Two leaders stand in the stark light of blame after horrific Minneapolis Catholic school shooting
On Wednesday, August 27, Robin (formerly Robert) Westman, a 23-year-old transgender-identifying person, opened fire through the windows of Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis during a school Mass, killing two children and injuring 17 others. Westman, a former student, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, left behind writings and videos expressing hate toward multiple groups and an obsession with mass shooters.
“Minneapolis didn't just let a massacre happen. It helped make it happen,” says Jill Savage, BlazeTV host of “Blaze News: The Mandate.”
And two people stand under a harsh glare of blame: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D).
Minneapolis’ reputation was already waning thanks to the George Floyd riots and its defund-the-police crusade when Tim Walz made the state a transgender sanctuary in 2023.
But even though this move has proved disastrous, Mayor Frey has doubled down in his support for Minneapolis’ transgender community. “Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community or any other community out there has lost their sense of common humanity,” he said at a press conference on August 27. The next day, he reiterated the sentiment in an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett.
“Should we be talking about the trans community and making sure that they feel our love and support, or should we actually be looking at the Catholics right now — the ones that were actually killed yesterday in that church?” says Jill.
“This is the 42nd or maybe 43rd attack on an American Catholic church this year alone in the United States. It is over 520 attacks on Catholic churches here since 2020,” says Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford.
“They’ve been satanic; they’ve been anti-Catholic; they’ve been pro-abortion; they’ve been pro-trans.”
But they haven’t been that surprising.
“Minneapolis and Minnesota have had an extreme tolerance for evil and promoting evil,” says Bedford, condemning the state's “permissive abortion laws” and policies allowing the state to take children away from parents who oppose "gender-affirming care."
Bedford stresses the need to investigate how things like cross-sex hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and mutilating surgeries impact a transgender-identifying individual’s behavior. Perhaps Westman was just a case of mental illness; perhaps there were drugs related to his gender transition that influenced his deadly actions. “I think that's something that's absolutely worth investigating,” he says.
As for Walz, Bedford says he “deserves condemnation for his anti-Catholic sentiments.” The woke governor denied Catholic schools' requests for security funding in 2022 and 2023, despite an $18 billion state surplus, leaving nonpublic schools without access to safety grants provided to public schools. He also allegedly denied Catholic school students access to Minnesota’s Postsecondary Enrollment Options program, preventing them from earning tuition-free college credits, despite their academic eligibility.
“These are the sorts of things that are going on in the United States and are being allowed by our politicians. … It's soft on evil, and it allows it to fester,” he says.
To hear more, watch the episode above.
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Minneapolis church shooter’s mom hires criminal defense attorney, refuses to speak to police
As the investigation continues into the atrocious shooting at a church in Minneapolis on Wednesday, authorities have reported that they have been unable to contact the suspect’s mother.
'There is a connection between the shooter and this particular parish.'
Mary Grace Westman, the mother of the trans-identifying 23-year-old male who opened fire on Annunciation Catholic Church during Mass, has retained criminal defense attorney Ryan Garry, according to Fox News Digital.
Westman is reportedly not cooperating with investigators.
“I know there were dozens of interviews that have been conducted with relatives, friends, associates of the shooter, as well as people — obviously, individuals, witnesses — that were present at the scene yesterday,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara stated during a Thursday press conference.
“I know we have not been successful in talking to the shooter’s mother yet at this time,” he remarked. “But there continue to be efforts made to get that done.”
O’Hara confirmed that authorities have been in touch with the shooter’s father.
Photo by TOM BAKER/AFP via Getty Images
When asked why Westman hired a criminal defense attorney, Garry told Fox News Digital, “She is completely distraught about the situation and has no culpability but is seeking an attorney to deal with calls like this.”
Westman is a former parish employee, and her son previously attended the school.
“So, obviously, there is a connection between the shooter and this particular parish,” O’Hara stated.
RELATED: Attacks against American Catholics and churches are out of control
Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
Westman applied for her son to legally change his name in 2019 while he was still a minor, claiming that he “identifies as female and wants her name to reflect the identification.”
