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Holocaust Museum Shooter to Face Murder Charge


Law enforcement officials said the suspect in the fatal shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will be charged with murder and the use of a firearm in a federal facility.

At a news conference in Washington Thursday, police and federal investigators said 88-year-old James von Brunn could also be charged with a hate crime. They noted he was already a convicted felon who legally could not posses a firearm.

Police said von Brunn opened fire in the museum Wednesday, fatally wounding guard Stephen Tyrone Johns. Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier said Johns actually held the door for von Brunn as he entered.

An FBI official said a list of names was found in von Brunn's car, which was parked in front of the Washington museum.

Police have described von Brunn as a "hard-core" white supremacist with a long history of anti-Semitic activities. He had served time in jail for trying to kidnap members of the U.S. Federal Reserve in 1981.

The suspect, who was injured when guards returned fire, is hospitalized in critical condition.

He has been linked to a Web site filled with anti-Semitic and white supremacist statements. The Washington Post reported that his latest e-mailed statements had become more violent, declaring "It's time to kill all the Jews."

The Holocaust museum was closed Thursday with flags half-staff to honor the memory of the slain guard, who had worked at the facility for six years.

Von Brunn of the state of Maryland was arrested in 1981 for the attempted kidnapping of the Federal Reserve members. He blamed his incarceration on what he called a "Negro jury" and a Jewish judge.

Investigators said there was no sign that von Brunn had accomplices in Wednesday's attack.



Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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