{"id":15289,"date":"2025-09-30T19:15:45","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T19:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=15289"},"modified":"2025-09-30T19:15:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T19:15:45","slug":"vance-heckled-by-protesters-during-visit-to-mn-church-shooting-site-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=15289","title":{"rendered":"Vance Heckled by Protesters During Visit to MN Church Shooting Site"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Vice President JD Vance was heckled by protesters as he visited Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis on Wednesday to pay his respects to victims of last week\u2019s deadly mass shooting.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\"><\/div>\n<p>Vance and his wife, Usha, stood quietly before a statue of the Virgin Mary outside the church before entering to meet with survivors and families.<\/p>\n<p>Across the street, protesters gathered with signs reading \u201cprotect kids not guns\u201d and carried a rainbow \u2018pride\u2019 flag featuring transgender colors. Shouts of \u201cprotect our kids,\u201d \u201cyou\u2019re a coward,\u201d and \u201cdo better\u201d rang out as the vice president arrived.<\/p>\n<p>Conservative columnist Dustin Grage criticized the demonstration on social media, calling the group \u201ctone-deaf.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-2\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<p>Police have identified the gunman as 23-year-old Robin Westman, who opened fire during a school Mass on Aug. 27. Authorities said Westman carried a rifle, pistol, and shotgun, all legally purchased. Two children\u20148-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski\u2014were killed, and 21 others were injured.<\/p>\n<p>Court records show Westman was born Robert and legally changed his name to Robin in 2019. FBI Director Kash Patel has confirmed the shooter\u2019s identity and said the attack is being investigated as domestic terrorism with anti-religious motives.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-7\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<div id=\"as5808\" data-title=\"You Might Also Like\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>WATCH:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1963291312578351493&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fconservativebrief.com%2Fvance-heckled-94824%2F&amp;sessionId=90509dbf1b2768e734c84c2b5cffed4586237194&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1963291312578351493\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-10\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<p>Speaking to reporters after the visit, Vance described the day as both \u201cheartbreaking\u201d and \u201cgratifying.\u201d He said the victims\u2019 families shared personal stories about their children.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI 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,\u201d he said. \u201cThey told me about their kids, their families, the community supporting them. That was just an amazing thing to witness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vance urged the public to focus on the children rather than the perpetrator.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should talk more about these kids. We should talk less about the shooter,\u201d he said. He described Harper as a \u201cbeautiful young girl\u201d proud of having received her first communion, and Fletcher as \u201ca very rambunctious and energetic kid\u201d with \u201can incredible head of hair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The vice president also asked Americans to pray for victims still recovering from their injuries, including a young girl who remained in critical condition. \u201cWhile two kids lost their lives, there\u2019s still one kid that\u2019s in very serious condition,\u201d Vance said. \u201cAll three families said, \u2018Please say a prayer.\u2019 So now, my fellow Americans, if you\u2019re the praying type, say a prayer for this innocent girl who\u2019s in surgery right now that she will be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked by reporters whether people experiencing gender dysphoria should be investigated if they show signs of targeting children, Vance responded: \u201cCertainly we should be investigating people who are planning on targeting kids.\u201d He emphasized that preventing school shootings must involve addressing root causes and limiting access to firearms by individuals intent on violence.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-12\">\n<div data-delay=\"4000\" data-block=\"12\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"e1c09a52-67a1-44a3-a58e-fc2bf67380c6\" class=\"_ap_apex_ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to Vance, the parents he spoke with urged policymakers to focus on prevention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat the 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Vance said the encounter left a personal impression on him as a parent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the ways that I\u2019m going to try to honor these parents and the children they lost is by being a better dad and hugging my kids tight tonight,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause there are two families who are not going to get that opportunity ever again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Minneapolis shooting has added to the national debate on gun violence, mental health, and the intersection of identity and security concerns. Authorities have confirmed that their investigation is ongoing and have pledged to release additional findings in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vice President JD Vance was heckled by protesters as he visited Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis on Wednesday to pay his respects to victims of last week\u2019s deadly mass shooting. &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15289"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15291,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15289\/revisions\/15291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}