FBI agents reportedly attempted to make contact with Westman at her apartment in East Naples, Florida, on Wednesday, following the horrific shooting that killed two children and injured 18 others. Westman did not answer the door.
At least nine victims remain in the hospital as of Friday, the New York Post reported.
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Minneapolis Shooting Reveals Democrat Party’s Comfort With Satanic Talking Points
The Media Dismissing The Transgender Factor In This School Shooting Are Enabling Another One
Whitlock: Lies are far more dangerous than guns
A mass shooting carried out by the trans-identifying man Robin Westman has revealed that lies are far more dangerous than guns — despite the left’s unwavering belief that the two are flipped.
“A lot of people are evaluating the transgender angle of this, and it’s worthy of evaluation, but it’s really just a symptom of a much larger problem. And it’s a larger problem of the lies that we have introduced into American society, the lies of convenience that we tell in the name of tolerance, in the name of inclusion,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock explains on “Fearless.”
“Lies are actually the source of wickedness and evil. Lies are what got America in this place. Lies are more dangerous than guns,” he continues.
And Whitlock points out that in Minnesota, those who thrive on leftist lies are in control.
“Minnesota is a crazy place. ... But trust me, if we were willing as Christians — so-called, self-professed Christians — if we were willing to live out the truth and the wisdom expressed in the Bible, Jacob Frey, George Floyd ... this new guy from Somalia, Muslim that’s running for mayor, Ilhan Omar ... they wouldn’t exist. Their lies would be intolerable to us,” Whitlock says.
“These lies are the slippery slope that will create tragedy after tragedy after tragedy. Our children will be more unsafe. We’re going to create more evil, wicked nutjobs and not get them the help that they need. And the help that they need is the truth,” he continues.
The truth for Robert Westman — who had changed his name to “Robin” Westman — is that he was not a woman and would never be one.
But the left refuses to point out the lie.
“These lies that we keep telling ourselves fuel a culture of deceit. And if Jesus Christ and the Bible are the source of truth, anything that stands in the way of truth is evil and wicked. It’s the antithesis of a biblical Christian obedient worldview,” Whitlock says.
“This is so obvious,” he continues, “but it’s also very dangerous because once you go down this path, once you start having this conversation and you start evaluating things from like, okay, are we serving Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior? And if we’re not, what are we really doing? And who are our real allies?”
“People don’t want to have these discussions because it could cost them money," he says. "It could cost them reputation in the world."
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CNN, NYT, USA Today All Publish Stories About Shooter Without Mentioning His Trans Identity
Why Liz Wheeler knew, sadly, that the Minneapolis shooter was transgender
Yesterday, 23-year-old Robin Westman fired through windows of Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, killing two children, aged 8 and 10, and injuring 17 others, 14 of whom were children and three of whom were elderly parishioners. Westman also died from a self-inflicted gunshot.
Shortly after the heinous event, it was revealed that Westman identified as transgender. Before he changed his name to Robin, his name was Robert.
But before the news about Westman’s gender identity broke, Liz Wheeler, BlazeTV host of “The Liz Wheeler Show,” intuitively knew the shooter would be trans.
“Before we knew the identity of this shooter, this murderer, I predicted ... that the shooter would be trans,” she says.
How was Liz able to predict Westman’s gender identity with such precision?
Because there’s an undeniable link between transgenderism and violence.
“The transgender ideology is intended to be violent. The transgender ideology is intended to do exactly what it did to Audrey Hale in Nashville and exactly what it did to Robert Westman in Minneapolis,” she says. “It’s intended to turn vulnerable young people into kamikazes.”
Transgender ideology, coupled with critical race theory, is how the left unleashes destruction, Liz explains, noting that both of these frameworks are “offshoots of critical theory” — “a Marxist theory that came out of the Frankfurt School back in the 1960s.”
Critical theory, she explains, uses “relentless criticism of institutions,” using the “Marxist dialectic” of “the oppressor versus the oppressed” to sow discord and bring destruction on the culture, specifically race and gender.
“So what happens when our children are indoctrinated with critical race theory and then trans ideology?” she asks.
