A Minnesota father who shot and killed his wife, former partner, and two sons before taking his own life had ranted against President-elect Donald Trump online. The shooter, Anthony Nephew, 46, had a "history of mental health issues," Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa said on Friday, a day after five bodies were found in two homes in the city.
Police said Nephew's ex-partner, Erin Abramson, 47, and their son, Jacob Nephew, 15, were found dead from gunshot wounds in their home on Thursday. After identifying Nephew as the suspect, police found his 45-year-old wife, Kathryn Nephew, and their 7-year-old son, Oliver Nephew, dead from gunshot wounds in their family home.
Anti-Trump Rant Before Massacre
Prior to his violent outburst, Anthony Nephew had been posting left-wing and anti-Trump content on his Facebook account. "My mental health and the world can no longer peacefully coexist, and a lot of the reason is religion," Anthony Nephew wrote in July.
"I am terrified of religious zealots inflicting 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.
"Having people actually believe that I or my child are Satan or, the anti-Christ or whatever their favorite color of boogie man they are afraid are this week."
In another post, he criticized Republicans for "making it more difficult for women to escape" abusive relationships.
"Gilead here we come," he wrote, referencing "The Handmaid's Tale," a dystopian novel turned Hulu series in which women, who have been stripped of their rights, are forced to reproduce for the ruling class.
Chilling Threat to System
Anthony Nephew shared other political post, including an image showing former President Barack Obama, Trump, President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris. The word "hate" appeared beneath Trump's image, while the words "hope," "heal," and "grow" were associated with the Democratic leaders.
"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 given a haunting warning about his struggles with mental health, writing in an op-ed for the Duluth News Tribune in 2021, "For millions of Americans, a mental breakdown leads to suicide — or homicide before suicide."
"Mental health in this country is stigmatized, ignored, or treated as a burden for the individual to bear alone, with little help and 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 realize their mind is broken."
Police in Duluth, a city with nearly 90,000 residents located around 135 miles north of Minneapolis, have not yet determined a motive behind the shootings.
