By David K. Trimble

Last Sunday morning, as worship began at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan, “the chapel was rocked by what sounded like an explosion.” Eyewitnesses recounted how congregants quickly realized that the driver had intentionally rammed his truck into the church, prompting them to rush toward the backdoor exit. Moments later, sounds of automatic gunfire filled the air. The assailant shot multiple congregants, including a child, who were assembled in a separate foyer area. He then poured gasoline on the floor and set fire to the building. Amid the chaos and panic, several members of the church heroically shielded numerous other children who were present in the sanctuary and moved them to safety. The horrific incident ended when two police officers courageously confronted the assailant and killed him in the parking lot during an exchange of gunfire only minutes after the vicious assault began. 

This shockingly senseless act left four innocent people dead, another eight injured, a house of worship engulfed in flames, and a congregation and community traumatized. 

It has been barely a month since the last act of unspeakable religious hatred terrorized another community, when an attacker opened fire on Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during a Mass primarily attended by students, parents, and teachers associated with the parish school. That terrible day left 2 children dead and 21 others wounded, 18 of whom were children.

In June, a heavily armed man burst into a Sunday morning service at CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan (only about 60 miles from Grand Blanc), but in that case a church security officer shot and killed him before he could harm anyone else.

There has been a flurry of attacks on American churches in recent years to such an extent that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) began tracking them in 2020. Including arson, assault, and vandalism along with shootings, there have been more than 370 attacks on Catholic churches throughout this period. Family Research Council (FRC) has compiled similar reports for all churches with data going back to 2018. FRC has identified “1,384 acts of hostility toward U.S. churches, occurring between January 2018 and December 2024,” which include “vandalism, arson, bomb threats, gun-related incidents, and other crimes.” 

Of course, anyone who defends and upholds human dignity and religious liberty finds what occurred in Grand Blanc, Minneapolis, and similar incidents to be unconscionable and the figures reported by USCCB and FRC to be an affront to America’s most cherished ideals. Foremost among them is religious freedom, which is a fundamental human right that must remain at the heart of the American tradition.

Attacks on houses of worship represent the ultimate betrayal of America’s first freedom. Gatherings to worship God are occasions of solemnity, joy, peace, awe, and conviction. These sacred spaces must never be shattered by acts of violence or marred by acts of vandalism. The fact that such incidents seem no longer to be extraordinary in our society demands the attention of all of us. Law enforcement must do their critical work to respond to, investigate, and prosecute every one of these criminal acts. But making them unthinkable is the real remedy, and that will require tapping into far deeper moral and spiritual resources. Americans of faith can and should lead the way in bringing these resources into public life, in service to their neighbors, in resistance to the evil forces that produce these heinous acts, and in fidelity to God, in whom human dignity and flourishing ultimately rests. 

David K. Trimble is President of the Religious Freedom Institute.