The trans-identifying shooter who killed two children and wounded more than a dozen others at a Catholic school in Minneapolis on Wednesday wrote in a journal entry that he was “tired of being trans” and regretted that he “brain-washed” himself. A journal reportedly belonging to Robin Westman, 23, who was born Robert Westman, revealed some of the dark thoughts of the gunman who opened fire on students and staff while they were attending morning Mass at Annunciation Catholic School. The journal, which was written in a mix of Russian Cyrillic script and English, indicated that Westman held regrets about identifying as transgender, The New York Post reported. “I only keep [long hair] because it is pretty much my last shred of being trans. I am tired of being trans, I wish I never brain-washed myself,” Westman reportedly wrote. “I can’t cut my hair now as it would be [an] embarrassing defeat, and it might be a concerning change of character that could get me reported,” he added. “It just always gets in my way. I will probably chop it on the day of the attack.” In another section of his journal, Westman reportedly wrote, “I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it. I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man.” In 2020, Westman officially changed his name to Robin because he “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.” At the time, Westman was still a minor, so his mother had to sign the application to change his name, according to a government document shared by Washington Free Beacon Editor Peter J. Hasson. It’s unclear if Westman took any hormone treatments or underwent any surgeries to align with his trans identity. Westman’s mother, Mary Grace Westman, worked as a secretary at Annunciation for five years before retiring in 2021, according to the Post. Westman graduated from Annunciation, which serves students from kindergarten through 8th grade, in 2017. In videos posted hours before the shooting by an account tied to Westman, political and religious messages are seen written on weapons. The messages included “Kill Donald Trump” and “Where’s your God?” Westman is the second trans-identifying shooter to target a Christian school in the past two years. In March of 2023, a female who identified as a man opened fire at The Covenant School in Nashville, killing three children and three adults.

In our household, we lean more Carrie Underwood than Taylor Swift. It’s nothing personal — though, I’ll admit, it sometimes feels personal when celebrities use their platforms not only to sing but also to lecture half the country. Taylor Swift has been explicit in her support of President Biden and left-leaning causes. Travis Kelce, for his part, was the face of a national campaign telling Americans to roll up their sleeves and get the COVID shot. So, let’s be clear from the outset: their politics aren’t mine, and their cultural influence often points in the opposite direction of what I want for my family and this country. And yet, here we are — celebrating their engagement. And celebrating is exactly the right word. Because while my ideological Venn diagram doesn’t perfectly overlap with “Swiftie Nation” or its new hubby, there is one place where the circles meet in the middle: the enduring institution of marriage. Two people at the absolute height of their careers, perhaps the most famous singer and the greatest tight end to ever wear an NFL uniform, have chosen to stop, look each other in the eye, and say: “This is the person I want to commit my life to.” That is worth applauding. Swift commands more than 280 million followers on Instagram alone. Kelce has over seven million. Combine their reach, and you have a cultural juggernaut — bigger than most cable networks. Young people study their lives like Scripture. So, when two such figures choose marriage — not another “situationship,” not cohabitation without vows, not endless serial dating, but marriage — they are broadcasting a message stronger than any new single or touchdown dance: love is worth binding. Commitment is worth celebrating. That matters in a culture where marriage is often delayed, derided, or dismissed altogether. Divorce rates may be down, but so too are marriage rates, with many young people opting out of family life altogether. Celebrities, more often than not, model instability rather than stability. Swift and Kelce choosing marriage provides an image of permanence at a time when our culture too often glorifies impermanence. Make no mistake: this isn’t an argument that either of them has suddenly found their inner Ronald Reagan. I’m not suggesting Taylor Swift is about to record a country ballad praising the Second Amendment or that Travis Kelce will do the Trump dance after his next touchdown. Their politics are what they are. But we conservatives don’t need to agree with someone on everything to recognize when they’ve taken a step toward timeless truth. Marriage is older than the United States. It predates kings, constitutions, and pop charts. It is the bedrock of civilization. Even when cultural elites mock or minimize it, they cannot erase the reality: when a man and woman bind themselves together in marriage, they are creating the most time-tested foundation for family and community that the world has ever known. That’s why this engagement — between two people we wouldn’t consider political allies — is so instructive. It reminds us that truth has a stubborn way of showing up in places we least expect it. It reminds us that marriage is attractive even to those who don’t share our worldview. And it reminds us that conservatives should not be shy in celebrating when culture, however briefly, affirms what we’ve known all along. End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships Taylor Swift has sung about breakups for nearly two decades. Now she’s signaling something far more meaningful than another heartbreak anthem. Travis Kelce has been praised for toughness on the field; now he’s showing a different kind of courage off of it — the courage to commit. For young people watching — and let’s be honest, tens of millions of them are — this story has the potential to shift the narrative. Instead of “just keep swiping,” the message becomes: “choose one, and choose forever.” There’s a deeper point here for conservatives. Too often, we — myself included — reduce culture to a scoreboard of “us versus them.” Who endorsed Biden? Who took a knee? Who did the Bud Light ad? That matters, yes. Ideas have consequences, and politics shapes the future. But not everything has to be reduced to the partisan trenches. Sometimes, culture reminds us that God’s design still resonates even when people don’t recognize it as His design. Marriage is one of those reminders. So no, I don’t expect Taylor Swift to headline CPAC anytime soon. And no, I don’t expect Travis Kelce to start quoting C.S. Lewis in the locker room. But I do expect that their engagement will make some young people pause and reconsider the script they’ve been fed — that career comes first, that love is temporary, that vows are outdated. Seeing the most famous woman on the planet say yes to marriage — and seeing one of the NFL’s biggest stars embrace that same choice — undercuts the lie that commitment is uncool. We don’t have to be Swifties to be happy for them. We don’t have to endorse their politics to endorse their vows. In fact, it is precisely because we disagree with them on so much that celebrating this moment becomes even more powerful. It shows that conservatives can recognize and affirm the good, even in those who don’t see the world as we do. And maybe — just maybe — Swift and Kelce will discover that the overlap between their world and ours is bigger than they think. For now, let’s give them this: congratulations. Marriage is still worth singing about. * * * Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast “We The People.” Follow him on Instagram and X @GatesGarciaFL. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

