James von Brunn
| James von Brunn | |
|---|---|
Mug shot of von Brunn taken in 2009
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| Born |
James Wenneker von Brunn July 11, 1920 St. Louis, Missouri |
| Died | January 6, 2010 (aged 89) Butner, North Carolina |
| Occupation | Advertising executive and producer, author |
| Criminal penalty | Imprisonment of six and half years |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Parent(s) | Elmer von Brunn and Hope Grossemutter Wenneker |
| Conviction(s) | Burglary, assault, weapons charges, and attempted kidnapping |
James Wenneker von Brunn (July 11, 1920 – January 6, 2010) was an American man who perpetrated the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting in Washington, D.C. on June 10, 2009. Security guard Stephen Tyrone Johns was killed in the shooting, and von Brunn was wounded by two security guards who returned fire. Von Brunn was named the prime suspect in the shooting, and was charged with first-degree murder and firearms violations. While awaiting trial, von Brunn died on January 6, 2010.
Von Brunn was a white supremacist and Holocaust denier who had written numerous antisemitic essays, created an antisemitic website called The Holy Western Empire, and is the author of a 1999 self-published book, Kill the Best Gentiles, which praises Adolf Hitler and denies the Holocaust. After the shooting, traces of his personal writings and works online were deleted from many websites, including AskArt.com, FreeRepublic and his personal user page on where he was indefinitely blocked, the latter said to constitute "a violation of policy of hate speech". He also made posts expressing his opposition to the Iraq War, and felt that the September 11 attacks were an "inside job".
Von Brunn was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the first of two children to Elmer von Brunn and Hope Wenneker. He had a younger sister named Alice. His father was a native of Houston, Texas, and a superintendent at the Scullin Steel Mill in Houston during World War II. Hope von Brunn was an accomplished pianist, piano teacher, and homemaker. The family spent summer months with Hope's family in Piasa Township, Illinois, as well as road trips to Houston when James was an adolescent. During his childhood, James was noted by school teachers and family for his artistic talents, and asked for an oil paint set for his seventh birthday. His first aspiration was to become a famous painter.
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