October 6, 2025 • 12 mins
On September 28, a man rammed his truck into a Mormon church in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, opened fire, set the building ablaze, and tried to carry out a bombing with four improvised explosive devices.
Within hours, national media outlets had already written their script: “another mass shooting”, complete with CNN graphs and gun-control talking points.
In this episode of The Tenth Man, we break down what actually happened — a targeted, multi-mode attack involving arson, firearms, and planned bombings — and how politicians and the press twisted the story to fit their gun-control agenda.
We’ll examine:
- The attacker’s motives, suicide ideation, and hatred of the LDS Church
- Why Michigan’s 2024 red flag laws failed to prevent the attack
- How the armed citizen on scene contrasted with media stereotypes
- Why words like “mass shooting” are being used to erase critical facts
- And how this attack fits into a broader pattern of targeted religious violence the media ignores.
👉 If you’re tired of headlines that tell you what to think instead of what happened, this episode is for you.
Commentary on trending issues brought to you with a moderate perspective.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
The Tenth Man (00:00):
Before the fires were even out, CNN called it a
mass shooting.
He rammed his truck into achurch, opened fire and tried to
bomb it.
But the headline is gunman.
This wasn't a mass shooting.
It was a targeted multi-modeattack.
Ramming, arson, gunfire, andplanned bombings.
(00:22):
Michigan's shiny new red flaglaws did nothing to stop it.
The firearm wasn't the motive,it was the prop because using an
AR guarantees media fame.
16 arson attacks on Mormonchurches since 2020.
How many have you heard about?
You wanna stop mass shootings?
(00:44):
Well first stop callingeverything a mass shooting.
Welcome to the 10th man where webreak through the echo chamber
and point out the obvious truthsthe media ignore In this
episode, we analyze theSeptember 28th targeted attack
(01:05):
on the Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter Day Saints in Grand Blanc
Township at Michigan.
Within hours, national mediaoutlets framed it as another
mass shooting.
They focused on the rifleinvoked gun control cliches, and
plastered graphics about massshootings in America.
But the facts of this case showsomething very different, a
(01:28):
multi-mode attack involving avehicle, fire, gunfire, and
planned explosives.
IEDs.
A suicidal attacker with avendetta against a church.
A rapid police response thatstopped a bombing in progress
and political narratives thatignored every relevant fact to
(01:50):
push more gun control.
Let's start with what actuallyhappened.
On the morning of September28th, a man with a personal
grudge drove his truck into theLDS Church building.
Immediately after crashingthrough, he opened fire
apparently to suppress anyoneinside, prevent interference,
(02:10):
and keep them inside.
He then set the structure onfire.
Police responding to the scene,discovered four improvised
explosive devices in his truck.
These weren't hypotheticalthreats.
They were real bombs.
They were never deployed becausepolice arrived quickly
interrupting his plan.
(02:31):
This was not a random act ofso-called gun violence.
It was a targeted multi modeattack vehicle ramming, arson,
gunfire, and attempted bombing.
Yet almost immediately, mediacoverage flattened the story.
CNN went to air with their nowfamiliar mass shootings in
America graph, labeling theattacker a gunman.
(02:55):
That word choice alone revealshow badly this event has been
mischaracterized.
He wasn't merely a gunman, hewas a bomber, an arsonist, and a
man with a vendetta.
For major outlets, the presenceof a gun automatically changes
the language.
If a firearm is involved at all,the incident is branded a mass
(03:17):
shooting, no matter the motive,the method or the context.
The fact that there is a gun ata crime scene does not define
the character of the crime, atleast not to law enforcement.
But to the media, the meremention of an AR style rifle
flips the script to massshooting.
(03:38):
The attacker did have a rifle,but it wasn't the centerpiece of
his plan.
He likely chose that riflebecause of using an AR virtually
guarantees media attention.
If your goal is suicidal fame,the gun isn't the motive, it's
just a prop.
Meanwhile, the bombs, the fire,and the attacker's hatred for
(03:59):
the church were all downplayedor ignored, and there's an even
larger context the press failedto mention.
Since 2020, there have been 16separate arson attacks on LDS
churches nationwide.
That's not rare.
That's a pattern, but how manyof those did you hear about on
(04:20):
the evening news?
The contrast with foreign mediacoverage is revealing.
Just a few days later, there wasa synagogue attack in England
that attacker too, rammed hisvehicle into the building and
then jumped out and beganstabbing people.
The media correctly labeled it achurch attack, not a mass
stabbing.
(04:41):
The two attacks were strikinglysimilar, the one in England, a
virtual copycat.
In America, the gun triggers theheadline.
Elsewhere, the actual method andmotive do.
To understand this attack fully,we have to talk about why it
happened.
This was not a random act ofviolence.
It was the culmination of apersonal vendetta and suicidal
(05:04):
intent.
