‘Tone-deaf’ protesters heckle Vance outside Minneapolis church shooting site

As Vice President JD Vance paid his respects to the victims of last week’s deadly mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, protesters standing by a "progress pride" flag with transgender colors heckled him from across the street.

Vance, who is Catholic, paid a visit to the site of the shooting and visited with victims and their families on Wednesday.

The vice president and second lady Usha Vance were seen pausing for a moment in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary outside the church before he entered. As he entered, protesters could be heard shouting various slogans, including "protect our kids," "you’re a coward" and "do better."

Behind the protesters were signs reading "protect kids not guns" beside a pride flag.

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Commenting on the protesters, conservative columnist Dustin Grage posted on X, "Leftist protestors proceed to shout ‘You’re a coward’ and ‘do better’ while flying a rainbow flag. Talk about tone-deaf."

Police have identified 23-year-old Robin Westman as the shooter who opened fire on a school Mass last Wednesday, killing two children and injuring 21 others.

The killer was carrying three firearms, according to authorities – a rifle, a pistol and a shotgun. All three had been purchased legally.

Court records show that a Minneapolis juvenile named Robert Westman had a legal name change to Robin in 2019, and FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that the shooter was born Robert and later identified as Robin.

The mass shooting claimed the lives of Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10. 

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Speaking with reporters before boarding Air Force Two after the visit, Vance commented, "I have never had a day that will stay with me like this day did."

He called it a "very heartbreaking, but also very gratifying visit."

"I really felt like these parents, in the midst of the worst grief of their entire lives, they opened up their lives and they opened up their hearts and they made me part of it," he said. "They told me about their kids. They told me about their families. They told me about the community supporting them. And that was just an amazing thing to see, an amazing thing to witness, an amazing thing. To get to be a part of."

Vance said that he was moved by the victims’ parents’ stories about their deceased children.

"We should talk more about these kids. We should talk less about the shooter. We should talk less about the crazy person who took these children from us. We should talk about these kids, their hopes and their dreams and the fact that they had a full life ahead of them that was cut short," he said.

"I wish that we talked a lot more about Harper, who was a beautiful young girl. She had a beautiful smile, the kind of smile that would turn a bad day into a good one and was very proud of the fact that she just had her first communion a couple of years ago … I also wish we talked a little bit more about Fletcher. Fletcher was a very rambunctious and energetic kid, was a beautiful kid, had an incredible head of hair."

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Vance also urged continued prayer for the victims of the shooting still suffering from their injuries.

"While two kids lost their lives, there's still one kid that's in very serious condition, and every single family, the family of Lydia, who luckily recovered, but we visited her in the hospital, the family of the two who died, Harper and Fletcher, all three of those families said, ‘Please say a prayer,’" he said. "So now, my fellow Americans, if you're the praying type, say a prayer for this innocent girl who's actually in surgery right now that the swelling will go down, that she will be okay because she's still in a fight for her life."

Asked whether authorities should be investigating people who are experiencing gender dysphoria and are exhibiting signs that they might be targeting kids, Vance responded, "Certainly we should be investigating people who are planning on targeting kids."

He said that concerning policies to prevent future attacks, all the victims’ parents asked was "that we look very seriously at the root causes, that we look very seriously at ways to prevent crazy people who are about to shoot up a school from getting access to firearms."

Vance added that "one of the ways that I'm going to try to honor these parents and the children that they lost is by being a better dad and hugging my kids tight tonight and making sure that they know that their dad loves them. Because there are two families who are not going to get that opportunity ever again."