Following the tragic shooting at a Minnesota Catholic school, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is launching studies to examine whether psychiatric drugs, including SSRIs, may contribute to violent behavior. The shooting, carried out by 23-year-old Robin Westman, who had transitioned to living as a woman, left many questioning the role of mental health, drug treatments, and gender transition medications in acts of violence.
In a manifesto released by Westman, the shooter described struggling with severe depression and suicidal thoughts for years, citing their belief that they had terminal cancer due to vaping.
"I am severely depressed and have been suicidal for years," Westman wrote. "Only recently have I lost all hope and decided to perform my final action against this world. I don't want to kneel down for the injustices of this world. I want to die. I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees, constantly in pain."
The shooting marks the second time in two years that a transgender individual has been involved in a school shooting, raising questions about potential links between psychiatric drugs, including those prescribed during gender transitions, and violent actions. When asked by Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade whether the medications used in gender transition might be playing a role in such violence, Kennedy confirmed that studies are already underway.
"We are doing those kind of studies now," Kennedy said. "At NIH, we're launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence. You know, many of them on there have black box warnings that warn of suicidal ideation and homicidal ideation. We can't exclude those as a culprit, and those are the kind of studies that we're doing."
🚨 JUST IN: RFK Jr. launched a FULL INVESTIGATION into the meds the trans Minneapolis shooter was using
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 28, 2025
“There’s never been a time in America… where people walk into a crowd or a church or a movie theater or a school and just start randomly shooting.”
“SOMETHING changed, and… pic.twitter.com/GSSPMfhTpr
SSRIs, a typical class of drugs prescribed for depression, have long been associated with concerns about their impact on mental health. Medications like Lexapro and Zoloft carry warnings about increased risks of suicidal thoughts, particularly in individuals under the age of 24, as well as dangers of aggression, violence, or dangerous impulses. Previous studies have found that SSRIs and other drugs like Varenicline are "the most strongly and consistently implicated drugs" in violent acts. However, these studies come with limitations, such as the fact that adverse drug events are often reported without establishing direct causality.
“There’s never been a time in America… where people walk into a crowd or a church or a movie theater or a school and just start randomly shooting," Kennedy added, saying that “something changed, and it dramatically changed human behavior.”
Kennedy has launched a full investigation into the medications used by the shooter in Minneapolis, underscoring the need to explore any potential connections between psychiatric drugs and violent actions. His investigation reflects a growing concern about the broader implications of prescribing psychiatric medications, especially in a society where mass shootings and random acts of violence have become increasingly common.
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