The attacker had broken up witha local partner, then became
romantically involved with awoman in Utah who was a member
of the LDS Church.
When that relationship soured,his anger transferred onto the
church itself.
He came to the church that dayintending to die in the act and
(05:24):
to take others with him.
The pattern is similar toColumbine, which was conceived
as a school bombing as well, butdevolved into gunfire when the
explosives failed.
Grand Blanc was apparentlyintended as a church bombing,
not a shooting.
Quick police response preventedthat plan from unfolding fully.
(05:46):
Now, if our leaders were tofocus on suicide ideation and
fame seeking motives, you canprevent these tragedies.
But if you focus on the gun, youmiss the entire point.
Next we must address thepolitical reaction.
In February, 2024, Michiganenacted a package of gun control
(06:08):
laws, red flag laws, expandedbackground checks and other
measures politicians promisedwould make us safer.
Yet none of those laws preventedthis attack.
The attacker had bombs fire in avehicle and no red flag law was
triggered.
In fact, during a pressbriefing, a reporter asked
Donald Trump whether thistragedy showed the need for red
(06:31):
flag laws.
That question was absurd.
Michigan already has them.
They didn't work.
This failure mirrors Minnesota,which passed red flag laws prior
to the Catholic school shootingin Minneapolis this August.
Once again, the laws were inplace, but they were useless
against someone determined tocommit violence.
(06:52):
The public asks, what can we doto stop violence like this?
Here's an answer.
Politicians who failed toprotect the public should
resign.
They promised safety, theydelivered nothing.
Then they give speeches andpromise more gun laws us.
Instead, we should hold themaccountable.
(07:16):
Gun control is not prevention.
It's a political performancethat targets law abiding
citizens, not suicidal attackerswith bombs in their trucks.
Fire the politicians who failedus.
One aspect of this attack thatdeserves far more attention is
how it was stopped.
(07:37):
The attacker was subdued becausepolice responded within minutes.
Their speed prevented theexplosives from being deployed
and saved lives.
But they weren't alone.
A church member carrying ahandgun was present during the
attack.
Instead of acting recklessly, hestood by ready to support law
enforcement.
(07:58):
A textbook example of aresponsible armed citizen, the
type openly mocked by the left.
But armed citizens act only outof need and never shoot the
wrong guy.
In Grand Blanc, the combinationof swift police work and armed
disciplined citizens wasdecisive.
(08:20):
Contrast this with theManchester synagogue attack
where responding police shot twoof the congregants in the
synagogue killing one.
The narrative that only policecan be trusted with guns
collapses under the pressure ofthe real world.
We need to zoom out.
The US is often portrayed bypoliticians and left leaning
(08:43):
media as a negative exception.
The only nation plagued by massshootings so-called.
This is misleading.
Every country has violence.
Many have mass killingsincluding mass murders with
guns, but these are typicallycalled rare and poorly tracked.
(09:04):
They never give any proof, anydata or any contexts, just say
it's rare.
Australia has the population ofCalifornia and had 20 people
shot in downtown Sydney onOctober 6th, a week later, but
they call it rare.
Minnesota Governor, Tim Waltztold the world last year,
(09:26):
Finland doesn't have schoolshootings just a few months
after their last one, andthey've had another one since
then.
Most nations don't maintaincomprehensive databases of mass
attacks, and they certainlydon't have activist run
databases like the Gun ViolenceArchive, which inflates US
numbers by counting everythingfrom gang shootings to middle
(09:47):
night parking lot suicides asschool shootings or mass
shootings.
Separating gun violence from allother violence is not honest
analysis.
It's political framing designedto make America look uniquely
dangerous so Democrats canpromise more gun laws.
But they never promised moresafety.
(10:08):
They only promise more gun laws.
If you're tired of the media'spre-written narratives,
subscribe to the 10th man.
Leave a review and share thisepisode.
Every share helps us push backagainst lazy headlines and
expose what really happened.
Subscribe now and don't let thenarrative win by default.
(10:30):
Let's bring this home.
You wanna stop, so-called massshootings.
Step one, stop calling everyviolent event a mass shooting.
Okay.
This was a targeted, multi-mode,hate driven suicidal attack.
The firearm was just oneinstrument.
The bombs, fire and vehicle wereothers.
(10:51):
By flattening every violent actinto the same mass shooting
category, the media erased thepatterns that actually matter.
Suicide ideation, our biggestviolence issue, religious
hatred, bomb plots, and policyfailures.
This attack actually happenedclose to home for me.
(11:13):
I was returning from an earlychurch service that morning and
often drive past the area whilevisiting family.
Later turning on the news, Ididn't know which Grand Blanc
Church had been hit.
It was that local.
It turns out I didn't knowanyone there, but a friend did
and the shooter graduated fromthe next high school over from
me.
