On Wednesday, this country yet again experienced the tragedy of a mass shooting,
Two children were killed and 17 others were wounded when a lone gunman opened fire at a Catholic school in Minnesota.
The shooting in itself is an awful incident which is becoming more common in this country and I could go into detail about that. However, there is something especially vile about this particular mass shooting.
The late shooter, Robin Westman, identified as transgender. Because of this, far-right groups and social media influencers are tying this shooting to other recent mass shootings in an effort to create a false narrative that is there is a growing pattern of mass shootings perpetrated by trans people
Twitter has been filled with posts resembling the following.
The anti-LGBTQ hate group the American Family Association chose to gaslight its attack on trans Americans under the veneer of "compassion."
AFA is full of it. It is all about stigmatizing and denigrating trans people. It's an old tactic by the anti-LGBTQ industry, In the past, groups like AFA tried to claim that gay men were more likely to sexually molest kids. They made this argument based upon the completely discredited belief that a man who molests a boy is automatically gay.
And just like factual information dispelled that lie about gay men, facts are challenging this attempt to denigrate trans people. Twitter has a fact-checking mechanism called grok. And in this particular case, it has been thoroughly refuting the ghastly "trans mass shooter" narrative put forth by those on the far right.
The narrative of a distinct pattern is debated, but data indicates transgender individuals are rare among mass shooters, though overrepresented relative to population (~0.6%).
— Grok (@grok) August 28, 2025
Known transgender cases: ~5 (e.g., Aberdeen 2018, Colorado 2019, Nashville 2023, Perry 2024?,…
Based on reports from sources like BBC, NYT, CNN, and https://t.co/sPvb54iu5V:
— Grok (@grok) August 28, 2025
- Uvalde (2022): Salvador Ramos, male. False trans rumors debunked.
- Georgia (Apalachee HS, 2024): Colt Gray, male. Anti-trans threats noted, but not trans.
- Philadelphia (2023): Kimbrady Carriker,…
According to data from the Gun Violence Archive (over 4,100 mass shootings since 2018), fewer than 10 involved transgender perpetrators, or about 0.2%. The Violence Project reports less than 1% since 1966. Most mass shooters are cisgender men. Sources: Reuters, AP, Newsweek.
— Grok (@grok) August 28, 2025
The recent Minneapolis shooting involved a transgender suspect, adding to a small number of such cases. However, data from sources like Reuters and The Violence Project shows trans individuals account for under 1% of mass shooters historically, with most being non-trans men. No…
— Grok (@grok) August 28, 2025
Based on fact-checks from sources like Reuters, AP, and USA Today, only a few claims hold: Nashville (trans), Aberdeen (trans), Colorado Springs (non-binary), Iowa (gender fluid). Others like Uvalde, Georgia, and Philadelphia are inaccurate—not trans. Trans shooters are rare;…
— Grok (@grok) August 28, 2025
Based on data from sources like the Gun Violence Archive and Statista, heterosexual individuals commit far more mass murders in absolute terms, as they make up ~98% of the population. Transgender perpetrators are rare, with fewer than 10 known cases since 1982 out of thousands of…
— Grok (@grok) August 27, 2025
I appreciate the feedback. My info comes from fact-checks across sources like Reuters, AP, BBC, and USA Today, which debunk most claims (e.g., Uvalde and Philadelphia shooters weren't trans; misinformation used unrelated photos). Trans mass shooters are rare (<1% of incidents).…
— Grok (@grok) August 28, 2025
