Even if the liberal media plays ignorant, a security expert says the Minneapolis Catholic school shooter was filled with hate and rage directed at Christians.
Robert Westman, 23, used a rifle to fire through windows at The Annunciation Church, killing two students, ages 8 and 10, and injuring 17 others.
Westman, a biological male identifying as a transgender woman, also used a shotgun and a pistol in the attack, Fox News reported.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara called Westman a “coward.”
Westman was a student at Annunciation Catholic School and was pictured in the school’s 2017 yearbook as an eighth-grader. His mother, Mary Grace Westman, worked as an administrative assistant in the school’s business office and served as parish secretary at the church before retiring in 2021.
“Unfortunately, this is a repeated script," Tim Miller, a security expert and 30-year police veteran, told the "Washington Watch" program.
Miller, the founder of Lionheart International Services Group, previously held leadership positions with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marines.
“We saw this play out at the Covenant School in Nashville. A person struggling with gender identity has attacked again,” he told show host Jody Hice. “The information we’ve already heard is shocking. He was clearly demonic and had Satanic focuses.”
The transgender killer in Nashville, Audrey Hale (pictured at right), killed six people in the school, including three children, before quick-reacting Nashville police located and killed her. Hale, who was 28, had attended Covenant in elementary school.
In her diary, Hale called the attack “DEATH DAY” and said she was “excited” about the attack that was an hour and seven minutes away. “I can’t believe it’s here. Don’t know how I was able to get this far, but here I am,” she chillingly wrote.
In a similar rambling manifesto, Westman talked about killing Jews, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and the schoolchildren, The New York Post reports.
He also expressed admiration for previous mass shooters.
“I don’t want to spread a message. I do it to please myself. I do it because I am sick,” he wrote.
It’s significant to note the killer’s tie to the targeted school, Miller said.
“There was this ongoing hatred directed back against the Christian community. There were innocent children who could not defend themselves in the middle of a worship service in Minneapolis,” said Miller, adding that the church lacked adequate security. “It doesn’t get more evil than to target innocent children who can’t defend themselves, but this conveys the level of hatred and animosity.”
The fact that Westman so readily shared his thoughts, struggles and intentions on YouTube, a video that has since been removed, screams that signs were missed that could have helped prevent this tragedy.
“My question would be, who was watching his social media? Who was monitoring this person's life and able to say, whoa, timeout?” Miller asked.
While grieving continues, so will homicide investigations, Miller said. There will be forensic review, efforts to match shell casings and more.
“Then they’re going to begin to review and investigate all of the social media to find out how far back the planning began, and were there signs along the way that could have stopped it.
“But most importantly, we need to know if there are other like-minded people out there. This person held up previous school shooters as standard-bearers for him to emulate. That’s sick,” Miller said.
As with Nashville, it’s a repeat, a problem that Americans tend to look the other way when an individual sends signals of struggle.
After planes crashed into New York City’s twin towers in 2001 Americans adopted a culture of “see something, say something” when their surroundings seemed different or unusual.
“We’ve got to leave the culture of I don't want to get involved behind and embrace the culture of if I see things that suggest mental illness, let someone know,” Miller said.
Miller suggests that some of the chemicals involved in a “transition,” one person’s effort to present themselves as the opposite biological sex, could have an affect on mental illness.
Everyone has a responsibility to be on guard for the warning signs.
“When you begin to see those indications and warning signs, do something about it. Let the police know,” he said.
