White supremacist James W. von Brunn fatally shot Holocaust Museum employee Stephen Johns as the security guard held the door open for him, prosecutors said Thursday while formally charging von Brunn with first-degree murder.
The 88-year-old Annapolis man could face the death penalty if convicted, officials said. Federal law enforcement authorities are also weighing hate crime charges.
New details of the shooting that left a 39-year-old father dead emerged Thursday. A little before 1 p.m. Wednesday, von Brunn exited the driver’s side of his double-parked 2002 red Hyundai and walked quickly to the museum entrance with a rifle at his side, court documents said. As Johns held the door open, von Brunn leveled a .22-caliber rifle at his chest and fired. Von Brunn then stepped inside and was met by several shots fired by two other guards. He was knocked backward by one shot through the face, stumbled out the door and collapsed on the sidewalk.
In a note found in von Brunn’s car, he said his attack on the museum was part of his duty to defend the Constitution as a World War II U.S. Navy officer.
“JVB swore (LT USNR) to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” he wrote. “Jews – Bolsheviks – Zionists are America’s enemies.”
That type of rhetoric could lead to hate crime charges, said Joseph Persichini, assistant director of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “It is very important that we send a message that this country does not authorize or approve any act that is attached to hatred in America,” Persichini said.
FBI had an “open file” on von Brunn, Persichini said. But the FBI was not actively investigating his white supremacist activities because “no matter how offensive to some, we are keenly aware that expressing views is not a crime.”
Von Brunn remained in critical condition Thursday evening at George Washington University Hospital after being shot by museum security guards.
The museum was closed Thursday and its flags stood at half-staff in honor of Johns, described by a museum official as a hero who simply “opened a door for an elderly man” and took a bullet that helped prevent “the loss of countless lives.”
A union official representing guards who work for Wackenhut, the company hired to protect the museum, said the union has been trying to include bulletproof vests in its contract for the last two years. Wackenhut said its officers wore all equipment specified by the existing contract.
