An American politician accused Jews of a school shooting, even though it was clear from the start that the attacker came from a background similar to her own.
Antisemites have long accused Jews of bizarre things, usually recycled from centuries past: controlling the banks, blackmailing foreign leaders to serve Jewish interests, or abducting Christian children for sinister purposes. But sometimes, we see in real time how Jew-haters invent brand-new blood libels out of thin air, just to have one more excuse to hate us.
The case at hand began yesterday in the US with a tragic event: a shooting at the Church of the Annunciation, a Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where two children were killed and 14 other children and three adults were wounded. The shooter was a transgender individual whose original name was Robert but who had changed both legal gender and name to Robin.
Robert Westman, a transgender jewish man, ended the lives of these Christian kids.
These Christian kids are dead because we won't put these freaks in the mental hospitals where they belong. pic.twitter.com/mPtAMkW83f
— Lauren Witzke (@LaurenWitzkeDE) August 27, 2025
Soon after, Lauren Witzke, a far right American political activist who describes herself as a Christian nationalist, meaning she believes Christian identity should be the defining factor of American identity, posted on X: "Robert Westman, a Jewish transgender man, cut short the lives of these Christian children," attaching a photo from the school's first day of classes two days earlier. She added: "These Christian children are dead because we don't put these lunatics in insane asylums, where they belong."
The problem was that her claims were far from true. Users on X quickly added a "community note" to her post, clarifying: "Robert (Robin) Westman was part of the Catholic community before coming out as trans. Westman carried out the shooting at Annunciation Church and Catholic School, where he attended, and where his mother worked as parish secretary before retiring. He was not Jewish."
Beyond that correction, photographs of the rifle used in the shooting clearly showed antisemitic graffiti, including the slogans "Burn Israel" and "Six million is not enough." Witzke's post, coupled with the photo, also gave the false impression that all 20 students in the class had been killed, when in fact two children were murdered while the others are expected to recover fully.
The speed with which this extremist politician rushed to blame Jews for what was in fact an act of vengeance by a disillusioned product of Catholic education against the very community that raised him is both infuriating and chilling. Most disturbing is the thought of how such conspiracy theories, pushed out almost daily, continue to find believers again and again, even after they are completely debunked.
