Tipsheet

USA Today Omits a Crucial Detail About the Minneapolis Shooting

The mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday should be the final nail in the coffin for legacy media’s credibility regarding reporting on what actually happened. It’s bad enough The New York Times opted to use the pronoun preference of the shooter, which we will touch on later today. It’s even worse to omit the attacker completely, which is what USA Today did

There was no mention of the shooter Robert “Robin” Westman, and the reasons are obvious. I mean, this is anti-journalism: 

 A Voice of America report found that mass shootings at places of worship have grown in frequency since the mid-2000s – committed, it said, “by perpetrators with a history of racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Christianity and Islamophobia, with ties to white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups.” 

Some of those attacks have been among the country’s most shocking: In 2015, a White supremacist shot and killed nine people gathered for Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; in 2017, an assailant killed 26 people at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs in rural Texas; and in 2018, a right-wing extremist killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in the deadliest antisemitic attack on U.S. soil. 

[…] 

Nonetheless, some faith leaders have felt compelled to respond to threatened or actual violence around the country. 

“Religious denominations are really being pushed to decide how open these spaces are going to be when you have threats of random violence or an ICE raid,” Schmalz said. “Are churches really open spaces anymore? Or do they have to be protected from a society where there seem to be threats all around?” 

Okay, enough of this nonsense. Westman committed this attack, identified as a woman, and shot and killed two children—17 others were wounded, 14 of whom were students. The shooting occurred during a mass marking the start of the new school year. Westman attended the school, and Mrs. Westman had worked there before her 2021 retirement. Videos showing a manifesto and numerous weapons and magazines were posted before the attack.  

A transgender person committed a mass shooting at a religious school. It’s not the first time, but USA Today doesn’t want you to know the facts.