OAN Staff Katherine Mosack and Brooke Mallory
5:57 PM – Thursday, August 28, 2025
Two years ago, before the heartbreaking school shooting in Minneapolis claimed the lives of two children, leaders of independent and Catholic schools in Minnesota wrote to Governor Tim Walz and the state’s lieutenant governor asking for help in securing non-public schools and keeping their students safe.
However, despite the urgency of their written warnings, their concerns were ignored.
On April 14, 2023, in a letter sent by Jason Adkins, the executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) and Tim Benz, the president of MINNDEPENDENT, representing Catholic and independent schools respectively, Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan were informed of the “urgent and critical need” for improved security in nonpublic schools.
The MCC highlighted recent attacks on educational institutions nationwide, including the Covenant Christian School shooting in Nashville. The letter also emphasized that nonpublic schools, particularly religious institutions, had been experiencing increased threats and thus needed support to ensure the safety of their students and staff.
MINNDEPENDENT is an organization that advocates for private and independent schools in Minnesota “through programming, partnerships and public policy,” according to their official website.
“We are writing on behalf of our respective organizations regarding the urgent and critical need in Minnesota to make sure our schools are secure and safe considering the most recent, and continuing attacks, on our schools in this country and in our state,” the letter began. “There are approximately 72,000 students enrolled in Independent, Catholic, Jewish, Christian and Muslim nonpublic schools in our state.”
“In Minnesota, nonpublic schools, particularly our Jewish and Muslim schools, have experienced increased levels of threats, all of which we must take very seriously,” the letter stated.
The letter also referenced Walz’s voiced concerns about cybersecurity attacks on public schools in their letter to the governor, requesting that nonpublic schools be added to his existing budget recommendation.
“We are asking for your assistance in making sure the Minnesota Legislature enacts your budget recommendation of $50 million to establish the Building and Cyber Security Grant Program and include all schools as eligible for funding, whether they are public, charters or nonpublic schools,” the letter read, emphasizing that “the exclusion of one sector of schools … is a discriminatory act against our students.”
The letter concluded with a request for a meeting with the Democrat governor to “discuss the proposal and our ongoing concerns regarding safety and security in our schools.” Had their request been granted, Catholic schools like Annunciation would have had access to state funds for security enhancements. However, the letter went unanswered.
After the tragic shooting on Wednesday, Adkins told The Daily Wire outlet that no extra security was ever funded or given, even as Minnesota enjoyed a $17.6 billion surplus for the 2023 legislative session, according to the National Catholic Register.
“He communicated his belief that people should feel safe in their schools and places of worship,” Adkins said. “But the appropriation was not created.”
“Our community is rightfully outraged at such horrific acts of violence perpetrated against the vulnerable and innocence,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis wrote in a statement on Wednesday. “They are far too commonplace.”
Despite ignoring pleas for help, both Walz and Flanagan spoke out immediately after the incident on Wednesday. Nonetheless, at a Wednesday news conference this week, Walz stated: “It’s my strongest desire that no state, no community, no school ever experiences a day like this.”
Additionally, the evening after the shooting, a vigil was held where Lt. Gov. Flanagan stated: “Know that the antidote in this moment to the evil we saw this morning … is a radical love that calls for justice, is a radical love that says we need to love our babies and our children more than our guns.”
A recurring theme at the vigil was officials’ call for stronger gun control measures, while deliberately refraining from attributing the tragedy to the shooter’s mental illness or gender dysphoria.
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