Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Sunday accused White House official Sebastian Gorka of trying to “deflect from the reality” of the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting by highlighting the transgender identity of gunman Robin Westman.Appearing on CNN, Gorka, who serves as President Trump’s deputy assistant and senior director for counterterrorism, called the mass shooting “terrorism,” citing Westman’s antisemitic, anti-Israel manifesto and threats against Trump, New York Post reported. He argued the massacre fit into a troubling “pattern” of mass shootings involving transgender or nonbinary perpetrators, pointing to several high-profile cases in recent years.In Minneapolis school mass shooting, Westman opened gunfire at the Annunciation Catholic School earlier this week — where two students were killed and more than a dozen other children and adults were injured while they prayed at Mass. The White House official argued that the massacre perpetrated by Westman, who confessed he was “‘tired of being trans,” is part of a disturbing trend of mass shootings committed by people struggling with their gender identity. “In just a couple of years, we have seen seven mass shootings involving people of transgender nature or who are confused in their gender identity,” Gorka claimed. “That is inordinately high.” “It’s not about the sexual proclivities of the individual. It’s the fact that nobody seems to notice a very disturbing pattern towards violence,” he later added.Gorka claimed at least seven recent mass shootings have been committed by people who are transgender or struggling with their gender identity. Additionally, a 2019 shooting at a Denver-area high school involved one transgender attacker, and a 2018 shooting at a Rite Aid distribution centre in Aberdeen, Maryland, also involved a transgender gunman. Omar, who followed Gorka on CNN’s Sunday show, criticised the White House official for bringing up Westman’s gender identity. “It’s really unfortunate that we have people, you know, like him, speaking on this,” the far-left congresswoman told host Brianna Keilar. “He talked about their transgenderness, and then he says that shouldn’t really matter,” Omar continued. “These people are all over the place because they want to deflect from the reality.” She continued, “which is that, there was, someone who came into that school, through the window, and assassinated two beautiful angels, as they prayed.” “This is not the moment to point fingers,” Omar argued, as she called for banning assault weapons and more resources to address mental health issues in response to the shooting. When asked if Westman’s transgender identity should be investigated as a potential motive for the shooting, the “Squad” rep said it should, along with everything else. “I’ve always said it’s really important for us to look at every factor, so that we can understand what happened, what signs were missed and have the ability in the future to prevent these kinds of senseless deaths,” Omar responded.
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