When it comes to CRT, white kids “start feeling this incredible self-loathing because they’re told it doesn’t matter how you think about people of another race; it doesn’t matter if you aren’t racist at all. ... Because the color of your skin means that you enjoy white privilege. All of your success is built on the back of those who were oppressed by people who look like you hundreds of years ago, and you bear responsibility for that.”
Then they’re hit with queer theory, which tells them that if they experience “any kind of feelings of confusion or discomfort in [their] body, [they] can change [their] gender.”
What is the effect of this combination? Ashamed white children, but especially boys, are damned to wear the badge of white oppressor unless they can prove that they’re also a victim. And how do they do that?
“Become one of the oppressed,” Liz says.
“Put on this mantle, this LGBTQIA+++ mantle. Suddenly, you’re one of the oppressed, and you’re okay. You’re not bad. You’re not toxic. You’re not evil. You’re a victim.”
The final stage of grooming comes next. Once a child is blinded by the victimhood narrative, they’re told that the oppressors are Christians, conservatives, and anyone who opposes their ideology.
“They’re told, ‘Watch out. You’re going to be subject to a genocide inflicted by Republicans and by Trump,”’ Liz says. “They are turned against themselves and everything around them.”
Hatred consumes them, and they convince themselves that heinous acts of violence are justified. They may even see themselves as heroic — as “vanguards” of the revolution.
That’s how people like Robert Westman and Audrey Hale are born, and that’s why Liz knew that the Minneapolis shooting was almost certainly a transgender-identifying person.
“Christ have mercy on our nation,” she pleads.
To hear more of Liz’s analysis, watch the episode above.
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Liberal media bends over backward to avoid 'misgendering' gunman who murdered kids in church
Trans-identifying degenerates have carried out or attempted to carry out a number of mass shootings in recent years.
For instance, in March 2023, a trans-identifying woman stormed into a Presbyterian elementary school in Nashville and murdered three 9-year-old children — Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney, and Hallie Scruggs — and three adults — teacher Cynthia Peak, custodian Mike Hill, and head of school Katherine Koonce.
'She identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.'
In April 2024, a male-identifying woman planned to shoot up an elementary school and a high school in Maryland but was thankfully stopped in time by police, then later convicted.
The liberal media has consistently used used the preferred pronouns of these and other murderous trans-identifying criminals in an apparent effort to coddle the offenders and to placate LGBT activists.
A trans-identifying man formerly known as Robert Westman shot up a Catholic church full of children in Minneapolis on Wednesday, injuring 17 and killing two kids, ages 8 and 10. After the shooter was revealed to be a so-called "transgender," the media once again feverishly rushed to accommodate and reinforce this delusion.
CNN talking head Jake Tapper noted on his show that the gunman's mother "applied to change her child's name in 2019. It was at one point Robert Paul Westman."
"But since she identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification, was underage, it's now Robin Westman," continued Tapper, faithfully employing the killer's preferred pronouns.
RELATED: Attacks against American Catholics and churches are out of control
Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
While Newsweek initially referred to the shooter using male pronouns, it updated its article on the gunman, referring to him as a "her." The Daily Mail went the distance, using both she and her pronouns in reference to the dead man.
'If you've noticed, they are misgendering and dead-naming the murderer.'
In a section that has since been scrubbed, the Washington Post referred to the shooter as Mary Westman's "daughter" — a term the publication Le Monde also used in reference to Mary Westman's murderous son — and called the gunman a "she." The Post later added that the gunman was "assigned male at birth."
While the Independent dared to call Westman a "he," it similarly referred to the trans-identified shooter as a plurality, using the possessive pronoun "their."
The New Republic and the Guardian both opted to avoid male pronouns although the former noted that Westman "shot themself in the back of the church" and the latter stated that Westman "killed themself."
When several liberal publications correctly referred to the trans-identifying female shooter behind the Covenant School massacre in 2023 as a woman, James Kirchick, a contributing writer to the New York Times, aped out, telling Bill Maher, "If you've noticed, they are misgendering and dead-naming the murderer. Right? They are referring to the murderer by their given name, not their chosen name ... referring to her as a woman, as opposed to what her identity apparently was — was a man."
