In the nearly 15-minute video Mohn posted after the killing, he called for the torture and execution of federal workers, espousing right-wing conspiracy theories in support of his demands. He also railed against immigration, the LGBTQ+ community, the Black Lives Matter movement and the antifa movement. The video was viewed about 5,000 times before YouTube took it down five to six hours later.
Mohn’s father had been a longtime federal employee with the Army Corps of Engineers. His mother, who discovered the grisly scene, testified that her son blamed his difficulties on finding a job after graduating from Penn State on the educational system and the federal government, the district attorney’s office said.
Mohn admitted to killing his father during the trial but said it happened when his father resisted his attempt to make what he called a “citizen’s arrest.” Edward Louka, the first assistant district attorney, dismissed that as “complete and utter nonsense.”
“He ambushed his dad when he was most vulnerable. … He walked in and executed him,” Louka said.
An attorney for Mohn did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment.
Investigators discovered that Mohn had been planning for violence for at least five years, with his online history containing searches for purchasing handguns, sound levels of gunshots and bullet penetration of skulls, the district attorney’s office said. According to prosecutors, his writings included a “battle plan” as well as instructions for building explosives, research on federal buildings and terrorists like Timothy McVeigh, and “bounty posters” targeting politicians, judges and federal employees he deemed traitors.
Mohn had also written from prison nearly two dozen letters to politicians and television personalities, in which he admitted his crimes and further pushed his political beliefs, the district attorney’s office said.
Mohn was arrested hours after he killed his father, attempting to enter the National Guard Training Center in Fort Indiantown Gap. He was found with a loaded Sig Sauer 9mm pistol and camping and survival gear, prosecutors said.
“The conviction of Justin Mohn closes a dark chapter, but the scars left by his monstrous actions will undoubtedly remain,” Schorn said. “His actions were not only a heinous act but a deliberate and calculated attempt to incite widespread violence and terror. The extensive evidence of premeditation and his chilling use of his father’s death as a political statement underscore the extreme danger he poses.”
Mohn’s conviction marked the first time a defendant has been found guilty of terrorism under Pennsylvania’s terrorism statute, the district attorney said.
Mohn’s attorney previously argued that the terrorism charges should be dropped, saying that his client’s video was not a manifesto but instead the “ramblings of a person who was frustrated with the system,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
According to the Inquirer, Mohn also said he was sorry to his family during the trial — after being prompted by his attorney.
“I don’t feel guilty for what I did, but I am sorry my family went through what they did because of the federal government’s actions and my reaction to it,” he said.
Mohn’s family delivered victim impact statements ahead of his sentencing, the district attorney’s office said, in which they remembered Michael Mohn as a loving husband and father.
“My whole family feels violated by the defendant’s extremely calculated and premeditated betrayal and from the posting of the horrifying video that he published online for thousands to see,” his daughter Stephanie read in court. “The awareness that my own brother is capable of such atrocities is terrifying; that person we grew up with is long gone.”
