MINNEAPOLIS — The man who shot and killed two students and injured 17 others at a Catholic school in Minneapolis on Wednesday had a terrible online history that gives us some idea of why he did it. Robin Westman, 23, shot himself at the scene after shooting at a church service at Annunciation Catholic School in the morning.
Westman, who said she was a transgender woman, put a scary video online before the attack in which she talked about what she would wear for “my shooting,” according to The New York Post. “I look pretty, smart, and humble.” In a manifesto that was said to be written in Cyrillic, Westman said, “I think I want to wear something like this for my shooting.” “I hate my face” is another passage in the manifesto. I detest it when I can see it. I don’t want anyone to see me.
The web recordings, which have since been taken down, show that Westman’s guns and ammo magazines had a lot of different statements written on them, such as “kill Donald Trump,” “for the children,” and antisemitic expressions like “murdering filthy Zionist Jews.” Westman also scribbled “Free Palestine” on one of the magazines for the guns.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said that Westman didn’t have a long criminal record and that she bought her guns—a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol—legally. O’Hara remarked that “firing into a church full of children” was “sheer cruelty and cowardice,” and that the shooting was “a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping.”
The FBI is now looking into the attack as a hate crime against Catholics and an act of domestic terrorism. FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the investigation was real: “The FBI is looking into this shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime against Catholics.” The reason for the tragedy is still being looked into, however police are looking at Westman’s manifesto and internet behavior to get a better idea of what happened.