebook signed by von Brunn.

Timeline

• August 1938 — Von Brunn enrolled in Washington University in St. Louis.
• April 1943 — Von Brunn received a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism.
• 1943 to 1957 — Von Brunn served in the United States Navy.
• 1966 — Von Brunn was arrested for driving under the influence following an altercation at a local restaurant.
• 1968 — Von Brunn received a six-month jail sentence in Maryland for fighting with a sheriff during an incident at the county jail.
• July 29, 2009 — Von Brunn was indicted on seven counts, including four eligible for the death penalty.
• September 2009 — A judge ordered von Brunn to undergo a competency evaluation to determine whether he could stand trial.
• June 10, 2009 — The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting occurred in Washington, D.C.
• June 11, 2009 — Von Brunn was charged in federal court with first-degree murder and firearms violations; a prayer vigil took place in front of the museum.
• January 6, 2010 — Von Brunn died in prison while awaiting trial.
• June 12, 2009 — The museum reopened; attendance was described as normal or even higher.
• June 19, 2009 — Stephen Tyrone Johns’s funeral took place at Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington, Maryland.

Other details

Prior incident involving the Federal Reserve

Von Brunn was arrested in 1981 for attempted kidnapping and hostage-taking of members of the Federal Reserve Board after approaching the Federal Reserve’s Eccles Building armed with a revolver, knife, and sawed-off shotgun. Von Brunn later described his actions as a “citizen’s arrest for treason.”

He reportedly complained of “high interest rates” during the incident and was disarmed without any shots being fired after threatening a security guard with a .38 caliber pistol. He reportedly claimed he had a bomb, which was found to be only a device designed to look like a bomb.

Von Brunn was convicted in 1983 for burglary, assault, weapons charges, and attempted kidnapping. He served more than six years and was released; his sentence was completed by September 15, 1989.

February/June 2009 immediate tactical details

According to court affidavit and reporting: spent cartridges indicated von Brunn fired three shots and officers fired eight.

Investigators found more ammunition in his car and at an apartment in Annapolis, Maryland that he shared with his son and his son’s fiancée.

Equipment described in the FBI affidavit note

A notebook in von Brunn’s car included a handwritten note. It read:

“You want my weapons - this is how you'll get them. The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews,”

Described “third person” injury

At the scene, a third person was injured by broken glass but refused treatment at the hospital.

Reports on terrorism and threats

The FBI said it had no knowledge of any threat against the museum. The museum’s security director said they received threats but nothing of that significance recently.

Incarceration location and medical circumstances

Von Brunn was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina. He died in a hospital located near the prison. His attorney described a long history of poor health, including sepsis and chronic congestive heart failure.

Additional reported “domestic terrorism” characterization

Joseph Persichini characterized it as “domestic terrorism.”

Other described shootings in the same period

The attack was described as the third in a recent wave of shootings with political or ethnic underpinnings, including an Arkansas incident involving William Andrew Long and a shooting in which Dr. George Tiller was killed.

Quoted statements from Johns’s relatives

Stephen Johns Jr. told Orr:

“To me he was a pretty great guy. And when I heard about what happened I was just sad. And mad at the guy who shot him,”

Reported description of the victim’s employment

Johns worked for the private security company Wackenhut Services and had been assigned to the museum for six years.