And the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a prominent American Muslim organization, said in a statement, "We condemn this apparent bias-motivated attack and stand with the Jewish community and with Americans of all faiths in repudiating the kind of hatred and intolerance that can lead to such disturbing incidents."
Von Brunn has been linked for decades to some of the most prominent white supremacist groups, especially Holocaust deniers who contend that the Nazis' extermination of millions of Jews in Europe beginning in the late 1930s never happened.
In April 1983, von Brunn was sentenced to at least four years in prison for attempting to kidnap members of the Federal Reserve Board in 1981.
On Wednesday, the shooter entered the museum through the main entrance about 12:50 p.m. with a .22-caliber rifle and began shooting, according to Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier and other authorities.
Lanier said security guards immediately fired back, wounding him and sending tourists fleeing for cover in the museum, which is just blocks from the White House and the Washington Monument.
The museum was crowded with schoolchildren and other tourists at the time of the attack, but they all escaped injury.
Witnesses described a scene of pandemonium. They said the shooter said nothing as he brandished the gun and opened fire.
Ashley Camp, 14, of Forsyth, Ill., on a field trip with more than 40 other students, said she heard two or three gunshots. Soon after, she recalled, a security guard ordered the group to run to the exit.
"We had to sprint as fast as we could out the door," she said. "I thought it was the movie [part of a museum exhibit], but then everyone started screaming and running."
Jessica Goley, 19, of St. Louis, heard five loud pops and security guards telling everyone to huddle in the back of the "propaganda exhibit." "Guards said, 'Stay back!' Then everyone ran out of the back of the building," she said.
Charles Towater, 73, of Tampa, Fla., said he and his wife, Susie, were outside, 50 feet from the entrance and heard six shots and later saw an older man lying on his back, not moving, outside the doors, surrounded by police or guards.
"I've never seen people move so fast in my entire life," Susie Towater said, in reference to the security guards' response.
