FBI Investigating Attack at Minneapolis Catholic School as Domestic Terror, Hate Crime While Police Comb Through Video Manifesto Posted on Social Media

Federal authorities are investigating the mass shooting of unsuspecting students during morning Mass at a Catholic school at Minneapolis as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime against Catholics, the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, announced Wednesday as local authorities said they were poring over a video manifesto he left behind to look for a possible motive.The lone gunman, Robin Westman, 23, who was born male but identified as female, posted the manifesto on YouTube and a second disturbing video of his arsenal hours before he unleashed terror upon Annunciation Church. YouTube has since deleted the video at the request of the FBI.In the 11-minute video, Westman starts leafing through an apology letter to his family. He then displays an arsenal of weaponry laid out on the bed, including numerous magazines with depraved messages scrawled across each of them, including, “F— everything you stand for,” “Kill Donald Trump,” and “For The Children. Hahahahahahaha!”The magazines also contained several antisemitic statements, including “six million was not enough,” “Where is your God,” and “Suck on this, mashallah,” the Arabic idiom for “God willing.” Also in the video was a wire pull smoke grenade that had “Jew Gas” written on it while handprinted on his guns were statements like “Israel must fall” and “Nuke India.”“The manifesto appeared to show him at the scene and included some disturbing writings,” said Minneapolis’ police chief, Bryan O’Hara. Police executed search warrants for three area residences, where they were looking for additional weapons and clues, he said.Westman, who is off camera as he picks up each magazine, can be heard maniacally chuckling and referencing the mass shooting he was preparing to commit. In a four-page letter that he displayed for the camera, Westman showed no remorse for his plans to open fire on a church filled with young students praying.The gunman, identified by local officials as 23-year-old Robin Westman, was dressed in all black and was armed with a rifle, shotgun, and pistol. Via YouTube“I’m sorry to my family, but that’s it. That’s all…the only people I’m sorry to,” he can be heard saying off-camera. “F— those kids. Skibiddy Skibiddy…S—. S—. I regret everything. I didn’t ask for life. You didn’t ask for death. I’ll make my own f—ing stars.”The shooter is then seen grabbing a fully loaded revolver pistol off the end of a bed. “This one’s for me, in case I need it,” he says as he snaps the pistol’s chamber shut.Image from the video posted on YouTube by Robin Westman show him stabbing a hand-drawn picture of the church.Image from the video posted on YouTube by Robin Westman show handwritten messages on his weapons.Image from the video posted on YouTube by Robin Westman before the shooting show Jesus’ face on a target.Two children died in the early morning shooting at Annunciation Church and another 17 people were injured, 14 of whom are students at the church’s school next door. Children’s Minnesota, an area hospital, is currently treating five of the young victims. Another 11 victims were brought to Hennepin Healthcare for treatment with four of the victims requiring surgery.“During the Mass, the gunman approached on the outside, on the side of the building, and began firing a rifle through the church windows towards the children sitting in the pews at the Mass. Shooting through the windows, he struck children and worshipers that were inside the building,” Chief O’Hara, said at a morning press conference. “This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible.”Police say Westman went to the rear of the church and killed himself. He was dressed in all black and wearing cargo pants and was armed with a rifle, shotgun, and pistol, all purchased legally and recently. Chief O’Hara said police believe he used all three guns in the attack, where they recovered “dozens” of spent rounds from the grass. Chief O’Hara said “there’s no indication” that anyone else was involved in planning or carrying out the attack. Westman’s mother, Mary Westman, had worked at Annunciation School in some capacity, according to the church’s Facebook page, which posted a picture of her in 2021 congratulating her on her retirement. Ms. Westman petitioned Dakota County in 2019 to permit a name change for Robin from Robert. She stated in the petition that “minor child identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.” The request was granted in January 2020. Mary Westman seen in a Facebook post by Church of the Anunciation, August 16, 2021/Facebook.comMinneapolis’s Mayor, Jacob Frey, said that attempts to vilify the trans community as a result of Wednesday’s shooting are misplaced.“I have heard about a whole lot of hate that is being directed at our trans community,” he said. “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. We should not be operating out of a place of hate for anyone.”A copy of the 2020 court record approving Robin Westman’s name change/Minnesota Court Records OnlinePage 2 of the court record requesting a name change for Robin Westman/Minnesota Court Records OnlineSpeaking at a morning press conference, Mr. Frey added that “thoughts and prayers” are not enough. “Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. This was the first week of school. They were in the church,” he said. “They should be able to go to school or church in peace without the fear or risk of violence and their parents should have the same kind of assurance.”The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Young, uniformed children were seen being led away from the campus holding their parents’ hands. The students were attending the children’s first Mass of the new school year, a weekly service that occurs every Wednesday at 8:15 a.m. and lasts for 30 minutes.“Both my kids have blood on them,” a parishioner who has a fifth grader and eighth grader at Annunciation Catholic School, Renee Lego, told the Star Tribune. “It’s just horrific — so cowardly. This person knew this was our first all-school Mass of the year. It was obviously planned. This is the children’s Mass, not an advertised Mass for the public.”

FBI Investigating Attack at Minneapolis Catholic School as Domestic Terror, Hate Crime While Police Comb Through Video Manifesto Posted on Social Media

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