Question

A Democrat killed kids in a school today, Aug. 28, 2025.

Answer 1

This appears to refer to Robin Westman's open fire on Minneapolis's Annunciation Catholic School in August of 2025. While it's true that she did perpetrate the shooting, her political beliefs seem to be complex, not neatly fitting into either party's stated platforms based on the contents of her Youtube manifesto and messages written on gun casings. Further, she never explicitly identifies as a Democrat, and Minnesota's voter registration system does not require party affiliation, making it impossible to verify political party membership through official records.

In one of Westman's notebooks, there is a sticker that says "defend equality" with an LGBTQIA flag, overlaid with a gun. A gun also has writings against Israel," reports ABC News. However, ABC goes on to mention that, in a since-deleted YouTube video that's believed to be associated with the suspect, the speaker praises Texas congressional candidate Brandon Herrera, a self-proclaimed Second Amendment absolutist. 

Reuters described political grievances written on the bullet casings and in her journals as "erratic and wide-ranging". The AP similarly makes no determination on Westman's political leanings, saying "YouTube videos allegedly posted by the shooter suggest Westman experienced depression and expressed admiration for at least a dozen other acts of mass violence, but didn’t spell out any specific ideology."

Comments

I appreciate the effort put into providing specific quotes and evidence in your reply to clarify the information. Your commentary on the true political stance of the shooter also an interesting distinction, one that does also lessen the validity of the original claim. Additionally, it is interesting to note other factors that could have played into the situation that have more evidence backing them, such as the shooter's mental health struggles.