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears weighed in, telling Maher and the liberal writer, "Hang on, you know what: This person murdered six people. I don't really care who you say you are. You murdered six people, and three of them were children."
"You don't get a say," continued Earle-Sears, noting that's a forgone conclusion in this case because "she's dead now, so you know."
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Trans-identifying man with a ‘twisted mind’ said, ‘I want to die,’ before opening fire on Catholic Mass in Minneapolis
A hate-filled 23-year-old male who claimed to be transgender and said he had a “twisted mind” and wanted to die opened fire on a full Annunciation Catholic Church in south Minneapolis on Wednesday, killing two children and injuring 17 while fulfilling “a final act that has been in the back of my head for years.”
Robert Paul Westman, who had his name legally changed to Robin M. Westman in January 2020, left behind a handwritten letter, journals, a video, and a trove of information that serve as ample evidence of a deeply disturbed mind and soul, FBI sources confirmed to Blaze News.
‘I was corrupted by this world and have learned to hate what life is.’
Apparently recorded Aug. 26, a video allegedly posted by Westman to YouTube but later scrubbed after the shooting described a deeply depressed individual who had hatred toward the Catholic faith, President Donald J. Trump, Jews, and the children he was about to massacre with his rifle.
Westman, whose mother used to work at Annunciation Catholic Church, expressed regret for what his crime would do to his family, but said, “I will be selfish and leave you to pick up the pieces,” according to pages of the letter shown in the video.
While asking his parents, family, and friends to “pray for the victims and their families,” Westman nevertheless dripped with disdain and anger, saying, “F**k those kids.”
A Minneapolis police officer with a K-9 sweeps a neighborhood following a mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and school in south Minneapolis on Aug. 27, 2025.Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
According to Minneapolis police, Westman stood outside the church during holy Mass for the opening of the 2025-26 school year at Annunciation Catholic School. He fired a rifle through the church windows, striking more than 20 children and adults praying inside. As police closed in on the church, Westman committed suicide in the back of the church, police said.
The FBI is investigating the shooting as an act of anti-Catholic domestic terrorism, Director Kash Patel posted on X.
‘Wanted this for so long’
In his goodbye letter and video, Westman said he has experienced depression and had thoughts of suicide and of committing a mass shooting for a long time.
“I have wanted this for so long. I am not well,” Westman wrote. “I am not right. I am a sad person, haunted by these things that do not go away. I know this is wrong but I can’t seem to stop myself. I am severely depressed and have been suicidal for years.
“Only recently have I lost all hope and decided to perform my final action against this world,” Westman wrote. “I don’t want to kneel down for the injustices of this world. I want to die. I’d rather die on my feet than live on my knees, constantly in pain.”
‘It seems to me that he hated God and hated creation.’
Evidence of Westman’s hatred of Catholicism was easy to find in his letter and video. He let out a demonic-sounding laugh when showing a depiction of Jesus Christ in a crown of thorns, pasted to the top of a paper target from a shooting range. Below Christ’s image was a caption that read, “He came to pay a debt He didn’t owe. Because we owe a debt we cannot pay.”
On the video, Westman showed off his collection of magazines for his rifle. Each had messages written in white ink or paint, including: “F**k this world,” “For the Children,” “Killer sadist,” “Kill Donald Trump,” “Have fun,” “Suck on this,” “kill pedos,” “F**k everything that you stand for,” “Eat s**t fa**ot,” and “Kick a Spic.”
On one magazine was the message, “Where is your God?” although while showing it off on camera, Westman said it this way: “Where is your f***ing God now?”
On one side of a Mossberg 590 pump-action shotgun shown on the video was the message, “Take this all of you and eat,” mimicking the words spoken by Christ at the Last Supper when He instituted the Holy Eucharist.
Westman picked up and showed off what appeared to be a snub-nose .38-caliber handgun and said, “This one’s for me in case I need it.” It is not yet known which weapon he used to commit suicide.
