A hate-filled 23-year-old male who claimed to be transgender and said he had a “twisted mind” and wanted to die opened fire on a full Annunciation Catholic Church in south Minneapolis on Wednesday, killing two children and injuring 17 while fulfilling “a final act that has been in the back of my head for years.”
Robert Paul Westman, who had his name legally changed to Robin M. Westman in January 2020, left behind a handwritten letter, journals, a video, and a trove of information that serve as ample evidence of a deeply disturbed mind and soul, FBI sources confirmed to Blaze News.
‘I was corrupted by this world and have learned to hate what life is.’
Apparently recorded Aug. 26, a video allegedly posted by Westman to YouTube but later scrubbed after the shooting described a deeply depressed individual who had hatred toward the Catholic faith, President Donald J. Trump, Jews, and the children he was about to massacre with his rifle.
Westman, whose mother used to work at Annunciation Catholic Church, expressed regret for what his crime would do to his family, but said, “I will be selfish and leave you to pick up the pieces,” according to pages of the letter shown in the video.
While asking his parents, family, and friends to “pray for the victims and their families,” Westman nevertheless dripped with disdain and anger, saying, “F**k those kids.”
According to Minneapolis police, Westman stood outside the church during holy Mass for the opening of the 2025-26 school year at Annunciation Catholic School. He fired a rifle through the church windows, striking more than 20 children and adults praying inside. As police closed in on the church, Westman committed suicide in the back of the church, police said.
The FBI is investigating the shooting as an act of anti-Catholic domestic terrorism, Director Kash Patel posted on X.
‘Wanted this for so long’
In his goodbye letter and video, Westman said he has experienced depression and had thoughts of suicide and of committing a mass shooting for a long time.
“I have wanted this for so long. I am not well,” Westman wrote. “I am not right. I am a sad person, haunted by these things that do not go away. I know this is wrong but I can’t seem to stop myself. I am severely depressed and have been suicidal for years.
“Only recently have I lost all hope and decided to perform my final action against this world,” Westman wrote. “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.”
‘It seems to me that he hated God and hated creation.’
Evidence of Westman’s hatred of Catholicism was easy to find in his letter and video. He let out a demonic-sounding laugh when showing a depiction of Jesus Christ in a crown of thorns, pasted to the top of a paper target from a shooting range. Below Christ’s image was a caption that read, “He came to pay a debt He didn’t owe. Because we owe a debt we cannot pay.”
On the video, Westman showed off his collection of magazines for his rifle. Each had messages written in white ink or paint, including: “F**k this world,” “For the Children,” “Killer sadist,” “Kill Donald Trump,” “Have fun,” “Suck on this,” “kill pedos,” “F**k everything that you stand for,” “Eat s**t fa**ot,” and “Kick a Spic.”
On one magazine was the message, “Where is your God?” although while showing it off on camera, Westman said it this way: “Where is your f***ing God now?”
On one side of a Mossberg 590 pump-action shotgun shown on the video was the message, “Take this all of you and eat,” mimicking the words spoken by Christ at the Last Supper when He instituted the Holy Eucharist.
Westman picked up and showed off what appeared to be a snub-nose .38-caliber handgun and said, “This one’s for me in case I need it.” It is not yet known which weapon he used to commit suicide.
Above those words was another message, “F**k this world.” Below it was written, “Baruk Khazâd,” a battle cry from the works of Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien that means “axes of the dwarves.”
Westman apparently scrawled anti-Jew and anti-Israel messages on his shotgun and on a canister of smoke intended for use at one of the exits from the church. On the canister of smoke was written, “Jew gas.” On his shotgun was written, “Israel must fall.”
Most Rev. Bernard A. Hebda, archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, did not address any specifics of the attack on Annunciation Catholic Church, but asked for prayers from “all men and women of good will.”
‘I just want to escape from this world.’
“I beg for the continued prayers of all of the priests and faithful of this Archdiocese, as well for the prayers of all men and women of good will, that the healing that only God can bring will be poured out on all those who were present at this morning’s Mass and particularly for the affected families who are only now beginning to comprehend the trauma they sustained,” Archbishop Hebda wrote in a letter on the archdiocesan website.
“While we need to commit to working to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies, we also need to remind ourselves that we have a God of peace and of love, and that it is His love that we will need most as we strive to embrace those who are hurting so deeply,” the archbishop wrote.
In his goodbye letter, Westman apologized to his parents and siblings for the pain his crimes were about to bring upon them.
“I truly appreciate the love you have given me,” Westman wrote to his parents, Mary Grace and James Westman. “I feel I was raised to be a good person. I’ve kept those traits of empathy, self-sacrifice and good character. Please do not think you have failed as parents. I was corrupted by this world and have learned to hate what life is.”
Court-approved name change
Mary Westman petitioned a court in Dakota County, Minn., for her son, Robert Paul Westman, to change his name to Robin M. Westman. According to court records, the name change was granted, effective Jan. 15, 2020.
In his letter, Westman expressed the belief that he was dying of cancer.
“It’s a tragic end, as it’s entirely self inflicted,” Westman wrote. “I did this to myself, as I cannot control myself and have been destroying my body through vaping and other means. I think I have lung cancer. I have felt many pains that make me think I am past the point of recovery. I do not want to recover.”
He credited his family and friends with helping to give him a longer life.
“You all are what kept me going. I find no more interest in anything material,” Westman said. “I have only an interest in my mission and love for my family. If I didn’t have such an amazing group of people around me, I would have been gone much sooner.
“I just want to escape from this world,” he wrote. “Escape from the constant bills, s**tty jobs, s**tty people and injustice of America. I am done with this. I will not bow. I will be selfish and leave you to pick up the pieces. It’s my fault. Blame me, but please move on.” Westman had also written “ATTA” on one of his weapons, along with the word “Mashallah.” Atta was an apparent reference to Mohamed Atta, one of the airline hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001. Mashallah is a phrase referring to the power of “Allah,” the god of Islam.
Robert Spencer, founder of the Jihad Watch website, said Westman appears to have aligned himself with forces of evil.
“It seems to me that he hated God and hated creation and so identified with historically destructive forces, such as Islamic jihadis and haters of Jews,” Spencer told Blaze News in an email.
According to the advocacy group CatholicVote, there have been 520 attacks on Catholic churches in the United States since May 2020, including 40 so far in 2025.
“Attacks spiked dramatically after the draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked in May 2022,” CatholicVote wrote on its website. “At least 354 attacks have been perpetrated against Catholic churches since the Supreme Court leak, with many including graffiti with pro-abortion messages.”
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