PROVO, Utah — Utahns are coming together through all different channels to help support the victims of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shooting in Michigan.
Born and raised in the Church in Utah, Dave Butler turned on FOX 13 News to see Sunday's coverage of the shooting, which left him feeling horrified. He said he saw numerous comments online, but didn’t see anyone helping those families left behind.
“I never felt like I had anything to forgive because Thomas Sanford is dead,” Butler said. "He died on the scene. I don’t need to forgive his son. His son is 10 years old. He didn’t do anything to anybody. But he does need help.”
With the help of his friends in the YouTube universe, Butler started a fundraiser for the family of suspected church shooter Thomas Sanford.
“And Dave sent a text and was like, 'Hey, I’ve been seeing people on X talking about maybe doing some kind of a fundraiser for his family,' and we were like, that’s a great idea. They’re victims too. At the end of the day, they didn’t cause this to happen,” said Jacob Hansen, host of the Thoughtful Faith channel on YouTube.
Others who are in the same sphere, like BYU student and podcaster Cade Alvey, agreed.
“This to me represents what it means to be human. What it means to be taken down to your most fundamental level, really taken back by a situation, and reacting out of nothing but principle and empathy. That’s what happened here.” Alvey said.
To their surprise, donations for the family Sanford left behind started pouring in.
“Who can read through five of those comments without bursting into tears,” founder and host of Ward Radio, Cardon Ellis, said. “I see nothing but volunteer clergy and volunteer members, just fulfilling their covenants to mourn with those who mourn, comfort those who stand in need of comfort.”
As of Friday, the fundraiser has surpassed $300,000.
“I think that there is a lot of division and violence in our world, generally speaking, and this is one of those instances," explained Hayden Paul, cohost of the Stick of Joseph channel. "I think our reaction as Latter-day Saints to supporting the victim's family and supporting the family of the shooter shows that we don’t want to further this division."
Butler emphasized that this story isn’t about him, but instead about the thousands of people who have opened their hearts.
“We have all of these things that divide us and their labels and their traumas, but as a species, when there is a need, we have the ability to come together to help those divisions to help somebody who needs help,” he said.
Through all this tragedy and heartbreak, Butler hopes this can bring the Sanford family some form of relief.
“The big thing I would say about those conversations is I think they have been moved, touched to see not the money,” Butler said, “but all the expressions of love and acceptance and inclusion.”