(11:36):
The local connection doesn'tmake me any smarter, but I might
be paying a little moreattention than most people.
But the story being toldnationally wasn't local or
accurate.
It wasn't about a bomber with agrudge.
It wasn't about failed laws orsuicide prevention, it was about
guns, because that's what thenarrative demands.
(11:56):
If we keep allowing politiciansand journalists to define every
complex act of violence as amass shooting, we'll keep
chasing the wrong solutionswhile real vulnerabilities stay
exposed.
Before the fires were even out, CNN called it a
mass shooting.
He rammed his truck into achurch, opened fire and tried to
bomb it.
But the headline is gunman.
This wasn't a mass shooting.
It was a targeted multi-modeattack.
Ramming, arson, gunfire, andplanned bombings.
(00:22):
Michigan's shiny new red flaglaws did nothing to stop it.
The firearm wasn't the motive,it was the prop because using an
AR guarantees media fame.
16 arson attacks on Mormonchurches since 2020.
How many have you heard about?
You wanna stop mass shootings?
(00:44):
Well first stop callingeverything a mass shooting.
Welcome to the 10th man where webreak through the echo chamber
and point out the obvious truthsthe media ignore In this
episode, we analyze theSeptember 28th targeted attack
(01:05):
on the Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter Day Saints in Grand Blanc
Township at Michigan.
Within hours, national mediaoutlets framed it as another
mass shooting.
They focused on the rifleinvoked gun control cliches, and
plastered graphics about massshootings in America.
But the facts of this case showsomething very different, a
(01:28):
multi-mode attack involving avehicle, fire, gunfire, and
planned explosives.
IEDs.
A suicidal attacker with avendetta against a church.
A rapid police response thatstopped a bombing in progress
and political narratives thatignored every relevant fact to
(01:50):
push more gun control.
Let's start with what actuallyhappened.
On the morning of September28th, a man with a personal
grudge drove his truck into theLDS Church building.
Immediately after crashingthrough, he opened fire
apparently to suppress anyoneinside, prevent interference,
(02:10):
and keep them inside.
He then set the structure onfire.
Police responding to the scene,discovered four improvised
explosive devices in his truck.
These weren't hypotheticalthreats.
They were real bombs.
They were never deployed becausepolice arrived quickly
interrupting his plan.
(02:31):
This was not a random act ofso-called gun violence.
It was a targeted multi modeattack vehicle ramming, arson,
gunfire, and attempted bombing.
Yet almost immediately, mediacoverage flattened the story.
CNN went to air with their nowfamiliar mass shootings in
America graph, labeling theattacker a gunman.
(02:55):
That word choice alone revealshow badly this event has been
mischaracterized.
He wasn't merely a gunman, hewas a bomber, an arsonist, and a
man with a vendetta.
For major outlets, the presenceof a gun automatically changes
the language.
If a firearm is involved at all,the incident is branded a mass
(03:17):
shooting, no matter the motive,the method or the context.
The fact that there is a gun ata crime scene does not define
the character of the crime, atleast not to law enforcement.
But to the media, the meremention of an AR style rifle
flips the script to massshooting.
(03:38):
The attacker did have a rifle,but it wasn't the centerpiece of
his plan.
He likely chose that riflebecause of using an AR virtually
guarantees media attention.
If your goal is suicidal fame,the gun isn't the motive, it's
just a prop.
Meanwhile, the bombs, the fire,and the attacker's hatred for
(03:59):
the church were all downplayedor ignored, and there's an even
larger context the press failedto mention.
Since 2020, there have been 16separate arson attacks on LDS
churches nationwide.
That's not rare.
That's a pattern, but how manyof those did you hear about on
(04:20):
the evening news?
The contrast with foreign mediacoverage is revealing.
Just a few days later, there wasa synagogue attack in England
that attacker too, rammed hisvehicle into the building and
then jumped out and beganstabbing people.
The media correctly labeled it achurch attack, not a mass
stabbing.
(04:41):
The two attacks were strikinglysimilar, the one in England, a
virtual copycat.
In America, the gun triggers theheadline.
Elsewhere, the actual method andmotive do.
To understand this attack fully,we have to talk about why it
happened.
This was not a random act ofviolence.
It was the culmination of apersonal vendetta and suicidal
(05:04):
intent.
The attacker had broken up witha local partner, then became
romantically involved with awoman in Utah who was a member
of the LDS Church.
When that relationship soured,his anger transferred onto the
church itself.
He came to the church that dayintending to die in the act and
(05:24):
to take others with him.
The pattern is similar toColumbine, which was conceived
as a school bombing as well, butdevolved into gunfire when the
explosives failed.
Grand Blanc was apparentlyintended as a church bombing,
not a shooting.
Quick police response preventedthat plan from unfolding fully.
