Minneapolis Shooting Suspect Hated Trump—and All People of Color
The Minneapolis shooter had eclectic politics ranging from explicit Nazism to hate for Trump to transgender equality.
Robin Westman, 23, dressed in all black, was identified by authorities as having shot through the windows of Annunciation
Catholic School during a morning Mass and killed two children, eight and 10
years old. Seventeen others, 14 of whom were children, were injured,
seven critically. Westman then shot themself in the back of the church.
Westman was a former student at the school.
In a YouTube video now taken offline, Westman had magazines with a variety of slurs and right-wing slogans
written on them, including “kick a spic,” “fart nigga,” “McVeigh,” and
“Waco.” Westman also had smoke grenades with “Jew Gas” written on them
and the antisemitic, pro-Holocaust slogan “6 million wasn’t enough” written on their gear.
Interestingly, one magazine also said “Kill Trump Now.”
Westman’s
apparent video manifesto shows a journal with pages of something
written in Russian, featuring disturbing drawings of the Annunciation
Church interior. Westman then stabs the pages with a knife, and can be
heard whispering “kill them all,” “die, I can’t wait to kill, and kill,
and kill, and kill, and kill myself.” These disturbing ramblings
continue throughout the 20-minute video.
Court
records show that in November 2019, when Westman was 17, their mother
submitted a petition to change their name. A judge approved, writing,
“Minor child identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that
identification,” according to The New York Times.
Westman’s social media presence also revealed a sticker with the trans pride flag and a machine gun captioned “Defend Equality.”
The
fact that Westman’s statements are so scattered point to the obvious: that they are a deeply unwell person who committed an incredibly heinous
act for political reasons that may never be known. It’s more important
to actually commit to passing gun control laws than it is trying to
parse through Westman’s inflammatory statements.
