Was this a hate-crime against Christians or not? Is there a connection to abortion in it all?
Last year at a Catholic conference in Brazil, I met a Catholic Pakistani man named Joseph. He told me about his friend named Shagufta who was slated to be hung by the Muslim government in Pakistan simply for being a Christian. I immediately asked my friend, Congressman “Captain” Clay Higgins for help. (Congressman Higgins and I have been friends since 2016.)
The Congressman quickly wrote this letter to President Biden, asking the US government to put pressure on Pakistan to stop killing Christians, starting with the freedom of Shagufta. Unfortunately, she is still on death-row. But she is alive in prison.
Today, the 5th of September 2025, Congressman Higgins called me with a request for spiritual guidance in regards to very different events, namely, the recent shooting of children during the opening Mass at Annunciation Catholic school in Minneapolis. (Later, he suggested it would be appropriate to share our discussion with many people, which is the only reason I write about it here.)
Despite our fast news-cycle, Congressman Higgins was still very shaken at the shooting of children at Holy Mass, even though it took place over a week ago. Interestingly, he compared the shooting to an abortion. The comparison was chilling to me, even as I ate my lunch.
Congressman Higgins said that the Church, as the Bride of Christ, reminded him of the womb; the children in Mass as unborn babies in their prayer; the trans-gender shooter as the abortion doctor. The Congressman said that the shooter, much like an abortion doctor, had brought violent death to innocent children—this time into the womb of the Church.
Captain Clay stated that he believed the children were martyrs for Christ, and any official act of the United States House of Representatives recognizing their martyrdom should reflect the highest standards of Christian society. The prospect of having an active pro-abortion Muslim activist as spokesman for the entire House of Representatives in these circumstances was very troubling to Congressman Higgins.
I was stunned at his analogy, and the Congressman went on further as to why he was disturbed.
Congressman Higgins told me that pro-abortion US Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota (originally from Mogadishu, Somalia) put forth a official House of Representatives resolution “to honor the victims and survivors of the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis, Minnesota.” He pointed out to me that words like “mass” and “church” were not capitalized. More importantly, Ms. Omar had not used words like “hate crime” in her proposed resolution.
On the phone, I then challenged the Congressman that we can, as Catholics, still receive a sympathy-card from a Muslim. He agreed, but pointed out that this came from an anti-white and pro-abortion woman.
I later researched Ms. Omar’s view towards Christians, and I found she has stood against Christian ministry, including inside the United States in South Carolina, speaking against a Christian ministry that chose to work exclusively with Christians even as they participated in a federally funded foster care program, saying “You don’t use your faith to discriminate against others.” (The Trump Administration ended up ruling on the side of the Christians as seen here.)
Clearly, Representative Ilhan Omar is aggressively pro-abortion, as seen in her statement on the Official website of the House of Representatives. There, she stated: “Today, I was proud to support efforts to protect reproductive rights and the right to bodily autonomy…In Congress, I will continue to do all I can to ensure women and pregnant people are able to make their own healthcare decisions in Minnesota and beyond.”
Now combine Congressman Higgins’ two concerns to me and we have this: Congressman Higgins compares the shooting of Annunciation school to an abortion –and– the only resolution coming from the House of Representatives to honor them comes from one Omar who believes it should be legal to murder innocent children in the womb.
When I asked Congressman Higgins why he doesn’t replace her resolution with one of his own, he explained to me that historically such a resolution to the House of Representatives comes from a Member representing the state where the violence took place.
I agree: Perhaps the House of Representatives official resolution to honor the children killed at Annunciation school should first come from a pro-life representative from Minnesota like Tom Emmer or Pete Stauber.
It is a righteous position for a Christian-principled elected official to state that the official resolution entered into the historical record of Congress regarding murdered children be not championed by a representative who supports the murder of babies on the womb. Indeed, it cannot come from a pro-abortion activist like Ms. Ilhan Omar. Furthermore, considering her past opposition to Christians, it is no wonder she left out terms like “hate crime” from Omar’s proposed house resolution.
But as I proved last week with pictures from the shooter in my article here, it most certainly was a hate-crime against Catholics. In fact, the shooter produced genuine martyrs.
I support Congressman Clay Higgins in his opposition to this resolution. It is wrong to select an abortion-advocate as the Congressional spokesman for murdered Christian children. Rep. Ilhan Omar may have the right to propose a resolution of solidarity following school violence, but the House of Representatives also has the responsibility to protect the sanctity of our deepest core principles.
It would be equally wrong to allow Ilhan Omar, a Muslim abortion advocate, to stand as author of the only recognized Congressional Resolution on the horrific hate crime murder of Christian children in the “womb of the Church.”