Law enforcement vehicles sit parked outside a reported residence of a suspect following a mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School on Aug. 27, 2025 in Richfield, Minnesota. / Credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 27, 2025 / 20:15 pm (CNA).

The man who killed two children and injured 17 other people in the Minneapolis Catholic church shooting posted a YouTube video before the attack, which showed an anti-Christian motivation for the murders and an affinity for mass shooters, Satanism, antisemitism, and racism.

Robin Westman — who was born “Robert” and identified as a transgender woman — died by suicide on Wednesday, Aug. 27, after shooting through the windows of Annunciation Catholic Church during a weekday Mass. Most of the worshippers were children who attend the parish elementary school next to the church.

Mocking Christ and giving nod to Satanism

In a video posted ahead of the attack, which YouTube has since removed from its website, the shooter showed a written apology to his friends and family but clarified “that’s the only people I’m sorry to” and then disparaged the children he planned to shoot.

Westman wrote that he has “wanted this for so long” and acknowledged: “I’m not well. I’m not right. I am a sad person, haunted by these thoughts that do not go away. I know this is wrong, but I can’t seem to stop myself.”

During the video, Westman zooms in on an image of Jesus Christ wearing the crown of thorns that he attached to the head of a human-shaped shooting target. The photo of Christ displayed the text “He came to pay a debt he didn’t owe because we owe a debt we cannot repay” below the image.

Westman laughed while pointing the camera at the shooting target, and then moved the camera to show anti-Christian messages and drawings on his guns and loaded magazines.

One message read: “Where’s your God?” and another: “Where’s your [expletive] God now?” A third read: “Do you believe in God?” while another stated “[expletive] everything you stand for.”

Another message on a rifle stated “take this all of you and eat,” which mocks the words Jesus Christ said at the Last Supper and the words said in the Eucharistic prayer during every Mass. 

Westman drew an inverted pentagram on one of the magazines, which is a symbol often used to promote Satanism but is sometimes used in other occult practices. The number “666” was also written on the magazine. He also drew an inverted cross on the barrel of one of the rifles, which is a traditional Christian symbol that has since been co-opted by Satanists.

Affinity for mass shooters, antisemitism, and racism

Westman wrote the names of about a dozen mass murderers on his weapons. Most of the names were written on magazines, while some were written on the rifles.

One mass murderer that Westman referenced multiple times on magazines and rifles was the Norwegian neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people and injured 319 others in two mass casualty attacks. 

He also referenced the New Zealand Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Harrison Tarrant, the Abundant Life Christian School shooter Natalie Rupnow, the Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza, and the Aurora Night Club shooter James Holmes.

Several written messages were antisemitic, such as “6 million wasn’t enough,” in reference to the number of Jewish people killed during the Holocaust. A smoke grenade he showed had “Jew gas” written on it, which is another Holocaust reference. There were also several anti-Israel messages.

Other messages targeted several ethnic and racial groups. One message used a slur for Hispanic people and another said “Nuke India.” One message read “remove kebab,” which is a reference to a meme disparaging Arab and Muslim people. Another written message referenced a meme mocking Black people.

Several messages also disparaged and threatened to kill President Donald Trump. 

One message on a loaded magazine read “for the kids” and another read Mashallah, which is Arabic for “God has willed it.” Others referenced various memes and two of them referenced the movie “Joker.”

Concerning Satanic and racist association in other shootings

In his video, Westman flashed the “OK” hand symbol one time when showing his weapons. This appeared to be a reference to the Abundant Life Christian School shooter, Rupnow, who posted an image of herself displaying the same symbol before her attack.

Although use of the “OK” hand symbol is usually benign, it has also been used by some white supremacists as a sign of their ideology.

Researchers who tracked Rupnow’s social media activity found that the 15-year-old shooter was deeply involved in online networks that espouse neo-Nazi, racist, and Satanic beliefs, according to a joint report from Wisconsin Watch and ProPublica. The communities also promote violence and some have praised mass shootings.

Although Westman referenced Rupnow and used rhetoric promoting both Satanism and neo-Nazi ideology, so far there is no direct evidence that connects Westman to these communities.