S4 E33 - The Grand Blanc Church Attack: A Foiled Bombing Rebranded as a “Mass Shooting”

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.

Transcript

The Tenth Man: 0:00

Before the fires were even out, CNN called it a mass shooting. He rammed his truck into a church, opened fire and tried to bomb it. But the headline is gunman. This wasn't a mass shooting. It was a targeted multi-mode attack. Ramming, arson, gunfire, and planned bombings. Michigan's shiny new red flag laws 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 Mormon churches since 2020. How many have you heard about? You wanna stop mass shootings? Well first stop calling everything a mass shooting. Welcome to the 10th man where we break through the echo chamber and point out the obvious truths the media ignore In this episode, we analyze the September 28th targeted attack on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Grand Blanc Township at Michigan. Within hours, national media outlets framed it as another mass shooting. They focused on the rifle invoked gun control cliches, and plastered graphics about mass shootings in America. But the facts of this case show something very different, a multi-mode attack involving a vehicle, fire, gunfire, and planned explosives. IEDs. A suicidal attacker with a vendetta against a church. A rapid police response that stopped a bombing in progress and political narratives that ignored every relevant fact to push more gun control. Let's start with what actually happened. On the morning of September 28th, a man with a personal grudge drove his truck into the LDS Church building. Immediately after crashing through, he opened fire apparently to suppress anyone inside, prevent interference, and keep them inside. He then set the structure on fire. Police responding to the scene, discovered four improvised explosive devices in his truck. These weren't hypothetical threats. They were real bombs. They were never deployed because police arrived quickly interrupting his plan. This was not a random act of so-called gun violence. It was a targeted multi mode attack vehicle ramming, arson, gunfire, and attempted bombing. Yet almost immediately, media coverage flattened the story. CNN went to air with their now familiar mass shootings in America graph, labeling the attacker a gunman. That word choice alone reveals how badly this event has been mischaracterized. He wasn't merely a gunman, he was a bomber, an arsonist, and a man with a vendetta. For major outlets, the presence of a gun automatically changes the language. If a firearm is involved at all, the incident is branded a mass shooting, no matter the motive, the method or the context. The fact that there is a gun at a crime scene does not define the character of the crime, at least not to law enforcement. But to the media, the mere mention of an AR style rifle flips the script to mass shooting. The attacker did have a rifle, but it wasn't the centerpiece of his plan. He likely chose that rifle because 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 the church were all downplayed or ignored, and there's an even larger context the press failed to mention. Since 2020, there have been 16 separate arson attacks on LDS churches nationwide. That's not rare. That's a pattern, but how many of those did you hear about on the evening news? The contrast with foreign media coverage is revealing. Just a few days later, there was a synagogue attack in England that attacker too, rammed his vehicle into the building and then jumped out and began stabbing people. The media correctly labeled it a church attack, not a mass stabbing. The two attacks were strikingly similar, the one in England, a virtual copycat. In America, the gun triggers the headline. Elsewhere, the actual method and motive do. To understand this attack fully, we have to talk about why it happened. This was not a random act of violence. It was the culmination of a personal vendetta and suicidal intent. The attacker had broken up with a local partner, then became romantically involved with a woman 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 day intending to die in the act and to take others with him. The pattern is similar to Columbine, which was conceived as a school bombing as well, but devolved into gunfire when the explosives failed. Grand Blanc was apparently intended as a church bombing, not a shooting. Quick police response prevented that plan from unfolding fully. Now, if our leaders were to focus on suicide ideation and fame seeking motives, you can prevent these tragedies. But if you focus on the gun, you miss the entire point. Next we must address the political reaction. In February, 2024, Michigan enacted a package of gun control laws, red flag laws, expanded background checks and other measures politicians promised would make us safer. Yet none of those laws prevented this attack. The attacker had bombs fire in a vehicle and no red flag law was triggered. In fact, during a press briefing, a reporter asked Donald Trump whether this tragedy showed the need for red 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 shooting in Minneapolis this August. Once again, the laws were in place, but they were useless against someone determined to commit violence. The public asks, what can we do to stop violence like this? Here's an answer. Politicians who failed to protect the public should resign. They promised safety, they delivered nothing. Then they give speeches and promise more gun laws us. Instead, we should hold them accountable. Gun control is not prevention. It's a political performance that targets law abiding citizens, not suicidal attackers with bombs in their trucks. Fire the politicians who failed us. One aspect of this attack that deserves far more attention is how it was stopped. The attacker was subdued because police responded within minutes. Their speed prevented the explosives from being deployed and saved lives. But they weren't alone. A church member carrying a handgun was present during the attack. Instead of acting recklessly, he stood by ready to support law enforcement. A textbook example of a responsible armed citizen, the type openly mocked by the left. But armed citizens act only out of need and never shoot the wrong guy. In Grand Blanc, the combination of swift police work and armed disciplined citizens was decisive. Contrast this with the Manchester synagogue attack where responding police shot two of the congregants in the synagogue killing one. The narrative that only police can be trusted with guns collapses under the pressure of the real world. We need to zoom out. The US is often portrayed by politicians and left leaning media as a negative exception. The only nation plagued by mass shootings so-called. This is misleading. Every country has violence. Many have mass killings including mass murders with guns, but these are typically called rare and poorly tracked. They never give any proof, any data or any contexts, just say it's rare. Australia has the population of California and had 20 people shot in downtown Sydney on October 6th, a week later, but they call it rare. Minnesota Governor, Tim Waltz told the world last year, Finland doesn't have school shootings just a few months after their last one, and they've had another one since then. Most nations don't maintain comprehensive databases of mass attacks, and they certainly don't have activist run databases like the Gun Violence Archive, which inflates US numbers by counting everything from gang shootings to middle night parking lot suicides as school shootings or mass shootings. Separating gun violence from all other violence is not honest analysis. It's political framing designed to make America look uniquely dangerous so Democrats can promise more gun laws. But they never promised more safety. They only promise more gun laws. If you're tired of the media's pre-written narratives, subscribe to the 10th man. Leave a review and share this episode. Every share helps us push back against lazy headlines and expose what really happened. Subscribe now and don't let the narrative win by default. Let's bring this home. You wanna stop, so-called mass shootings. Step one, stop calling every violent event a mass shooting. Okay. This was a targeted, multi-mode, hate driven suicidal attack. The firearm was just one instrument. The bombs, fire and vehicle were others. By flattening every violent act into the same mass shooting category, the media erased the patterns that actually matter. Suicide ideation, our biggest violence issue, religious hatred, bomb plots, and policy failures. This attack actually happened close to home for me. I was returning from an early church service that morning and often drive past the area while visiting family. Later turning on the news, I didn't know which Grand Blanc Church had been hit. It was that local. It turns out I didn't know anyone there, but a friend did and the shooter graduated from the next high school over from me. The local connection doesn't make me any smarter, but I might be paying a little more attention than most people. But the story being told nationally wasn't local or accurate. It wasn't about a bomber with a grudge. It wasn't about failed laws or suicide prevention, it was about guns, because that's what the narrative demands. If we keep allowing politicians and journalists to define every complex act of violence as a mass shooting, we'll keep chasing the wrong solutions while real vulnerabilities stay exposed.