(05:46):
Now, if our leaders were tofocus on suicide ideation and
fame seeking motives, you canprevent these tragedies.
But if you focus on the gun, youmiss the entire point.
Next we must address thepolitical reaction.
In February, 2024, Michiganenacted a package of gun control
(06:08):
laws, red flag laws, expandedbackground checks and other
measures politicians promisedwould make us safer.
Yet none of those laws preventedthis attack.
The attacker had bombs fire in avehicle and no red flag law was
triggered.
In fact, during a pressbriefing, a reporter asked
Donald Trump whether thistragedy showed the need for red
(06:31):
flag laws.
That question was absurd.
Michigan already has them.
They didn't work.
This failure mirrors Minnesota,which passed red flag laws prior
to the Catholic school shootingin Minneapolis this August.
Once again, the laws were inplace, but they were useless
against someone determined tocommit violence.
(06:52):
The public asks, what can we doto stop violence like this?
Here's an answer.
Politicians who failed toprotect the public should
resign.
They promised safety, theydelivered nothing.
Then they give speeches andpromise more gun laws us.
Instead, we should hold themaccountable.
(07:16):
Gun control is not prevention.
It's a political performancethat targets law abiding
citizens, not suicidal attackerswith bombs in their trucks.
Fire the politicians who failedus.
One aspect of this attack thatdeserves far more attention is
how it was stopped.
(07:37):
The attacker was subdued becausepolice responded within minutes.
Their speed prevented theexplosives from being deployed
and saved lives.
But they weren't alone.
A church member carrying ahandgun was present during the
attack.
Instead of acting recklessly, hestood by ready to support law
enforcement.
(07:58):
A textbook example of aresponsible armed citizen, the
type openly mocked by the left.
But armed citizens act only outof need and never shoot the
wrong guy.
In Grand Blanc, the combinationof swift police work and armed
disciplined citizens wasdecisive.
(08:20):
Contrast this with theManchester synagogue attack
where responding police shot twoof the congregants in the
synagogue killing one.
The narrative that only policecan be trusted with guns
collapses under the pressure ofthe real world.
We need to zoom out.
The US is often portrayed bypoliticians and left leaning
(08:43):
media as a negative exception.
The only nation plagued by massshootings so-called.
This is misleading.
Every country has violence.
Many have mass killingsincluding mass murders with
guns, but these are typicallycalled rare and poorly tracked.
(09:04):
They never give any proof, anydata or any contexts, just say
it's rare.
Australia has the population ofCalifornia and had 20 people
shot in downtown Sydney onOctober 6th, a week later, but
they call it rare.
Minnesota Governor, Tim Waltztold the world last year,
(09:26):
Finland doesn't have schoolshootings just a few months
after their last one, andthey've had another one since
then.
Most nations don't maintaincomprehensive databases of mass
attacks, and they certainlydon't have activist run
databases like the Gun ViolenceArchive, which inflates US
numbers by counting everythingfrom gang shootings to middle
(09:47):
night parking lot suicides asschool shootings or mass
shootings.
Separating gun violence from allother violence is not honest
analysis.
It's political framing designedto make America look uniquely
dangerous so Democrats canpromise more gun laws.
But they never promised moresafety.
(10:08):
They only promise more gun laws.
If you're tired of the media'spre-written narratives,
subscribe to the 10th man.
Leave a review and share thisepisode.
Every share helps us push backagainst lazy headlines and
expose what really happened.
Subscribe now and don't let thenarrative win by default.
(10:30):
Let's bring this home.
You wanna stop, so-called massshootings.
Step one, stop calling everyviolent event a mass shooting.
Okay.
This was a targeted, multi-mode,hate driven suicidal attack.
The firearm was just oneinstrument.
The bombs, fire and vehicle wereothers.
(10:51):
By flattening every violent actinto the same mass shooting
category, the media erased thepatterns that actually matter.
Suicide ideation, our biggestviolence issue, religious
hatred, bomb plots, and policyfailures.
This attack actually happenedclose to home for me.
(11:13):
I was returning from an earlychurch service that morning and
often drive past the area whilevisiting family.
Later turning on the news, Ididn't know which Grand Blanc
Church had been hit.
It was that local.
It turns out I didn't knowanyone there, but a friend did
and the shooter graduated fromthe next high school over from
me.
(11:36):
The local connection doesn'tmake me any smarter, but I might
be paying a little moreattention than most people.
But the story being toldnationally wasn't local or
accurate.
It wasn't about a bomber with agrudge.
It wasn't about failed laws orsuicide prevention, it was about
guns, because that's what thenarrative demands.
(11:56):
If we keep allowing politiciansand journalists to define every
complex act of violence as amass shooting, we'll keep
chasing the wrong solutionswhile real vulnerabilities stay
exposed.
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