Rosie O’Donnell has apologized after she branded the Minneapolis school shooter who murdered two children a MAGA Republican.
The comedian, whose longtime hatred and rivalry with Donald Trump led her to flee to Ireland after he won the election, ranted to TikTok about Robin Westman on Friday.
‘Saw about the Minnesota shooting, and it brought me right back to Columbine in 1999 when I just could not get it through my head that students in American were shooting each other in schools,’ she said.
‘This was a church inside a Catholic school. And what do you know? This was a white guy, Republican, MAGA person, what do you know? White supremacist.’
Despite her claims, Westman was a self-identified transgender woman who had a nihilistic viewpoint and an obsession with past mass shooters.
Notably she also he had the words ‘kill Donald Trump’ scrawled in white on one of the weapons she owned, as well as racist and anti-Semitic messages.
On Sunday, O’Donnell apologized for her comments saying: ‘I know a lot of you were very upset about the video I made before I went away for a few days. You are right and I did not do my due diligence before I made that emotional statement.’
‘I said things about the shooter that were incorrect. I assumed, like most shooters, they followed a standard MO and had standard feelings of you know, NRA-loving kind of gun people.’
Rosie O’Donnell apologized after calling the Minnesota school shooter who killed two people at a Catholic church a MAGA Republican
Westman, seen here, had the words ‘kill Donald Trump’ scrawled on one of the weapons she owned, as well as racist and anti-Semitic messages.
‘The truth is, I messed up and when you mess up, you fess up. I’m sorry, this is my apology video and I hope it’s enough,’ O’Donnell finished.
Westman shot through stained glass windows at children sitting praying on the pews inside Annunciation Catholic School’s church at about 8.30am local time Wednesday.
Westman, who changed her name from Robert in 2019, was armed with three guns – a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, police said. Westman fired all three weapons, which police said were purchased legally, during the attack.
Two children aged eight and 10 were killed and at least 17 other victims – 14 children and three 80-year-old parishioners – were injured.
The shooter then turned the gun on herself. Westman’s body was found inside the church.
Westman, who was identified by police sources to multiple outlets, did not have a criminal history and the motive remains a mystery.
However, a chilling video shared on a now-deleted YouTube account appears to reveal the killer’s sick manifesto.
In the 20-minute-long video, she showed off her kill kit of ammunition, magazines and firearms and revealed her twisted obsession with other school shooters, dislike of Trump and mockery of the church.
Westman, who changed her name from Robert in 2019, was armed with three guns – a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol , police said
A parent hugs her son during an active shooter situation at the Annunciation Church in Minneapolis
Westman also showed the camera pages of handwritten notes in a final letter to her family and friends.
In the letter, Westman said she believed she had cancer caused by a vaping habit.
‘I think I am dying of cancer. It’s a tragic end as it’s entirely self inflicted. I did this to myself as I cannot control myself and have been destroying my body through vaping and other means,’ the shooter wrote.
Westman went on to write that she wanted ‘to go out on my own means’.
‘Unfortunately, due to my depression, anger and twisted mid, I want to fulfill a final act that has been in the back of my head for years,’ Westman wrote.
The note was signed with the name ‘Robin M Westman, 2002-2025’ and what appeared to be a bird drawing.
As well as the warped letter, the video also showed a stash of gun cartridges, with white writing scrawled on them.
Several school shooters’ names including ‘Lanza’ for Sandy Hook mass shooter Adam Lanza was seen on some of the cartridges.