Photo: Alamy
Vice President JD Vance will travel to Minneapolis on Wednesday to pay respects following last week’s mass shooting at a Catholic school that left two children dead and more than 20 others injured.
Vance, accompanied by his wife, Usha, plans to hold private meetings with families of victims and others affected by the attack, his office announced Tuesday.
“He will hold a series of private meetings to convey condolences to the families of those affected by the tragedy,” the statement said.
Authorities say 23-year-old Robert “Robin” Westman opened fire during morning mass on the first day of classes at Annunciation Catholic School. The attack killed 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski and wounded 21 people.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, has spoken publicly about his faith and said he wanted to stand with the grieving families.
In the days after the shooting, Vance also criticized remarks by former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who said on social media that “prayer is not freaking enough.”
“We pray because our hearts are broken. We pray because we know God listens,” Vance said in response. “Why do you feel the need to attack other people for praying when kids were just killed praying?”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also blasted the remarks by Psaki.
“Yes, I saw the comments of my predecessor, Ms. Psaki, and, frankly, I think they’re incredibly insensitive and disrespectful to the tens of millions of Americans of faith across this country who believe in the power of prayer, who believe that prayer works, and who believe that in a time of mourning like this, when beautiful young children were killed while praying in a church, it’s utterly disrespectful to deride the power of prayer in this country,” she told reporters.
“It’s disrespectful to the millions of Americans of faith, and I would encourage Ms. Psaki to pray for these families themselves who need it—right now more than ever,” she added.
