The Jewish Chronicle
On this day: Attack at the Holocaust Museum
June 10 2009: An old white supremacist opens fire
June 10, 2011 11:02
June 10 2009: An old white supremacist opens fire
June 10, 2011 11:02It was supposed to be an ordinary day of work for Stephen Johns, a 39-year-old security guard at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC.
But in a tragedy that shocked the nation, Mr Johns, who was later described by colleagues as "a soft-spoken, gentle giant", was shot dead that afternoon by an octogenarian with ties to white supremacist groups.
James von Brunn opened fire with a rifle and began shooting indiscriminately, hitting his victim at close range. Another guard fired in response, wounding the killer.
The 88-year-old, a veteran of the Second World War, had written essays denying the Holocaust and ran an extreme antisemitic website, Holy Western Empire.
