Levittown beheading, video suspect Justin Mohn 'acted with clear mind... proud': Bucks County DA

A Levittown man who allegedly decapitated his father and then displayed the man's severed head in an online video while calling for a deadly political uprising planned the crime and was looking to mobilize his "revolution" after fleeing the grisly murder scene.

Justin Mohn, 32, of Middletown, purchased the gun police say he used to shoot his father in the head the day before in Croydon and was found with the loaded 9 mm when apprehended hours later on Fort Indiantown Gap military base, authorities said during a news conference Friday.

Mohn captured international headlines when he posted the aftermath of the murder to YouTube. He displayed his father's severed head wrapped in plastic in his recorded video.

There he also issued a "call to arms" to militia, law enforcement and the National Guard to join him and overtake the government, including killing all federal employees and seizing government buildings.

Mohn went to the military installation to "mobilize" the Pennsylvania National Guard, Schorn said, adding the man was looking for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to help him in his planned anti-government takeover.

In the video, Justin Mohn appeared to read from a political manifesto reflective of his views expressed in self-published online books and music, which he has posted on various social media outlets for years before the murder.

"...  I ask America's police, state, National Guard, and military veterans to join your countrymen against the traders and the federal government,” Mohn said in the video, which offered bounties on the heads of prominent federal figures and judges by name.

Mohn is charged with first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and possession of an instrument of crime in the beheading death of his father, Michael Mohn, 68, on Jan. 30 in their Upper Orchard Drive home. He may face additional charges later; Friday was the first time authorities released more detailed information on the crime on Tuesday.

Michael Mohn, a married father of three adult children, was a retired civil engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers in Philadelphia. His son called him a "traitor" in his violent, anti-government video, which was viewed over 6,000 times before it was removed from YouTube.

On Friday, Schorn said that Justin Mohn gave up his medical marijuana card several days before he bought the gun police believe he used to kill his father.

She described the purchase as legal, noting that Mohn has no history of diagnosed mental health issues or voluntary or involuntary mental health commitments. Schorn declined to provide details about what allegedly made Justin Mohn kill his father, or if he was speaking with investigators.

"This is very much an ongoing investigation," she said. "This investigation will take months, not days."

But the district attorney indicated that the gun purchase and surrendering of his medical marijuana card showed Mohn had planned the crime.

“It was evident to us that he was of clear mind in his purpose and what he was doing, aside from what his beliefs are, he was of clear mind doing this,” Schorn said. “Acting with a clear mind, aware of his actions and proud of his consequences."

Authorities believe that Mohn intended to continue his plan after the murder when he traveled two hours to Fort Indiantown Gap, home to Pennsylvania's National Guard training center.

He allegedly was looking for the governor, who he said in his video should not be harmed, as part of his "second American Revolution.”

Mohn managed to pass the barricade, climb a barbed wire fence and made it onto the installation grounds where he was arrested without incident after police tracked him there by pinging his cellphone, officials said Friday.

Justin Mohn's father, Michael, found dead

Michael Mohn's bloody, headless body was found in a downstairs bathroom by his wife, Denice, when she returned home around 7 p.m. on Jan. 30.

Her screams prompted a neighbor to call police; she would later call 911 as well.

An autopsy found Michael Mohn was shot once in the head, killing him and then  a large knife and machete were used to remove his head, Schorn said.

When Justin Mohn was apprehended one round was missing in the 9 mm handgun, Schorn said.

Authorities would later find Michael Mohn's head in a silver cooking pot in a bedroom of the home that appeared to be the setting for the video.

Schorn said her office has not spoken with the Mohn family about whether there were concerns about Justin Mohn’s mental health.

“This is just truly unimaginable for them,” she said.

Police had prior contact with Justin Mohn

On Friday, Middletown Police Department Chief Joseph Bartorilla said that his department had three contacts with Justin Mohn, none involved any charges.

The first contact was in 2011 when he was involved in an argument in the driveway of his home.

The next wasn’t until 2019 when he reported a threat allegedly made by someone from his former employer, Progressive Insurance, and he wanted a record of it. Mohn filed a lawsuit against the insurance company.

Most recently his former employer last year contacted Middletown police about Mohn’s behavior at work, specifically concerns about some of the content of his self-published online books, Bartorilla said.

The employer was looking for legal advice from police about how to terminate Mohn, he said.

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Who is Justin Mohn?

Justin Mohn lived with his parents and was currently unemployed, Schorn said. He graduated from Neshaminy High School in 2010 and Penn State University in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness.

After college, he held a series of jobs including at a credit union call center, a sandwich shop, as a client service representative and he worked for a Microsoft contractor, a job he referenced in his YouTube video.

He also worked briefly for Progressive Insurance in Colorado before suing the company alleging he was not promoted because he was perceived as an overeducated white male.

In 2022, he twice sued the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education Secretary for $10 million in U.S. Eastern District Court.

His lawsuit alleged he was not advised that he could not find a job after graduation that would let him repay his college loans. Last year, he unsuccessfully sued the U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. Attorney General, citing similar complaints.

On his various social media accounts he promoted himself as a musician whose recordings centered on stream of consciousness rants and author of several books with anti-government and dystopian themes.

Neighbors described Mohn as someone they constantly saw walking around his Upper Orchard neighborhood at all hours. He had an odd demeanor and didn’t interact with other people, they said.

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Was Justin Mohn part of an anti-government militia?

In his YouTube video, which was titled “Mohn’s Militia - Call to Arms for American Patriots” he proclaimed himself to be the “commander of America's national network of militias, which you may know of as Mohn's militia.”

On Friday, Schorn did not directly answer if the investigation, so far, has turned up information that Mohn was involved in anti-government activities or groups.

“His online manifesto speaks for itself at this juncture,” Schorn said.

But his video’s direct call for violence was “incredibly concerning” for authorities in the early hours of the murder investigation, she said.

She also spoke about the fear among law enforcement of what could have happened given the video’s message. She added that investigators found some comments about it on the social platform Discord which are being looked into.

“It’s quite horrifying how many views we understand that video had before it was taken down,” Schorn said.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Levittown beheading victim shot by Justin Mohn before militia video