A Minnesota father who railed against President-elect Donald Trump online shot and killed his wife, ex-partner and his two sons before turning the gun on himself, according to authorities.
The gunman, 46-year-old Anthony Nephew, had a “pattern of mental health issues,” Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa said Friday — a day after authorities found five dead in two homes in the city.
Authorities found Anthony Nephew’s ex-partner, Erin Abramson, and their son, Jacob Nephew, 15, dead of apparent gunshot wounds in their home Thursday afternoon, police said.
After identifying Anthony Nephew as a suspect, police found his 45-year-old wife Kathryn Nephew and their 7-year-old son Oliver Nephew dead of gunshot wounds in their family home nearby.
Anthony Nephew was also found dead in the home after a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Before his rampage, Anthony Nephew shared left-wing and anti-Trump posts on his Facebook account.
“My mental health and the world can no longer coexist peacefully, and a big part of the reason is religion,” Anthony Nephew wrote in July.
“I am terrified that religious fanatics will impose their misguided beliefs on me and my family. I have intrusive thoughts of being burned at the stake as a witch, or crucified on a burning cross.
“Making people actually believe that I or my child is Satan or the Antichrist or whatever their favorite color boogieman is that they’re afraid is this week.”
In another post, he accused Republicans of “making it harder for women to leave abusive relationships.”
“Gilead, here we come,” he wrote, referring to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a dystopian novel turned Hulu series in which women, deprived of their rights, are forced to reproduce for the ruling class.
Anthony Nephew shared other political posts, including an image of former President Barack Obama, Trump, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The word “hate” is underneath Trump’s face, while the words “hope,” “heal” and “grow” correspond to the Democratic politicians.
“Not that anyone cares, but as an independent voter I would very much like to see both political parties in our country elect better candidates,” he wrote in July. “We can do better than a binary choice between fascism and non-fascism.”
Anthony Nephew even previously issued a chilling warning about his mental health struggles, writing in a op-ed in the local Duluth News Tribune in 2021: “For millions of Americans, a breakdown leads to suicide – or murder before suicide.”
“Mental health care in this country is stigmatized, ignored or treated as a burden that the individual must bear alone, with little help and less understanding,” he wrote.
“Americans deny that they have mental health problems. Because they have to, because they are told to, or because they don’t realize that their spirit is broken.’
Police in Duluth, a city of nearly 90,000 residents about 130 miles (210 kilometers) north of Minneapolis, have not yet determined a motive for the shootings.
According to police, there is no ongoing threat to the community.
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