In a newly surfaced letter dated April 14, 2023, the Minnesota Catholic Conference and MINNDEPENDENT issued a stark warning to Governor Tim Walz: nonpublic schools were “under attack” and urgently needed more robust security.
The letter highlighted an alarming rise in threats targeting religious and private schools, especially in the wake of a deadly shooting at a Christian institution in Tennessee a week earlier. The authors urged immediate action to fund safety upgrades and emergency training for nonpublic schools, including those serving Jewish and Muslim communities.
Despite these dire warnings, no meaningful steps were taken to bolster protective measures. Tragically, those concerns materialized two years later during the horrifying shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school Mass, which claimed the lives of two children and left 17 others wounded.
This revelation raises serious questions about missed opportunities to prevent or mitigate such tragedies—and underscores the consequences of leaving pivotal security requests unanswered.