Utah Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints member supports family of Michigan church shooter

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A Utah man is raising money for the family of Thomas Sanford, who shot at and lit a fire in a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meetinghouse in Michigan.

For David Butler, a Utah member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the shooting at a church in Michigan hit close to home. But what may surprise you is how he’s trying to help by connecting with the shooter’s family.  

The alleged shooter, Thomas Sanford, drove his truck into a church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building, opened fire, and set the building on fire, killing four and injuring eight. He died in a shootout with police.

David Butler was reading the comments after Sanford’s actions. “I was looking on Twitter and saw someone else’s tweet, and it said ‘Man, we have to think about the family of the shooter’,” Butler said.

“He killed four people; they were going to church. It’s awful he tried to burn them all to death, it’s an awful, terrible thing, but his wife didn’t do it, and the kid didn’t do it, and suddenly they’re all alone,” Butler said.

That realization prompted Butler, a podcast host, to take action.

“Other victims had GoFundMe set up, there was nothing for the Sanford family, and I thought maybe I should do that,” Butler said. He says to some, supporting the family of the shooter may seem unusual, but to him it felt right.

“They did not choose this; they are victims who would be easy to forget,” Butler said.

With no connection to the Sanford family, he felt compelled to help them, rooted in his faith. He said, “The apostle James says it is per religion to care for the widows and orphans.”

“My part in all of this is very small. It took me three minutes to set up the give send go, and I’ve had hundreds of people pour love around me for a day and a half. We’re going to support this family,” Butler said.

Utah State University religious studies professor, Patrick Mason, says Butler’s actions reflect a broader value within the church.

“Every religion teaches we should forgive other people; we should speak reconciliation even when horrible things have happened but that’s really hard. Jesus talked about this a lot in the Sermon on the Mount, it’s one thing to preach it but it’s another thing to live it, to take those highest values and practice them especially in a moment when you’re hurting, where the community has been attacked,” Mason said.

Butler set a $10,000 fundraising goal, but after many learned about the fundraiser, thousands of people commented or donated. He says he will assign a beneficiary to the fundraiser and that he has been in contact with the sister of the suspect.

So far, Butler has raised more than $230,000.