RELATED: FBI investigating atrocious Minnesota shooting as anti-Catholic hate crime
An image of Jesus Christ with the crown of thorns stuck to a paper shooting-range target shown in a video posted by Robin aka Robert Westman, who wrote anti-Trump messages on his weapons and drew a sketch of Annunciation Catholic Church in south Minneapolis. Westman video/YouTube
Above those words was another message, “F**k this world.” Below it was written, “Baruk Khazâd,” a battle cry from the works of Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien that means “axes of the dwarves.”
Westman apparently scrawled anti-Jew and anti-Israel messages on his shotgun and on a canister of smoke intended for use at one of the exits from the church. On the canister of smoke was written, “Jew gas.” On his shotgun was written, “Israel must fall.”
Most Rev. Bernard A. Hebda, archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, did not address any specifics of the attack on Annunciation Catholic Church, but asked for prayers from “all men and women of good will.”
‘I just want to escape from this world.’
“I beg for the continued prayers of all of the priests and faithful of this Archdiocese, as well for the prayers of all men and women of good will, that the healing that only God can bring will be poured out on all those who were present at this morning’s Mass and particularly for the affected families who are only now beginning to comprehend the trauma they sustained,” Archbishop Hebda wrote in a letter on the archdiocesan website.
RELATED: Tone-deaf Democrats lash out over prayers for Christians murdered in devastating Minnesota shooting
Pages believed to be from a goodbye letter from Robin aka Robert Westman to his family and friends, shown in a video made before he attacked Annunciation Catholic Church and School in south Minneapolis on Aug. 27, 2025.Westman video/YouTube
“While we need to commit to working to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies, we also need to remind ourselves that we have a God of peace and of love, and that it is His love that we will need most as we strive to embrace those who are hurting so deeply,” the archbishop wrote.
In his goodbye letter, Westman apologized to his parents and siblings for the pain his crimes were about to bring upon them.
“I truly appreciate the love you have given me,” Westman wrote to his parents, Mary Grace and James Westman. “I feel I was raised to be a good person. I’ve kept those traits of empathy, self-sacrifice and good character. Please do not think you have failed as parents. I was corrupted by this world and have learned to hate what life is.”
Court-approved name change
Mary Westman petitioned a court in Dakota County, Minn., for her son, Robert Paul Westman, to change his name to Robin M. Westman. According to court records, the name change was granted, effective Jan. 15, 2020.
In his letter, Westman expressed the belief that he was dying of cancer.
“It’s a tragic end, as it’s entirely self inflicted,” Westman wrote. “I did this to myself, as I cannot control myself and have been destroying my body through vaping and other means. I think I have lung cancer. I have felt many pains that make me think I am past the point of recovery. I do not want to recover.”
He credited his family and friends with helping to give him a longer life.
“You all are what kept me going. I find no more interest in anything material,” Westman said. “I have only an interest in my mission and love for my family. If I didn’t have such an amazing group of people around me, I would have been gone much sooner.
RELATED: Covenant school trans shooter's full manifesto released: 'If God won’t give me a boy body ...'
Law enforcement officers work near the scene of a shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in south Minneapolis, Minn., on Aug. 27, 2025.Photo by Tom Baker/AFP via Getty Images
“I just want to escape from this world,” he wrote. “Escape from the constant bills, s**tty jobs, s**tty people and injustice of America. I am done with this. I will not bow. I will be selfish and leave you to pick up the pieces. It’s my fault. Blame me, but please move on.” Westman had also written “ATTA” on one of his weapons, along with the word “Mashallah.” Atta was an apparent reference to Mohamed Atta, one of the airline hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001. Mashallah is a phrase referring to the power of “Allah,” the god of Islam.
Robert Spencer, founder of the Jihad Watch website, said Westman appears to have aligned himself with forces of evil.
“It seems to me that he hated God and hated creation and so identified with historically destructive forces, such as Islamic jihadis and haters of Jews,” Spencer told Blaze News in an email.
According to the advocacy group CatholicVote, there have been 520 attacks on Catholic churches in the United States since May 2020, including 40 so far in 2025.
“Attacks spiked dramatically after the draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked in May 2022,” CatholicVote wrote on its website. “At least 354 attacks have been perpetrated against Catholic churches since the Supreme Court leak, with many including graffiti with pro-abortion messages.”
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