Weeks before an assailant opened fire on a Catholic church in Minneapolis, the Trump administration cut funding to a program in Minnesota aimed at preventing acts of mass violence, documents show.

The cancellation of those funds does not appear to have had an impact in the handling of the attack at Annunciation Catholic School that killed two children and injured 18 people. But state officials say the move severely weakens local efforts to identify future threats. The Trump administration said the money was being used to promote a partisan agenda and did not effectively fight those threats.

In July, the Department of Homeland Security announced it was cutting $18.5 million in spending that involved one of its arms called the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, or CP3. The center was introduced during the first few months of the Biden administration and provides grants to state and local law enforcement agencies and other institutions to help recognize and prevent potential terrorist threats. The money also funds mental health services and training programs.

About $700,000 of that money had been designated for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The reductions were first reported by CNN.

With that money, the Minnesota agency made plans to create two roles, a special agent and a criminal analyst, jobs that would have been essential in responding to and working to prevent targeted violence and terrorism in the state, according to a letter in July that Bob Jacobson, the DPS commissioner, wrote to the state’s congressional delegation.

“Without this funding, our capacity to protect our communities from targeted violence and terrorism will be significantly diminished,” he wrote.