I was just reading this story at the NY Times in which author Amy Harmon attacks conservatives for connecting the Minneapolis school shooter’s actions to his trans identity.
The attacker in the Minneapolis school shooting filled hundreds of pages in her diaries, documenting a fascination with school shooters, a desire to kill President Trump, and a toxic mix of racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia.
But in the aftermath of the shooting on Wednesday at Annunciation Catholic Church, many right-wing commentators zeroed in on a single facet of the attacker’s life: At 17, the shooter legally changed her name to Robin Westman from Robert Westman, because she “identified as female and wants her name to reflect that identification,” according to court documents…
The focus on Ms. Westman’s gender identity echoed the politicized reaction to a 2023 mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, which was carried out by a former student whom the police said was transgender. As with that case, Minneapolis authorities have not shared any evidence linking the shooter’s gender identity to the motive for the attack, which killed two children and injured 18 others.
But the Minneapolis attack took place at an even more difficult and challenging time for transgender advocates.
I don’t think the takeaway here can possibly be that the timing of this attack is tough on trans people. In any case, the NY Post seems to have uncovered some new information from the shooter’s writing which goes directly to this point. The shooter specifically blamed gender experimentation and smoking weed for messing up their mind. [emphasis added]
In his disturbed manifesto, Westman, 23, claimed to be anxious about a visit from his mother in an entry dated July 1, where he recalled her concerns about him transitioning.
“Your words, mother, made me stay in my discomfort unable to ask for help to avoid admitting defeat. You were right mama, but the way you handled it led me to wanting to kill so so many people,” he wrote…
“Gender and weed fucked up my head,” he claimed. “I wish I never tried experimenting with either. Don’t let your kids smoke weed or change gender until they are like seventeen.”
The shooter apparently applied for a name change when he was 17. So this makes me wonder how much earlier he was “experimenting” with gender. The NY Post had previously reported that Westman had grown tired of being trans and despaired of ever really being a girl.
“I only keep [the long hair] because it is pretty much my last shred of being trans. I am tired of being trans, I wish I never brain-washed myself,” he wrote, according to a translation by The Post.
“I can’t cut my hair now as it would be an embarrassing defeat, and it might be a concerning change of character that could get me reported. It just always gets in my way. I will probably chop it on the day of the attack.”…
“I regret being trans.. 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,” he said.
To sum all this up, Westman was a trans person who regretted experimenting with gender, who regretted brain-washing himself and who thought the whole thing had messed up his head. But at the same time he was still angry at his mother for not immediately coddling him and going along with his trans identity.
“When I was first out to my mother, she was VERY antagonistic. She really made me hate myself and think I will never be good enough,” Westman wrote.
“I remember one day, she said something like, ‘In the future you will look back and feel ridiculous about who you feel like you are inside. You will regret this.’
“Well guess what mom?! I regret being born,” the gunman added.
He’s literally angry about her not affirming the trans identity he regrets adopting. Maybe if Westman hadn’t taken this dark road and had lived a few more years into adulthood he’d have been able to admit his mom was right and tried to steer him in the right direction all along, i.e. to avoid having his head get messed up by gender experimentation. Sadly for everyone, that’s not how things turned out.
Finally, the Post reports that after securing a lawyer the mother has been in touch with the police, though they aren’t saying what has been discussed yet.
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