EXCLUSIVE: Unmasking the Minneapolis Church Shooter
A thread of what we know so far, and what's been debunked.
1/5 On Wednesday, a 23 year old transgender named Robin Westman opened fire on a group of children in a Catholic church, killing 2 and injuring over a dozen others.
Westman left behind video manifestos on a YouTube channel, but otherwise had a very minimal online footprint. Right off the bat it was obvious this was another case of a shooter influenced by subversive online groups and acting in the interest of accelerationism.
Misinformation began swirling right away. Oddly, people immediately jumped to associating him with 764 and O9A - a stark reversal in the status quo of people pretending like such groups are imaginary.
(Cont. 🧵)
2/5 The shooting had all the usual hallmarks of accelerationism – Contradictory political opinions (“Kill Israel!”, “Kill Hamas!”, “Kill Trump!”, “Release the [Epstein] files!”), a cache of guns, including an AR-15, a plan that aimed to inflict the highest number of child casualties, and fictitious shout-outs to YouTubers like @TheAKGuy Brandon Herrera.
Westman wanted fame, he wanted notoriety, but more than anything else, he wanted us to react.
A few things immediately stood out to me:
- Numerous references to Satanism and to hating Christianity, pointing to an anti-Christian motive
- A reference to Samantha Rupnow, the 764 influenced Madison school shooter
- A manifesto written (mostly nonsensically) in Cyrillic
- An obsession with other mass shooters and aesthetics (like his KMFDM shirt) which pointed to a connection to the "TCC" (mass shooter fan club) community.
But even more notably, here is what was missing:
- No obvious references to 764 or "Larpercore" themes (as seen with Samantha Rupnow and Solomon Henderson).
- No use of O9A sigils or imagery
- No references to self-harm, grooming or extortion
- No obvious reference to Terrorgram or use of Fashwave aesthetics, and no reliable evidence that he was ideologically driven by neo-Nazism (just a lot of contradictory trolling, as previously mentioned).
Final assessment - Westman was heavily influenced by the TCC mass shooter fan club groups. That said, TCC and other Com spaces are becoming more fluid and overlapping with Satanic accelerationist communities more frequently now than ever before.
Westman is definitely a fit for the FBI's new "nihilistic violent extremist" (NVE) category.
3/5 Misinformation spread quickly. Unfortunately, history has taught us that most early information about mass shootings ends up being false. This shooting was no exception.
An account on the 764-adjacent website Skibidi Farms was said to belong to Westman. There was never any real evidence to support this. Several hours later, the user continued posting on the site (very much not dead) debunking this rumor.
But it was too late. Millions of people already saw and spread this fake rumor, and used it to support a direct connection between Westman and 764/O9A.
As of today, no direct connection exists. (If one did, I would be the first to jump on it)
4/5 The misinformation snowball continued rolling, with people incorrectly interpreting Bobby Crimo's Awake The Rapper logo as an O9A symbol.
(In case you're wondering, the name of the symbol is XADA 159)
Yes, there are other obscure and completely irrelevant groups that have used similar logos, but none of them make as much sense as the one connected to another mass shooter.
It's so funny how many people pushed back, insisting this is an O9A logo. It isn't. I promise.
5/5 FAQ SECTION:
Q: Are you sure there weren't any direct references to 764/O9A?
A: Yes, and no one has proven otherwise.
Q: Are you sure?
A: YES
Q: Isn't it possible he's still connected to 764/O9A via an account we haven't seen yet?
A: Yes, it totally is. My assessment is only based on available facts.
Q: Don;t you think we should restrict gun purchases from people who -
A: No. Fuck off.
Q: Where can I read your full assessment?
A: Right here on my Substack: bxwrites.substack.com/p/exclusive-un…
Q: You mean I have to pay to read it?
A: I put most of the important stuff in this X thread. If you want more, you should support my research (you can also use the free trial feature i guess).
Thank you for supporting independent journalism.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.