Late Saturday, a man allegedly burst into a rabbi’s home and allegedly attacked several of his guests with a knife while they celebrated the seventh nigh of Hanukkah.
Police arrested 37 year-old Grafton E. Thomas and charged him with five counts of attempted murder. According to CNN, authorities found Thomas with “blood all over him.” He was arrested just after midnight on Sunday.
Authorities have also charged him with a hate crime and he sits in jail without bail.
Thomas has a history of mental illness; his step father, Joe Kennedy, described in an interview with Heavy how Thomas’s mental health seemed to deteriorate over the years.
When searching Thomas’ residence, authorities found:
- Packaging for an 18-inch Ozark Trail machete.
- Journals with anti-Semitic entries.
- References to “ebinoid Israelites” (Black Hebrew Israelites, a known hate group).
The bearded Thomas, his ankles shackled, shuffled into the courtroom in a prison jumpsuit, telling a judge who asked him if his head was clear that he was “not clear at all” and needed sleep. But he added: “I am coherent.”
His court-appointed attorney, Susanne Brody, said Thomas has issues with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Associated Press:
Then there’s 43-year-old Keith Thomas Kinnunen who walked into a Texas church on Sunday and opened fire but got his ass blown away in the process.
Kinnunen is believed to have been wearing a disguise, including a fake beard, when he stood up, pulled a shotgun from his clothing and opened fire inside the church killing 64-year-old Anton Wallace, a church deacon from Fort Worth, and 67-year-old Richard White, of River Oaks.
According to Heavy, Kinnunen has a history of criminal behavior including arrests and convictions in several states.
“The apparently homeless gunman who killed two worshipers Sunday had been helped with food on several occasions by the West Freeway church, but he became angry when they wouldn’t give him money, minister Britt Farmer told me. He wasn’t recognized Sunday because he wore disguises,” Bobby Ross Jr., the editor of The Christian Chronicle.
Read more about these two, fine gentlemen from the links above.
