Governor Tim Walz faces a federal lawsuit for allegedly denying critical security funding to 72,000 students at Minnesota’s nonpublic schools, despite urgent pleas following deadly school shootings and escalating threats to faith-based institutions.
Security Warnings Ignored Before Tragedy Struck
Minnesota Catholic Conference Executive Director Jason Adkins and MINNDEPENDENT President Tim Benz sent Governor Walz an urgent letter on April 14, 2023, requesting $50 million in security funding for nonpublic schools. The plea came weeks after the Nashville Covenant School shooting claimed six lives and highlighted mounting threats to Jewish and Muslim schools statewide. Archbishop Bernard Hebda had already called for a special legislative session in June 2022 to address all-school security needs, but those requests went unanswered. The warnings proved tragically prescient when a Minneapolis Catholic school shooting later killed two people and injured seventeen others.
State Programs Systematically Exclude Faith-Based Schools
Minnesota’s Building and Cyber Security Grant Program allocates $50 million exclusively to public school districts and charter schools, while the Safe Schools Program funds emergency training and mental health services based on tax levies that private institutions cannot access. The Minnesota Department of Education administers these programs under state statutes that limit eligibility to public entities, creating what Judicial Watch characterizes as an equal protection violation. While Walz’s office insists private schools receive some state funding and training opportunities, Catholic Conference officials confirm their specific security grant requests have been consistently denied. This bureaucratic structure leaves 72,000 nonpublic students across religious schools without access to comprehensive security resources available to their public school counterparts.
Judicial Watch – Judicial Watch Sues Gov. Tim Walz over Refusal to Provide Security for Nonpublic Schools – https://t.co/l08aVDGFFp
— Deen Coldwell III (@deen_iii) March 11, 2026
Federal Court Challenge Demands Equal Protection
Judicial Watch filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, arguing the exclusion violates constitutional equal protection guarantees by denying security resources to vulnerable students based solely on their schools’ religious affiliation. The watchdog organization has established a pattern of holding Walz accountable, previously pursuing transparency suits regarding his administration’s China connections and other governance issues. The lawsuit comes as Minnesota’s legislature considers the SHIELD bill, which perpetuates the public-only funding structure despite documented threats and casualties at faith-based institutions. This litigation could set a national precedent forcing states to extend taxpayer-funded security programs to all students regardless of their families’ educational choices.
Political Priorities Endanger Students at Religious Schools
The dispute reveals a troubling government preference that puts ideology over children’s safety. Families choosing faith-based education for their children should not face second-class security protections, especially when religious institutions face heightened threats from anti-religious violence. The Walz administration’s selective allocation of security resources undermines parental rights and religious liberty while exposing thousands of students to preventable dangers. Catholic and Jewish communities particularly face escalating threats that warrant equal government protection, not bureaucratic dismissals. The fact that deadly violence occurred after explicit warnings were ignored demonstrates a failure of leadership that prioritizes political convenience over constitutional obligations and basic moral responsibility to protect all children equally under the law.
Sources:
DOJ Admit USADF Probe – Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch Sues Gov’t for Walz China Files – Judicial Watch