Anthony Nephew, a man from the US, shot himself, his wife, his ex-partner, and two children following President-elect Donald Trump’s election on November 5.
According to authorities who talked with the New York Post on Sunday, the 46-year-old Minnesota father was angry about Trump’s election.
The gunman, 46, had a “pattern of mental health issues,” Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa said on Friday, one day after officials discovered five bodies inside two residences in the city.
Authorities discovered Anthony Nephew’s ex-partner, Erin Abramson, 47, and their son, Jacob Nephew, 15, dead from apparent gunshot wounds inside their house on Thursday afternoon, according to authorities.
After identifying Anthony Nephew as a suspect, authorities discovered his 45-year-old wife, Kathryn Nephew, and their 7-year-old son, Oliver Nephew, dead from gunshot wounds inside their family home nearby.
Before the incident, Anthony Nephew had been spreading left-wing and anti-Trump posts on his Facebook page.
“I am terrified of religious zealots inflicting their misguided beliefs on me and my family. I have intrusive thoughts of being burnt at the stake as a witch or crucified on a burning cross.
“Having people actually believe that I or my child are Satan, or the anti-Christ, or whatever their favourite bogeyman they are afraid of this week.”
In another statement, he accused Republicans of “making it harder for women to leave” abusive relationships.
“Gilead, here we come,” he wrote, referencing The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian novel turned Hulu series in which women, stripped of their rights, are forced to reproduce for the ruling class.
Anthony Nephew has shared additional political images, including photos of former President Barack Obama, Trump, President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The term “hate” was beneath Trump’s nose, while the phrases “hope,” “heal,” and “growth” were associated with Democratic candidates.
“Not that anyone cares, but as an independent voter, I would really like to see both the political parties in our country pick better candidates,” he wrote in July. “We can do better than a binary choice between fascism and not fascism.”
Anthony Nephew had previously delivered a stark warning about his mental health difficulties, writing in an op-ed for the Duluth News Tribune in 2021, “For millions of Americans, a breakdown leads to suicide—or homicide before suicide.”
“Mental health in this country is stigmatised, ignored, or treated as a burden for the individual to bear alone, with little help and even less understanding,” he wrote.
“Americans deny they have mental health struggles—because they have to, because they’re told to, or because they don’t realise their mind is broken.”
Police in Duluth, a city of about 90,000 people about 135 miles north of Minneapolis, have yet to discover the motive for the shootings.
