Not long ago, James W. von Brunn challenged Barack Obama’s citizenship, one of the core qualifications to hold the office of President of the United States.
In 1981, von Brunn accused the Federal Reserve Board of “treason,” showing his displeasure by wielding a sawed-off shotgun, pistol and knife at board headquarters, threatening members and claiming to have planted a bomb.
His goal, he said later, was to place board members under “legal” arrest, but he was thwarted by police, prosecutors and judges who didn’t understand the law. Other judges who didn’t understand the law later denied his appeal.
He served six and one-half years in prison.
Today, von Brunn, 88, walked into the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., opened fire with a gun described as having a long barrel and shot a security guard. The guard later died.
Other guards opened fire on von Brunn, a white supremacist, antiSemite and conspiracy theorist. He is being treated at a hospital and is listed in critical condition.