A trans-identifying gunman who attacked a Catholic school on Wednesday railed against Jews in multiple antisemitic journal entries.
The gunman, identified by authorities as 23-year-old “Robin Westman,” made numerous disturbing videos, journal entries, drawings, and other materials before carrying out the attack that killed two young children on Wednesday.
In part of his writings, Westman, who previously went by the name Robert before identifying as a woman, lashed out at Jews, according to The New York Post, which published translations of some of Westman’s entries that were written using the Cyrillic alphabet.
“If I will carry out a racially motivated attack, it would be most likely against filthy Zionist jews,” Westman wrote.
“I hate those entitled, penny-sniffing k***s,” he wrote elsewhere, using an antisemitic slur.
Westman also wrote a number of antisemitic and hateful messages on his firearm and magazines, including phrases like “6 million wasn’t enough,” “Israel must fall, release the files,” and “Destroy HIAS,” which refers to a Jewish aid organization.
Westman attacked Annunciation Catholic School’s church in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning as students attended mass, according to authorities. The gunman killed two students, ages 8 and 10, and wounded 17 others. Westman later turned his gun on himself, police said.
Westman’s weapons carried numerous other messages, such as “Where is your God?” “For the children,” “Kill Donald Trump,” and “Why so Queerious?”
FBI Director Kash Patel said on Wednesday at the bureau is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism, which the bureau defines as “violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.”
Patel also said the FBI is investigating the attack as a “hate crime targeting Catholics.” The bureau defines a hate crime as “a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”
Westman’s mother reportedly had worked at the school and church that Westman targeted, although it is unclear what position she held. The church in 2021 celebrated Westman’s mother’s fifth anniversary working for the parish.
