Democrats Accused of Mocking Prayer In Wake of Shooting
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey promoted transgender rights after it was revealed that the shooter, Robin Westman, identified as a transgender woman.
“I have heard about a whole lot of hate that’s being directed at our trans community,” Frey, a Democrat, said without evidence. “Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now.”
Westman, 23, wrote the words “Where is your God?” on one of the magazine clips he posted in a video manifesto along with antisemitic slogans and a phrase about killing President Donald Trump. The FBI has classified the attack on the church as an anti-Catholic hate crime and terrorist incident.
Many were quick to condemn the mayor’s statements, coming just days after he and others criticized the federal effort to reduce the murder rate in the nation’s capital.
MSNBC host Jen Psaki, who previously was Joe Biden’s press secretary, mocked Christians who pray in response to this and other tragedies.
“Prayer is not freaking enough,” she said. “Prayers does not end school shootings. Prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers.” But Psaki has also criticized the efforts of the Trump Administration to take illegal guns off the streets and to reduce crime in Washington D.C. Many are saying that’s hypocritical.
“It is shocking to me that so many left wing politicians attack the idea of prayer in response to a tragedy,” Vice President JD Vance posted on X. “Literally no one thinks prayer is a substitute for action. We pray because our hearts are broken and we believe that God is listening.”
Karen Hamilton, a Republican nominee for the Virginia House of Delegates, also responded to Psaki by calling her a “spiritually blind person.”
“Today I attended the funeral of a baby, and often when parents are in the depths of grief, Jesus is their greatest comforter,” Hamilton said. “You should investigate why that is, rather than belittling it.”
Scott Jennings, a conservative commentator on CNN, called Mayor Frehy’s remarks “cruel.”
“I had a negative reaction to [Frey’s] statements today,” Jennings said Wednesday night on CNN. “I think it’s wrong, frankly, to vilify or attack people of faith. You said ‘thoughts and prayers ring hollow.’ I say thoughts and prayers are the most solid on days of tragedy for people who live their faith every day….There are probably people praying harder for comfort today than they have ever prayed in their life.”
The fact that the alleged gunman in yet another mass shooting incident was transgener was not lost on commentators. Megan Basham said called out Democrats for their views on transgenderism.
“Your party encourages mental illness in telling men they can be women, then encourages them identify as victims when the world does not indulge their perverse fantasies, and then screams ‘prayers are not enough’ when insane transgenders shoot up schools,” Basham said.
Some media outlets have downplayed or contradicted that Wessman identified as a woman. But court records reveal that in 2020, Westman was granted a legal name change from Robert to Robin. The court approved the petition of Wessman’s mother w ho said the “minor child identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”
FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X:”The FBI is investigating this shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics. There were 2 fatalities, an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old. In addition, 14 children and 3 adults were injured. The shooter has been identified as Robin Westman, a male born as Robert Westman.
President Trump has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff at the White House and all public buildings and grounds, U.S. embassies overseas, military posts and naval station,s and ships at sea. In a statement, he said it was “a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on August 27, 2025.
–Dwight Widaman
