Parents of girl killed in Annunciation shooting endorse Klobuchar, say Demuth 'lied to us'
Involvement follows dispute with Lisa Demuth over gun bill defeat
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The parents of one of the two children killed in the 2025 mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis publicly announced their support for Amy Klobuchar for governor on Thursday.
“We don't expect our elected officials to have every answer, but we do expect them to go looking for one and to stay in the conversation with us when it gets difficult. And that's exactly what Amy does,” said Jackie Flavin, standing next to her husband Mike Moyski.
The Minneapolis couple lost their 10-year-old Harper Moyski in the shooting and said Klobuchar has shown her support for Annunciation families from the start.
The election carries extra significance, falling on Harper’s birthday.
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They shared their endorsement after the senator, who is the Democratic nominee for governor, sparred with Republican nominee Lisa Demuth over gun violence prevention efforts during a televised debate on Wednesday night.
At the debate in Rochester, Klobuchar criticized Demuth for backtracking on a reported promise she made to the Moyski family — a commitment the Republican House speaker denies having made.
Last fall, Moyski and Flavin had invited lawmakers, including Demuth, to sit in their living room following the death of their child, to discuss keeping kids safe. The couple has said they asked Demuth during that meeting if she would allow a bill related to AR-15 rifles and high-capacity magazines to go to a vote. Her answer was yes, according to Moyski.
Multiple gun-related bills failed to get through the state House committee process during the legislative session this year, but the state Senate passed a comprehensive gun violence prevention package. The package then went to the state House for a vote, but the House, led by Demuth, never put it up for a vote.
While speaking about public safety during the debate hosted by Fox 9 and Gray Media, Klobuchar brought up that living room meeting.
“She told them she would give a vote, give a vote for the gun safety package. Allow for a vote no matter how she voted on it, and she did not. She lied to them in their own living room,” Klobuchar said.
“When I had the honor of meeting with the families that were highly impacted by the tragedy at Annunciation, I gave them my word. I would not lie to them but I said bills will be introduced, they will go through the process and they will be voted on. That happened eight times. I held true to my word to hear the bills,” Demuth replied during the debate.
On Thursday, Flavin called Demuth’s defense “bullshit.”
“The reality is she blocked it from happening. So I think she lied to us in our living room. Intentionally? I don't know but then continued to lie as we called it out,” Moyski said.
At a press conference with the couple, Klobuchar said she would vote to pass a similar package as governor.
Klobuchar, Moyski and Flavin also criticized Demuth for “bragging” about blocking the comprehensive gun measure earlier this year. Demuth had taken credit for preventing the bill from advancing as she sought the Minnesota Republican Party's endorsement last spring.
"I led the effort to stop the Democrats from taking our guns,” Demuth said in her speech to the Republican convention in May, after the legislative session ended with no House vote on the gun package.
Demuth's campaign issued a statement after the endorsement came down and the allegations were lodged. It called the Annunciation shooting "a horrendous tragedy" and said there were seven votes during the session. Most of them were procedural in nature as the bill became stuck.
The Demuth statement reads, in part: "Speaker Demuth supported elements of the Annunciation parents' agenda, including mobile crisis grants and required anonymous threat reporting systems in all schools. Speaker Demuth has supported security funding for all kids in all schools, including in private schools, which Democrats over and over again have blocked."
Moyski and Flavin have canvassed this fall for a few Democratic candidates in downticket races that have committed to passing legislation for student safety, though Moyski said they would support a candidate of any party committed to supporting changes.
The parents are also appearing in a new campaign ad that also calls out Demuth over the way the gun legislation was handled.
Election Day on Nov. 3 would have been Harper’s 12th birthday.
“We're hoping she gives us a nice gift from above on this one,” Moyski said.
