There is no shortage of craven politicking in American history but Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has raised it to an art form.
When news of the mass shooting of children at the city’s Annunciation Catholic School broke on Wednesday morning, Frey was the first city official to get in front of the TV cameras. “There are no words that can capture the horror and the evil of this unspeakable act,” said Frey, seemingly struggling to hold back tears. “I’m so deeply saddened and I’m sorry to the families that I know are suffering right now.”
Shortly after Frey’s remarks, police identified the gunman as 23-year-old Robin Westman who, at the age of 17, went through the process of legally changing his name from Robert. The Dakota County form memorializing the name change stated the reason as, “minor child identifies as female and wants her name to reflect the identification.” Frey then got in front of the TV cameras again later that day, this time saying defiantly that anyone who criticizes transgender ideology, “has lost their sense of common humanity.”
Two grade school students lay dead at the hands of a tormented soul who suffered the effects of transgender ideology, and likely additional psychological disorders. Yet Frey found it politically expedient to defend the doctrine embraced by a cold blooded killer rather than any lost sense of humanity resulting in the slaughter of innocent children.
Subsequently revealed videos posted by Westman painted a portrait of a deeply troubled young man. There were claims of depression and suicidal ideation, depictions of anti-Semitism, hatred of President Trump, and other indicators of psychological disturbances. The man was marinating in a stew of mental disorders, so we don’t know whether it was his ideology that drove him to carry out his rampage or something else. But the clinical delusions fostered by transgender confusion certainly didn’t help ease his misery.
Frey was half right in calling this act “evil and unspeakable.” What he neglected to mention is that the ideology Frey himself promotes and encourages is no less evil and unspeakable. In a March 10 Facebook post, he proudly appeared in a video saying, “In 2022, I issued an executive order declaring Minneapolis a safe haven for trans people. That commitment stands.” He went on to tell his Facebook followers, “In Minneapolis, our dedication to the safety of our LGBTQ community is stronger than ever.”
The mayor was more interested in promoting a grotesque lie than protecting school children. Rather than advocating any form of medically appropriate care for people suffering from the effects of transgender ideology, Frey endorsed a cultural mindset that defies biology, endocrinology, and genetics. He was affirming the unspeakable deceit told to the gunman by evil people that he really wasn’t a boy, but a girl.
This is where politics reared its occasionally ugly head; Frey was compelled by circumstance to perform the way he did on Wednesday. The mayor is up for reelection this year and facing a serious challenge from a Democratic Socialist candidate named Omar Fateh. When an incumbent politician has to run to the left of a socialist in a reelection bid, this is what you get.
Right on cue, Frey spoke of “hate” toward people who embrace transgender orthodoxy. But in that world, all one needs to say is, “But you’re a boy…” and they’re accused of hate. That’s just the political reality of it.
Adding further insult to the families of Wednesday’s mass shooting victims is Frey’s June 29 Facebook post in which he proclaimed, “Nobody celebrates Pride like Minneapolis. Be who you are. Love who you are. We’ll celebrate you for it.” The fact that Frey previously celebrated what he now calls evil and unspeakable drips with tragic irony.
Frey said on Wednesday morning that he was sorry. He should be. His remarks about “villainizing our trans community,” hours after the murders of Catholic school children may seem tone deaf to normal people learning about this despicable crime, but it’s red meat for the base of Democrats Frey desperately needs to win reelection in November. It’s politics at its most craven and Frey’s picture deserves to be placed next to that word in future dictionaries.
The murders in Minneapolis this week were indeed evil and unspeakable. So is the ideology that infected the mind of its perpetrator, the same ideology that is promoted by Frey and other Democrat politicians, and too often ensconced in liberal public policy. It needs to stop before more children are left dead in its wake.