Vice President JD Vance was heckled by protesters as he visited the site of last week's deadly school shooting in Minneapolis. Dozens of demonstrators lined the streets near Annunciation Catholic Church, where suspect Robin Westman shot dead an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old, and injured 21 others during a school Mass.
Upon arrival with Second Lady Usher Vance, the vice president was greeted by parents and residents holding signs calling for bans on assault weapons and shouting 'Protect our kids' and 'Do better'. One woman called him a 'coward' before his Secret Service detail obscured the view. A man with a megaphone chanted that the National Rifle Association 'has got to go'.
The crowd erupted into jeers as Vance's motorcade passed. One man yelled 'Get out of my city', while another shouted 'Shame! Shame! Shame!'. Kacie Sharpe, whose son lost his best friend Fletcher Merkel, aged ten, told reporters: 'This is a political problem ... My son lost his best friend because these politicians won't do anything.'
After the frosty reception, the Vances held a private 45-minute meeting with victims' families, the parish pastor and the school principal. They laid bouquets at a memorial outside the church and visited 12-year-old Lydia Kaiser at hospital. Her father, Harry Kaiser, read a letter asking Vance to 'earnestly support the study of what is wrong with our culture' regarding gun violence.
Vance told reporters he took parents' concerns seriously and that politicians on both sides want school shootings to happen less frequently. 'I have never had a day that will stay with me like this day did,' he said.
