Democrats in the Minnesota legislature are drawing criticism for using this week’s deadly attack at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in a fundraising email.
On Friday morning the House DFL Caucus sent an email to supporters with subject line, “We love you, Minnesota, and we’re going to do everything we can to end gun violence here.”
“Tragedy found this community again this week,” the email says. “Gun violence is too familiar to too many of us, so please know we’re thinking about you. If you need to come back to this email another day, we understand.”
It then proceeds to ask, “Will you sign our petition in support of an assault weapons ban in Minnesota?”
When recipients click on the “Sign the Petition” link, they are taken to a landing page where they can donate. They are prompted to fill out personal information and then asked, “Can you chip in today?”
“Signatures are step 1, fundraising to keep DFLers in the Minnesota House is step 2. If you can, donate today to fuel this campaign for a safer Minnesota,” the page says.
Another page linked in the email invites people to contribute to the Minnesota House DFL Caucus and says: “In the face of this tragedy, we will not walk away from our chance to make our state a safer place. Our August goal is to raise $15,000. We have to meet this goal to have the best chance to keep making life better and safer in our state.”
The email is signed by the Minnesota House DFL.
Hours later Republican social media influencers caught wind of the House DFL fundraising email and posted it to X.
🚨 BREAKING: Minnesota House Democrats are fundraising off of the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting.
We’ve officially hit a new low. pic.twitter.com/xCJntA1KXo
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) August 29, 2025
“Minnesota House Democrats are fundraising off of the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting. We’ve officially hit a new low,” Republican operative Dustin Grage wrote. It had generated more than 150,000 views in just a few hours. One of those came from Republican House Floor Leader Harry Niska.
“Is Gov. Tim Walz even aware of this,” Niska wrote in reaction to the DFL fundraising email. “If he were actually interested in productive unifying leadership, he would tell the House DFL (in those calls he is making) to end this disgusting fundraising campaign.”
“Fire everyone responsible. Especially the politicians,” Niska added.
Alpha News has reached out to communications staff for the House DFL asking for comments on the criticism but hasn’t received a reply.
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
