WASHINGTON — The U.S. Bureau of Prison’s website simply listed James W. von Brunn — the white supremacist charged with killing a U.S. Holocaust Museum guard in Washington last June — as “deceased”.
That simple declaration marked a rather abrupt end to an ugly chapter that reminded people of the hate that lurks in America.
The Washington Post’s Del Quentin Wilber reported that von Brunn, 89, died on Wednesday shortly before 1 p.m. at a hospital near the Butner, N.C. prison where he was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. One media report said he died of natural causes.
Von Brunn stormed the museum on 14th Street and opened fire, killing an African American security guard Stephen T. Johns, 39. Von Brunn was shot in the head and wounded during the confrontation in which he reportedly wanted to send a message that the Holocaust was a hoax.
