What happened in Minneapolis this week may be an example of political negligence, if reports are accurate: moral bankruptcy masquerading as fiscal policy. In 2023, Minnesota Catholic schools asked for the same protections that public schools receive, including secure entrances, resource officers, and training.
Even as the state sat on a $17 billion surplus, those requests were allegedly brushed aside. Sadly, moments of darkness followed, when two children were killed during morning Mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, and 17 were wounded—14 of them classmates.
The shooter ended the assault, but not before shaking a congregation at prayer and tearing families apart.
Echoes of Past Failures
The leaders of Minnesota were warned quietly, respectfully, and repeatedly.
The tragedy comes after the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC), the public policy voice of Minnesota’s six dioceses, made requests to state officials to extend funds for security upgrades and emergency-response training to non-public schools in both 2022 and 2023.
The appeals, which came after deadly school shootings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, argued that students at Catholic and other non-public schools should receive the same level of protection as their public-school peers.
“We need to ensure that all our schools have the resources to respond to and prevent these attacks from happening to our schools,” wrote Jason Adkins, MCC’s executive director, in an April 14, 2023, letter to Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who are both Democrats. The letter was also signed by Tim Benz, president of a Minnesota independent school organization.
Catholic bishops weren’t asking for palaces or prestige; they were asking for locks, cameras, and training. That's the equivalent of boarding up the windows before a hurricane.
They were ignored, and then the storm hit.
Frey’s Response: Too Little, Too Late
Child-Mayor Jacob Frey is now calling for the left's typical day-after shopping list: gun-free zones and assault weapon bans that my Townhall Media colleague, Tom Knighton, lays out.
For example, all schools in Minnesota, both public and private, are gun-free zones. The killer there simply ignored it and did so because he intended to murder innocent children attending mass. Does anyone honestly think that gun-free zones will discourage people who have murderous intent already? Of course not.
Right now, many are calling for red flag laws. Minnesota has them and has had them for about a year or so. How did those work out again?
Others are calling for an assault weapon ban. The thing is, he had all the time in the world. He could have carried out this attack with a handgun. There was no one to stop him.
But that gun-free zone law? That meant no one in that church could have fought back. That "common sense" gun control law prevented armed resistance.
I'm not saying that anyone would have been carrying if they could. I'd have to talk to everyone there, and even then, some might say they'd have carried if they could have simply because, in hindsight, they know it might have helped. Still, the law is the law, and it didn't do anything to protect those kids and may have put them more at risk.
Gun laws deserve their own debate, but it's a dodge to shift attention away from the alleged refusal to provide the very funds that could have bought time, slowed entry, and perhaps saved lives in Minneapolis.
Partisan Blindness and the Human Cost
It's no surprise that partisan politics weigh heavily in eastern Minnesota. From Ilhan Omar to Tim Walz, hell, even going back to Jessie Ventura, it's not been boring.
If non-public schools were excluded, it would look less like a budget fight and more like ideological hostility. Why deny a sliver of protection to faith-based schools where public coffers are fat? Because Catholic families don't fall into step and vote the right way?
If so, it is cruelty hidden behind spreadsheets.
The Democratic Party is fond of saying "for the children," yet when given a chance to fight discrimination in all its forms, they pull a Biden and check their watch while standing on the tarmac.
To be completely honest, I want to believe the decision to hold funding was ideology-free; I really do. But it's hard to with images of Pelosi, Schumer, and the Scooby gang pretending they care, with eyes as honest as Shaggy promising he’ll save a sandwich for later.
Rough Edges History Can't Smooth
Liberals have always sought the easy way. British leaders thought peace could be purchased in the 1930s by appeasing Hitler. Their "peace for our time" lasted less than a year, with the delay costing countless lives.
Minnesota officials today might believe their neglect carries no cost, but two small coffins tell us a different story.
Looking at political negligence, we see something that isn't neutral; it's active, a deliberate choice, leaving a door unlocked when you know wolves stalk the streets.
When state officials allegedly ignored a reasonable request from Catholic schools, they made a choice that helped pave the way for this tragedy.
Final Thoughts
If these allegations are true, we must acknowledge the failure for what it is: a refusal to act when resources were plentiful, warnings were clear, and two children would've gone home. The press releases won't be remembered, just the silence before the gunfire.
I've written several times that every life matters, or none do. Some day, somehow, the left will finally take responsibility for their actions.
I pray there will be no more body counts until then.
