Justin Mohn Explains Father's Killing As Failed 'Citizen's Arrest'

A photo of the Bucks County Justice Center with Justin Mohn’s mugshot.

Justin Mohn, who is charged with the brutal killing and decapitation of his father in January 2024, took the stand Wednesday in his own defense.

On the stand with sheriff’s deputies standing nearby, Mohn gave his account of his actions, which he described as a “lawful” citizen’s arrest gone awry.

In the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas bench trial, Judge Stephen Corr heard Mohn detail a two-pronged plan for Jan. 30, 2024: apprehend his 68-year-old father, Michael Mohn, for treason, or kill him if he resisted and then attempt to rally the Pennsylvania National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap.

“Unfortunately, he resisted arrest,” Mohn testified, admitting he shot his father in the head.

“I would object to calling it a murder,” Mohn asserted from the stand, claiming his actions were allowed under the law.

Mohn described the day of the killing as “fairly normal” leading up to the confrontation.

By early January, Mohn said he had resolved to conduct a citizen’s arrest of his father, a federal contractor and retired U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee. Mohn stated he felt compelled to act before his father’s planned trip to Florida on Jan. 31, 2024.

The opportunity arose, Mohn recounted, when his father went to the bathroom. As Michael Mohn finished, Justin Mohn entered and announced he was performing a citizen’s arrest. He alleged his father responded with a defiant no and threatened to kill him first, reaching for Mohn’s gun. Justin Mohn said he then pulled the trigger, comparing his actions to a police officer acting in self-defense. He noted the speed with which events unfolded and noted his father’s years of experience in martial arts. Mohn testified he had concern his father could overpower him or kill him without the firearm.

Mohn testified that if he had successfully arrested his father, he would not have posted a call to arms on YouTube through his self-described militia, which he admitted had no members other than himself. He told the court he believes in a broader federal conspiracy against him and that is implicates numerous federal officials.

Following the shooting, Mohn stated he went into shock for 30 minutes before beheading his father.

Mohn claimed the beheading was done for “practical reasons” and not out of hatred or a desire to upset his family.

Mohn said that displaying his father’s severed head on his YouTube would draw significant attention to his video and, he hoped, inspire federal employees to resign.

When questioned why he didn’t contact police to arrest his father for treason, Mohn cited an incident in 2023 when Bensalem Township Police, acting on an FBI tip, visited him over online posts. The incident left him spooked and concerned that police would not act properly or promptly. He also worried that Bensalem Township police might respond instead of Middletown Township police to his family’s home on Upper Orchard Drive in Middletown Township’s Levittown section.

Mohn explained why he fled to Fort Indiantown Gap, a military training base near Harrisburg where he was captured. He said the base is state-run and federal, and his goal was to rally the Pennsylvania National Guard, but he suspected they wouldn’t join him. He also looked to determine if Gov. Josh Shapiro was interested in “uniting” with him.

Mohn conceded he had a limited chance of success getting state forces and officials to back him, but he deemed his actions “very important.”

Mohn said that if the government had simply aligned with his worldview, his father would likely still be alive. Mohn characterized his actions as “extraordinary circumstances.”

A grievance for Mohn, he testified, was his belief that his father had interfered with a federal court during one of Justin’s federal lawsuits. The most recent case was dismissed in December 2023 and further fueled Mohn’s belief that a federal conspiracy was targeting him.

While Mohn described his actions against his father as a valid arrest, he confirmed he never contacted any law enforcement agency to attempt to make such an arrest.

There was a “toxic relationship” with his parents at times due to what he considered their “far-left” views, Mohn testified.

Mohn alleged his father told him he was mentally ill and compared him to Donald Trump.

Mohn intended his planned militia to defend against invasions, uprisings by undocumented immigrants, and to overthrow a tyrannical government. He did not plan training, expecting existing militias to continue their operations, but considered gathering a few members for personal security.

Mohn envisioned his militia as a nationwide network of existing militias but had no success in recruiting members. One person in Canada expressed interest, but it did not progress, he said.

It was revealed during Mohn’s testimony that not only did Bensalem Township police visit him in 2023, but an FBI special agent had also visited him years prior when he lived in Colorado due to an online post. Prosecutor Ed Louka noted the FBI agent reported Mohn did not express a desire for violence.

Mohn testified that his father’s alleged “treason” stemmed from the belief that his parents did not want him to be a politician, knowing his “political aspirations” and fearing he would become “similar to Donald Trump.”

Mohn testified he had reached out to various high-profile officials, conservative commentators, and members of President Donald Trump’s administration, including Tulsi Gabbard, to inform them of his situation after his arrest.

Mohn also spoke of his past goal to “live the American dream” in Colorado, where he worked several jobs before moving back home to Levittown in 2019. He claimed discrimination as a white Christian conservative man, alleging that minorities and women received more pay and promotions over him. He levied accusations of a “labor racket” involving all his former employers and claimed federal government involvement.

Mohn filed a complaint with the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office after a surprise visit from his parents in Colorado and reached out to the offices of Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick and U.S. Sen. John Fetterman regarding his views, he testified.

The defendant stated he felt he had to complete two of his self-published books before killing his father, because he wanted to make sure they were finished.

From the stand, Mohn told the court his siblings and parents had been supportive and wanted him to secure a good job before the murder.

Michael Mohn in a photo displayed by authorities.

Mohn described his mother as very loving and his father as someone who helped him with homework and played sports with him, but his father was not as in tune with Mohn’s emotions as his mother. Mohn characterized their family relationship as “fairly normal,” with “nothing crazy” in terms of arguments. He recalled interning with his father one summer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but he said the relationship became more toxic as the younger Mohn began to believe there was a massive conspiracy against him.

Mohn, who lived with his parents, would cook dinner for them many nights and they covered food bills, his phone, and paid for haircuts and clothes for job interviews.

Mohn, in an unusual move, delivered an opening argument for his defense on Wednesday.

The judge noted Mohn’s involvement in his own defense and confirmed with Mohn that he was clear-headed.

In his statement, Mohn reiterated that “far-left” federal officials and his father had committed crimes against him, and he killed his father “to make an example.” He declared the homicide “lawful” and blamed President Joe Biden for trampling his rights.

While speaking, Mohn said he did not wish to pursue a mental health defense and claim if he did, it would be similar to a show trial in the Soviet Union.

Bucks County Detective Eric Landamia testified about reviewing Mohn’s phone and computer records, which revealed a vast amount of evidence from Mohn’s frequent Google searches.

On the devices and accounts, Landamia found instructions for making homemade bombs, information on public officials that included a former FBI director, former attorney generals, and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Numerous searches related to bombs and explosives were uncovered, along with queries on how to knock someone unconscious by hitting them in the head, guns, bullets, federal government buildings, blueprints of federal buildings, Fort Indiantown Gap, the location of a person’s heart from the back, whether a slingshot could be lethal, email addresses for governors, and “is torture against the Constitution.” Mohn also searched in July 2020, “can you go to heaven if you kill someone.” A document titled “battle plans” was also found on Mohn’s devices.

Steven Jones, Mohn’s defense attorney, noted that his client was a known fiction writer and the searches wouldn’t be uncommon for someone researching for his writing.

The trial is set to resume on Thursday with closing arguments.

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