Minnesota Catholic leaders warned Walz schools were “under attack” two years before Minneapolis shooting

In an April 14, 2023 letter to Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota Catholic Conference Executive Director Jason Adkins and MINNDEPENDENT president Tim Benz said Catholic and other nonpublic schools were in “urgent and critical need” of safety funding, warning, “Our schools are under attack.”

The leaders pointed to the Covenant Christian School shooting in Tennessee that had occurred a week earlier, writing, “The latest school shooting at a nonpublic Christian school in Tennessee sadly confirms what we already know – our schools are under attack.”

They added that Jewish and Muslim schools in Minnesota had faced rising threats and urged Walz to provide $50 million in security funding, saying, “We want to make sure Minnesota is doing everything it can to ensure that all our students are safe and secure.”

The letter went unheeded, and on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, a gunman opened fire during Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, attended by students from the attached school, killing two children and injuring 17 others.

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the attack was being investigated as domestic terrorism, saying the shooter, 23-year-old Robin (a.k.a. Robert) Westman, left a manifesto and writings on his firearms containing “multiple anti-Catholic, anti-religious references,” along with statements such as “Israel must fall” and “Free Palestine.”

Despite repeated appeals from Catholic leaders since 2022, Minnesota’s Building and Cyber Security Grant Program and Safe Schools Program remain unavailable to nonpublic schools, though state officials maintain private schools receive some state support and safety resources.