Comedian Rosie O’Donnell has issued a public apology to MAGA supporters after wrongfully claiming the Minneapolis school shooter was affiliated with the movement.
In a now-deleted video, O’Donnell claimed that Robin Westman, 23, was a “white guy, Republican, MAGA person.”
Westman, who was born male but identified as female, opened fire at Annunciation Catholic School on August 27.
Highlights
- Rosie O’Donnell apologized to MAGA supporters for falsely claiming the Minnesota school shooter was affiliated with their movement.
- Shooter Robin Westman, who identified as female, killed two kids and injured 18 before taking their own life at a Catholic school.
- Authorities say Westman showed hatred toward many groups but appeared motivated by a desire to kill children, not white supremacy.
- O’Donnell admitted she didn't research before making assumptions and emphasized that assuming things about shooters is always wrong.
Rosie O’Donnell apologized after making wrong claims about a school shooter
Image credits: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images
Fletcher Merkel, eight, and Harper Moyski, 10, were both killed in the shooting and 18 others were injured before Westman took her own life.
“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 America were shooting each other in schools,” O’Donnell said in a video after the attack.
“This was a church inside a Catholic school. And what do you know? It was a white guy, Republican, MAGA person, what do you know? White supremacist.”
Officials have said that Westman was obsessed with the idea of killing children and did not appear to have one particular motive.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said last week that Westman "appeared to hate all of us" but “more than anything, the shooter wanted to kill children.”
Westman expressed hate towards many groups, including Jewish people and President Donald Trump.
A manifesto allegedly written by Westman in the Cyrillic alphabet was shared on a now-deleted YouTube page, as was footage of several inscribed guns.
“I can’t really put my finger on a specific purpose. It definitely won’t be for racism or white supremacy,” Westman reportedly wrote in the journal.
O’Donnell has now apologized for her claims, stating she was mistaken and didn’t research the incident before posting.
O'Donnell said she made assumptions without doing any research
“I know a lot of you were very upset about the video I made before I went away for a few days,” O’Donnell said in a TikTok video posted Sunday. “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, of, you know, NRA-loving kind of gun people.
“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.”
She directly addressed MAGA in the video caption, writing, “My apologies to MAGA for saying the school shooter was one of you.”
O’Donnell added that she assumed, and “that’s always wrong.”
The comedian’s apology to MAGA comes after a public spat with Trump earlier this year after he said he was considering revoking her citizenship.
O’Donnell lives in Ireland but was born in New York and is an American citizen.
Image credits: Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images
“Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her.”
In response, O’Donnell penned a post on Instagram likening Trump to Game of Thrones villain King Joffrey and said he was “everything that is wrong with America.”
O’Donnell, like other comedians such as Ellen DeGeneres, left the U.S. when Trump was elected to serve a second term as president.
Jimmy Kimmel is also among those considering leaving America because of Trump, confirming last month that he had received Italian citizenship.