A devout Christian baker in California — harassed by the state for eight years over her refusal to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple — is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to put an end to lower courts defying rulings that protect people of faith from being forced to violate their religious beliefs. Cathy Miller, a devout Christian baker, asked the Supreme Court to protect her right to create custom-designed wedding cakes aligned with her faith. After nearly a decade of California punishing Cathy’s religious beliefs about marriage, it’s time for the Supreme Court to let… pic.twitter.com/HRrpNu7Gl8 — BECKET (@becketfund) August 27, 2025 Catherine Miller was sued by the California Civil Rights Department in 2017 for alleged violations of the state’s public accommodation laws after she refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. In the aftermath of her decision, her bakery, Tastries, was flooded with angry social media posts, death threats, and harassing emails and phone calls. End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships After a week-long bench trial, the state trial court ruled in favor of Miller under the Free Speech Clause, but the state appeals court reversed the decision. The state’s Supreme Court then declined to review the case. Miller is represented by the Becket law firm. The petition explains: After Miller opened her bakery in 2013, she began receiving requests for custom projects that “were not in line with” her faith. These requests included “gory” cakes, “marijuana” cakes, “adult” cakes and cookies featuring genitalia, and a cake announcing a divorce that a husband was going to surprise his (then) wife with. Miller turned these requests down. She then consulted with her pastor to create Tastries’ Design Standards, which she uses to communicate her policies to both employees and customers. The Design Standards refer to Miller’s mission to create “custom designs that are Creative, Uplifting, Inspirational and Affirming,” and that are “lovely, praiseworthy, or of good report.” Miller’s mission is rooted in the Bible. The Design Standards state that Tastries “do[es] not accept requests” for baked goods “portraying explicit sexual content,” “promoting marijuana or casual drug use,” “featuring alcohol products or drunkenness,” “depicting gore, witches, spirits, and satanic or demonic content,” or “that violate fundamental Christian princip[les].”     “California still wants to put Cathy Miller to the test,” the petition to the Supreme Court states. “If she does not agree to design and create cakes for same-sex wedding ceremonies despite her undisputedly sincere religious objections, California says she must give up her cake-design business altogether.” The petition refers to “two well-established splits of authority among the lower courts. The first is a 3-3 split over whether compelled speech must be viewed as an endorsement by a reasonable observer in order to qualify for First Amendment protection, or whether all compelled speech triggers strict scrutiny. … The second split divides the lower courts 7-4 over whether, when determining general applicability under the Free Exercise Clause, courts must consider all secular exemptions to the relevant law.” “Without this Court’s intervention, these splits will continue to vex lower courts and litigants alike,” the petition warns. “A litigant’s First Amendment rights will vary dramatically by location, even between state and federal courts within California. Failing to resolve the splits will not just needlessly prolong the national battle over accommodations for religious believers when it comes to same-sex wedding ceremonies—it will make those conflicts worse, because it will reward government officials for continuing rather than resolving these conflicts.”

President Donald Trump on Thursday called for the Republican Party to hold a national convention before the 2026 midterms, breaking with the traditional practice of waiting until the presidential election year. Writing on Truth Social, Trump stated: The Republican Party is doing really well. Millions of people have joined us in our quest to MAKE AMERICA, GREAT AGAIN. We won every aspect of the Presidential Election and, based on the great success we are having, are poised to WIN BIG IN THE MIDTERMS. We have raised far more money than the Democrats, and are having a great time fixing all of the Country Destroying mistakes made by the Biden Administration, and watching the USA heal and prosper. The results are incredible, a record pace!!! In that light, I am thinking of recommending a National Convention to the Republican Party, just prior to the Midterms. It has never been done before. STAY TUNED!!! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships Interestingly, the first national political convention in the United States was held in 1831 by the Anti-Masonic Party in Baltimore, Maryland. One year later, the Democratic Party held its first national convention, also in Baltimore, nominating Andrew Jackson for re-election. In 1839, the Whig Party, the predecessor to the Republican Party, which was founded in response to Jackson in the early 1830s, held its first national convention in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Republican Party held its first national convention in 1856, at which it nominated the famed explorer and U.S. Senator John Fremont. Neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party has ever skipped a convention every four years since they started the practice. Smaller parties, such as the Free Soil Party, the Know-Nothings, and the Progressives, held their conventions irregularly. Some possible advantages of holding a national political convention every two years include increasing fundraising opportunities and providing the party with more frequent opportunities to address its platform in response to current events or shifting public opinion.

HORROR IN MINNESOTA ... TRANS GUNMAN ALLEGEDLY OPENS FIRE ON CATHOLIC MASS ... KILLS 2 CHILDREN, INJURES 17 OTHER PEOPLE ... NY POST: Minneapolis school shooter ID’d as trans woman Robin Westman — as apparent manifesto included ‘kill Trump’

'You want to find it before it finds you'

'Sincerely, Demetre C. Daskalakis MD MPH (he/his/him)'

'A rifle, a shotgun and a pistol'

'This never should have happened in the first place'

'There's also a degree of posturing there'