Democrat-backed transgender healthcare policies in Minnesota are facing fresh criticism after it was revealed that the Minneapolis school shooter who attacked a Catholic school this week had identified as transgender and expressed “regret” with ever transitioning.
Born Robert Westman before later becoming known as Robin, the 23-year-old gunman who murdered two children and injured 18 others at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, reportedly lamented being “brain-washed” by gender ideology.
“I am tired of being trans. I wish I never brain-washed myself,” Westman wrote, according to a New York Post translation of his handwritten manifesto he had posted to YouTube before the mass shooting.
Elsewhere in Westman’s notebook, per The Post, Westman admitted feeling regret for transitioning genders and acknowledged never being about to achieve a true transition.
“I regret being trans,” another journal entry allegedly read. “I wish I was a girl. I just know I cannot achieve that body with the technology we have today. I also can’t afford that.”
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Westman’s apparent case of transgender regret is renewing discourse around several transgender policies in Minnesota, as well as the city of Minneapolis specifically, that protect access to sex-reassignment services.
In April 2023, the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature enacted House File 146, which declared Minnesota a “sanctuary” for transgender people, particularly children seeking sex-change procedures, hormone treatment, and puberty blockers.
Signed by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, the bill blocks local enforcement of out-of-state child welfare laws that interfere with pediatric “gender-affirming care,” such as the authorization of subpoenas, warrants, and extraditions in custody and child protection cases involving transgender minors transported to Minnesota for such services.
Walz paved the way for H.F. 146’s passage. In March 2023, he issued an executive order putting in place similar protections that shield patients, parents, and providers against legal reprisals from across state lines. Earlier this week, Walz touted the results of Minnesota’s pro-transgender policies during a speech at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in Minneapolis. “Minnesota ranks the highest per-capita for being a safe haven for transgender individuals,” Walz said.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) is calling for the immediate repeal of Minnesota’s “trans refuge” law in light of the recent revelations about Westman.
Emmer, the top-ranking Minnesotan in Congress whose district covers swaths of Minneapolis suburbs, says the state’s mental health crisis is being exacerbated by Democratic messaging on transgender care.
“The evidence shows this man [Westman] was deranged,” Emmer told the Washington Examiner. “Instead of working to address Minnesota’s mental health crisis, Tim Walz and Minnesota Democrats are ignoring it. They continue to push their radical agenda and refuse to acknowledge the serious consequences of their rhetoric and their trans refuge law.”
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Westman, a biological man, started identifying as female as a minor. At age 17, Westman applied for a legal name change to “Robin,” according to Dakota County court documents, with the petition noting that Westman “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.” The court accordingly granted Westman’s name-change request in January 2020.
“Why didn’t somebody offer him help?” Emmer questioned. Rather than resolving underlying psychological issues, Minnesota Democrats are “encouraging this type of confusion,” the congressman added.
Emmer urged Minnesota officials to address “the root causes of what led this monster to commit this heinous attack.”
Some studies have discovered suicidal ideation persisting in young people suffering from gender dysphoria.
The Trevor Project’s 2024 survey studying the mental health of LGBT youth in America found that 39% of respondents “seriously considered” attempting suicide in the past year, including 46% of transgender and “non-binary” adolescents. Meanwhile, half of those surveyed who sought some form of mental health care were not able to access it, according to the study’s findings.
Westman, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, described feeling suicidal for several years but wanted to take others out as well, according to his translated writings.
Minneapolis, like Minnesota, also has its own “transgender sanctuary” city ordinance.
In December 2022, Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, issued an executive order designating Minneapolis as “a safe haven for gender-affirming healthcare.”
The order prevents city departments and personnel from enforcing the laws of outside jurisdictions that impose criminal penalties against providers offering medical intervention to transgender patients. It also affirms that minors living independently can consent to transgender treatments without prior parental approval.
At a press conference Wednesday, Frey said the public should not focus on the fact that Westman identified as a transgender woman.
“I have heard about a whole lot of hate that’s being directed at our trans community,” Frey told reporters. “Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity. We should not be operating out of a place of hate for anyone.”
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Frey exhorted others not to dwell on the shooter’s transgender identity, then pivoted to calling for greater gun control.
The Washington Examiner contacted Walz’s and Frey’s offices for comment.
