A Pennsylvania man is facing murder charges after fatally shooting and beheading his father — then uploading the gruesome aftermath to YouTube — claiming he was trying to arrest him for being “on the left.”
Justin D. Mohn, 33, a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, told a courtroom near Philadelphia that his father, Michael F. Mohn, was a traitor and needed to be held accountable.
“I was hoping to perform a citizen’s arrest on my father for, ultimately, treason,” Mohn said on the witness stand Wednesday. “Unfortunately, he resisted.”
According to Mohn, things turned violent when his father — whom he described as a trained martial artist — refused the attempted arrest inside their Levittown home and reached for Mohn’s gun. Mohn said he then shot him.
But the violence didn’t end there. He later decapitated his father using a kitchen knife and a machete, filming the act and posting a 14-minute video on YouTube. It stayed online for several hours before it was removed. Prosecutors say the video included rants against the government, immigration, the national debt, and even the war in Ukraine.
Mohn didn’t deny the killing in court. Instead, he called it “Plan B” after his father refused to cooperate.
His “Plan B” was outlined in a notebook presented at trial, which included the words “Boom” and “Slice.”
Asked directly why he cut off his father’s head, Mohn told the judge he wanted to send a message: “I knew something such as a severed head would not only go viral but could lessen the violence.”
He said the killing wasn’t done out of hatred for his father, but to force the U.S. government to meet his demands — including the resignation of federal workers and the erasure of public debt.
Mohn had long shown signs of radicalization. Authorities say he had previously posted violent anti-government messages online. His mother, Denice Mohn, said in court that police had even warned him about his online activity before the killing.
At the time of his arrest, Mohn was caught trying to break into Fort Indiantown Gap, the state’s National Guard base. He had a USB drive loaded with photos of government buildings and what prosecutors say were instructions on making explosives.
In court, prosecutors painted the killing as “cold, calculated, organized.” They said Michael Mohn, a federal engineer who worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for two decades, was murdered by his son in a brutal attempt to spread fear.
“This is something straight out of a horror film,” prosecutors told the court.
During the trial, Mohn’s mother wept as she listened to her son testify. She told the court that she and her husband were helping Justin financially while he looked for work.
Despite previous bizarre behavior — including writing a letter to the Russian ambassador and apologizing to Vladimir Putin for pretending to be the czar of Russia — a judge ruled Mohn competent to stand trial.
He now faces charges including murder and attempting to incite violence against the U.S. government.
