On August 27, 2025, a 23-year-old transgender named Robin Westman (birth name Robert) shot up Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The attack claimed the lives of two children, aged 8 and 10, and injured 17 others, including 14 children and three elderly parishioners. Westman fired dozens of rounds through the church’s stained-glass windows using a rifle, shotgun, and pistol before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the parking lot. This incident, investigated by the FBI as domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics, has drawn intense scrutiny to Westman’s background, particularly his transgender identity and evident mental health struggles.
Robin Westman, born Robert Paul Westman, legally changed his name in January 2020 at age 18, with court documents stating that he “identifies as a female and wants his name to reflect that identification.” This transition places Westman among a growing number of mass shooters who have identified as transgender, including those in Nashville (2023), Denver (2019), and Aberdeen (2018). Westman’s manifesto, revealed in now-deleted YouTube videos, showed signs of gender-related confusion, with passages like: “I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it. I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man.” These writings suggest an ongoing internal conflict with his identity, which some conservative commentators have linked to broader mental health issues.
Westman’s mental state appears deeply disturbed, as evidenced by his obsession with prior mass shootings and violent fantasies. In his manifesto and videos, he expressed admiration for killers like Adam Lanza (Sandy Hook) and included ramblings in Russian, antisemitic slurs like “Jew gas,” and phrases such as “kill Donald Trump” scrawled on his weapons. He fantasized about “being that scary horrible monster standing over those powerless kids” and detailed plans to attack the church, noting it as a “good combo of easy attack form and devastating tragedy.” Police described his as having a “deranged obsession with previous mass shooters” and intending to cause “as much terror, as much trauma, as much carnage as possible.” Despite no prior arrests or known civil commitments for mental health, his writings self-acknowledge severe issues: “I do it because I am sick.” This has fueled debates, with figures like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene arguing that “gender dysphoria is a mental illness” that contributed to the violence, potentially warranting restrictions on firearm access for those with such conditions.
The intersection of Westman’s transgender identity and mental illness has sparked polarized reactions. Conservative voices, including commentator Benny Johnson, claim the “trans movement is radicalizing the mentally ill into becoming violent terrorists who target children for murder.” In contrast, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey urged against villainizing the trans community, stating that doing so means one has “lost their sense of common humanity,” and emphasized focusing on the victims. Advocacy groups like GLAAD reinforce that there is no evidence linking transgender identity to increased violence, cautioning against bias in media coverage.
Westman, a former student at Annunciation (graduating in 2017) whose mother worked there until 2021, legally purchased his weapons recently, highlighting ongoing concerns about gun access amid mental health red flags. As investigations continue, this shooting underscores the complex interplay of personal identity, untreated mental illness, and societal divisions in America’s epidemic of gun violence. While correlations exist in Westman’s case, broader patterns remain rare, calling for nuanced discussions rather than blanket generalizations.
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