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Shooter Tried to 'Arrest' Fed Members in 1981

Von Brunn served 6 years in prison

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 10, 2009 7:08 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Details about the twisted past of the elderly man who killed a guard at the US Holocaust Museum continues to surface. In a bizarre incident in 1981, James von Brunn, then 62, stormed into the Federal Reserve's headquarters in DC armed with two guns, a knife, and a fake bomb, and demanded to make a citizen's arrest of board members, reports CNN. Von Brunn, who said he was incensed at high interest rates, served 6 years in federal prison for the stunt, a sentence he blamed in part on a "Jew judge."

"He has an extremely long history with neo-Nazis and white supremacists," said a researcher for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama. "He's written extremely incendiary publications raging about Jews, blacks, and the like." Von Brunn, who remains in critical condition after today's shooting, had become a "hard-core neo-Nazi" by the 1970s, said the researcher. He associated with William Pierce, whose Turner Diaries inspired Timothy McVeigh.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty talks with reporters.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty talks with reporters.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
James von Brunn, on his website.
James von Brunn, on his website.   (Von Brunn's website)
Sara J. Bloomfield, director of the Holocaust Museum, talks with reporters outside the museum.
Sara J. Bloomfield, director of the Holocaust Museum, talks with reporters outside the museum.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
An Annapolis, Md., fire marshal investigator uses a dog to search a vehicle near the suspect's home.
An Annapolis, Md., fire marshal investigator uses a dog to search a vehicle near the suspect's home.   (AP Photo/ Steve Ruark)
Police walk toward the rear entrance of the Holocaust Museum after the shooting.
Police walk toward the rear entrance of the Holocaust Museum after the shooting.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier wipes her forehead after talking with the media.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier wipes her forehead after talking with the media.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 10 comments
Caps
Jun 11, 2009 12:52 PM CDT
This guy has to be mentally ill. No-one in his right mind would do such a thing.
Newser001
Jun 11, 2009 12:20 PM CDT
When attempting to read more about this moron, avoid Holy Western Empire. It attempts to load viruses; Fake CODEC WebPage 94.232.248.70
2-bits
Jun 11, 2009 9:13 AM CDT
Actually, newsrmandan, Fascism (and make no mistake, Hitler was a facist) is kind of an oddball politically. It's best described as a strange sort of "extremism of the center," as it's roots stem from distaste with Capitalism (especially during the great depression) and Bolshevism in Russia. Anyway the entire comparison is a charade. To be honest the attack does not really fit in with any creed or political ideal besides blind racism, so it cannot be easily categorized as left or right. (Though the right is usually associated with anti-immigrant and nationalist ideals, but that is sort of a stretch).

He's a known character on the extremist fringe
Washington Post

Obama statement: 'We must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism'
Politico

 
crime • Holocaust Museum • Neo-Nazi • shooting • anti-Semitism • right-wing extremism • James Von Brunn

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