News continues to come in about the tragic shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At present, authorities have confirmed that two children were killed and at least 17 others were injured. They have also identified Robin Westman as the shooter and indicated that they took their life after the horrific acts.
Across multiple social media platforms, far rightists quickly jumped to claim that the driving forces in the murders were anti-Christian bias and blaming Westman’s identification as trans. A look at a deeply disturbing video reportedly made by Westman before the shootings indicates that there is far more to the story, a fact seen scrawled across the weapons, ammo magazines, and equipment used in the murders.
A video reportedly from Westman does show a magazine scrawled with “Where is Your God?”, a rifle bearing the phrase, “Do You Believe in God?,” and a shooting target featuring an image of the face of Jesus Christ and the phrase, “He came to pay a debt He didn’t owe Because we owe a debt we cannot pay.” Another rifle scope bore the phrase, “Kill Trump Now,” and a magazine, “Kill Donald Trump.”
Other notorious school shooters from around the world were written on ammo clips.
- Charles Whitman, the 1966 Texas Tower sniper.
- Marc Lépine, the 1989 Montreal École Polytechnique killer.
- Pekka-Eric Auvinen, the 2007 Finnish school shooter.
- Adam Lanza, the 2012 Sandy Hook school murderer.
- James Holmes, the 2012 Aurora Theater shooter.
- Vladislav Roslyakov, the 2018 Crimean school shooter.
Minneapolis School Shooter and White Nationalist Terror
At the same time, the alleged killer’s video shows Westman’s weaponry was also covered in crass anti-Latino, anti-black, anti-gay, and antisemitic slurs and slogans—and even more troubling, a fascination with prominent white nationalist and racist murderers and figures in the racist movement.
The former includes a magazine bearing the words “Kick a Sp**” [anti-Latino slur], objects bearing variations of the anti-black N-word,” a magazine with the anti-gay slur “fa****,” a cannister bearing the words “Jew gas,” and other equipment bearing the slogan, “6 million wasn’t enough,” a reference to the murder of Jews in the Holocaust, “Burn Israel,” “Israel Must Fall,” and “Destroy HIAS” (the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society). A different gun bore the words, “Nuke India.”
Another phrase on the weaponry stated, “Fu** Optics,” a concern for “optics” being a common refrain of the white nationalist movement to indicate the need to mask the more openly racist, antisemitic, and violent elements of the movement’s core ideas to gain a broader audience.
In addition to being steeped in such language, the following names and phrases appear on Westman’s magazines, guns, and equipment [in quotations]:
“Hail Breivik” and “Thank God for Breivik”
Anders Breivik is the far-right nationalist who, in July 2011, murdered 77 people in an Oslo bombing and a shooting rampage at a Labor Party youth camp. Breivik issued a manifesto pushing a crusade against Muslims, who he said “were taking over Europe and could only be defeated through a violent civil war.”
“Hail Brenton” and “Brenton 4ever”
Brenton Tarrant is the racist who, in March 2019, murdered 51 people in a shooting rampage at two separate mosques in New Zealand. The shooter’s rifle and ammo clips also referenced Tarrant’s murderous body count with the number “-51.”
“McVeigh”
Timothy McVeigh is the white nationalist who, on April 19, 1995, set off 7,000 pounds of explosives in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, including 19 children, and injuring more than 500 others.
“Robert Bowers”
Robert Bowers is the vicious antisemite who in 2018 murdered 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“Vicki Weaver” and “Waco”
Vicki Weaver is the wife of Randy Weaver, a white supremacist whose possession of a sawed-off shotgun led to a confrontation with federal law enforcement at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, in 1992. Vicki Weaver was killed in the standoff. Waco refers to the conflagration in Waco, Texas, on April 19, 1993, that saw 80 members of the Branch Davidian cult killed in a confrontation with federal law enforcement. Both Weaver’s death and Waco became rallying cries for white supremacists and the broader far right. April 19 was the day chosen for the Oklahoma City Bombing.
While not all details are in at present, it is clear that Westman was steeped in the murderous lore of the far right and white nationalist movements.
