Minnesota Catholic School Leader Warned Tim Walz Of ‘Critical’ School Safety Threats. He Did Nothing.

Two years before a shooter opened fire on students attending daily mass in Minneapolis, the leaders of independent and Catholic schools in Minnesota begged Democrat Governor Tim Walz for help securing their schools, according to a 2023 letter reviewed by The Daily Wire. The funding was never authorized.

In a letter dated April 14, 2023 that specifically addressed “school safety in nonpublic schools,” Tim Benz, the president of MINNDEPENDENT and Jason Adkins, the executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, stressed an “urgent and critical need in Minnesota to make sure our schools are secure and safe” in light of “recent, and continuing attacks, on our schools in this country and in our state.”

The letter says there are about 72,000 students in Independent, Catholic, Jewish, Christian and Muslim nonpublic schools within the state of Minnesota. It came just weeks after the shooting at a Christian school in Tennessee, which was also carried about by a transgender-identifying individual in their twenties.

“The latest school shooting at a nonpublic Christian school in Tennessee sadly confirms what we already know – our schools are under attack,” Benz and Adkins wrote. “In Minnesota, nonpublic schools, particularly our Jewish and Muslim schools, have experienced increased levels of threats, all of which we must take very seriously.”

“The tragedy from last week at Covenant School must never happen in Minnesota or in our country again,” they wrote. “We need to ensure that all [our] schools have the resources to respond to and prevent these attacks from happening to our schools.”

The leaders specifically called on Waltz for assistance in making sure not only that the Minnesota Legislature enacts his budget recommendation of $50 million to establish the “Building and Cyber Security Grand Program, but also that this program include all schools as eligible for funding, regardless of whether these schools are public, charters, or nonpublic.

Adkins told The Daily Wire on Wednesday after the shooting in Minneapolis that no additional security was ever funded, even though the money existed.

“It’s a lack of will to do it by elected officials, coupled with opposition by some legislators because nonpublic school students were included in the funding,” Adkins said. “I would note that Minnesota had an $18 billion dollar budget surplus in the 2023-24 session and this was not funded.”

Adkins said that Walz had voiced support in meetings for the program, which would have “created a consistent funding stream from the state budget on a per pupil basis for all students, not just those in Catholic/private schools,” but that nothing was done.

“It was raised in discussions between the bishops and Gov. Walz, and he communicated his belief that people should feel safe in their schools and places of worship,” Adkins shared. “But the appropriation was not created.”

Walz in 2023 was instead working to protect transgenders. In April 2023, the same month the letter was sent, Walz signed legislation establishing Minnesota as a “trans refuge,” promising to “protect those seeking gender-affirming care,” according to OutFront Minnesota.

The letter argued that excluding independent and religious schools from security programs was discrimination.

“The exclusion of one sector of schools – as you know, nonpublic schools serve many students and families in need of services and resources – is a discriminatory act against our students,” they wrote. “Since 2020, nonpublic schools have been advocating to be part of the Safe Schools Program that provides funding to school districts for emergency response training, security upgrades, mental health services, and security resources.”

“The legislation supported by our collective organizations provides state aid to school districts, intermediate school districts, charter schools and nonpublic schools for this program. Unfortunately, this program currently does not cover nonpublic schools, charter schools and intermediate school districts and it is a levy-only program for school districts.”

Schools that are not included in the program, they stressed, could be more vulnerable to attacks.

“An attack on any school, whether it is a public, nonpublic, charter or another school site, cannot be tolerated or allowed to happen in Minnesota,” they wrote. “We want to make sure Minnesota is doing everything it can to ensure that all our students are safe and secure. We ask you include $50 million in the final Education Finance bill and allow nonpublic schools to apply for funding.”

They also asked for a meeting to discuss their proposal as well as “ongoing concerns regarding safety and security in our schools.”

The shooter was identified as Robin Westman, according to multiple reports. In 2020, Westman reportedly changed his name from Robert to Robin because he “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”

Waltz, who has declared  did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Daily Wire.

Benz, the president of MINNDEPENDENT, told The Daily Wire that he and Adkins are aligned and he had nothing to add to his comments. He described Wednesday as “heartbreaking” for all schools, sharing: “Annunciation is a very closeknit community and has been an anchor in their neighborhood for more than 100 years. We stand in solidarity and alongside Annunciation by holding them close to our hearts today and in the difficult days ahead.”