Wikipedia Editors Clash Over Shooter’s Identity

Clear Facts

• Wikipedia editors engaged in heated debate over gender terminology for the Minneapolis Catholic school shooter.
• Editors disputed whether to include the shooter’s birth name and which pronouns should be used.
• The FBI is investigating the attack as an anti-Catholic hate crime and act of domestic terrorism.

Wikipedia’s editors quickly argued over the correct way to refer to Robin Westman, who killed two children and injured 17 at a Minneapolis Catholic school. The debate revolved around pronoun usage and whether to mention Westman’s original name.

An editor, SuperPianoMan9167, removed references to the shooter’s male birth name, asserting this acted against Wikipedia’s deadnaming policy.

“Wikipedia does not include someone’s birth name, even if it is sourced, unless they were notable under that name; to do otherwise is deadnaming,” SuperPianoMan9167 wrote.

Another editor, Ergo Sum, disagreed, emphasizing that major news outlets included the birth name and calling its exclusion “absurd.”

“[The birth name] is in the headline of arguably the most famous and reputable newspaper in the world. To expunge it from WP is so absurd as to warrant invoking WP:IGNORE,” Ergo Sum stated.

Discussions focused on following Wikipedia policy, not sympathy for the perpetrator. One contributor insisted it was about accurate reporting, regardless of the attacker’s actions.

“It doesn’t matter how insensitive it is (trust me, I think she was a terrible human being); it’s Wikipedia’s job to get the facts straight. If she identified as a female, then that’s what what [sic] Wikipedia should reflect, no matter how disgusting of a person someone is,” wrote EF5.

The current version of the Wikipedia article uses only female pronouns for Westman and mentions her transgender status once. There is no mention of the birth name.

Another debate emerged regarding the FBI’s classification of the shooting as a hate crime. One editor questioned whether Catholics qualify as a protected group for hate crime designation.

“I get the antisemitism part, but last I checked, Catholics are not a protected minority, or even just a minority for that matter, so the ‘hate crime’ classification does not apply,” argued user 46.97.170.26.

Editor Unknown Template clarified, “The FBI classes hate crimes against any identifiable group, including, shock horror, even Christians and *gasp* white people.”

The Wikipedia article now reports the FBI investigation as an “act of domestic terrorism and an anti-Catholic hate crime.”

Robin Westman launched the attack at Annunciation Catholic School during a morning church service, firing through windows, taking two lives, wounding seventeen, and then turning the gun on himself, police said.

In personal writings, Westman expressed resentment for his own transgender identity and hostility toward several groups, including Catholics, Jews, and political figures. He wrote about his regrets and struggles with his gender identity.

“I only keep [long hair] because it is pretty much my last shred of being trans. I am tired of being trans, I wish I never brain-washed myself,” Westman wrote.

“I can’t cut my hair now as it would be [an] embarrassing defeat, and it might be a concerning change of character that could get me reported,” he continued. “It just always gets in my way. I will probably chop it on the day of the attack.”

Stay informed as ongoing debates over truth, identity, and the reporting of violence challenge transparency and integrity online.

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