FBI Arrests Washington “Trans Woman” Accused of Helping Plot the Canadian School Shooting — Sent Cash, Tactical Advice, and Watched the Livestream as Children Were Shot
The FBI arrested a 30-year-old Bellingham, Washington resident on Tuesday and charged him with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country for allegedly coaching, funding, and agreeing to broadcast the February 10 slaughter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, the attack that left 8 people dead, including 5 children.
James Cody Bryant was taken into custody in Bellingham and appeared in federal court in Seattle.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
According to the Department of Justice announcement and the accompanying 41-page FBI criminal complaint, Bryant allegedly maintained extensive communications with 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar during the six months before the February 10 massacre.
Both Bryant and Van Rootselaar were born male and identified as transgender women, according to police and federal officials.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in February that Van Rootselaar was “born a biological male” who began identifying as female about six years earlier.
On Tuesday, U.S. officials said they understood Bryant was also born male and identified as female.
Van Rootselaar first murdered her mother and stepbrother at the family home before driving to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, federal investigators said.
Inside the school, Van Rootselaar killed five children between the ages of 12 and 13 and an educational assistant, seriously wounded other students, detonated an improvised explosive device, and fired through locked classroom doors before exchanging gunfire with police and ultimately dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Eight victims were murdered in total, six at the school and two at the family residence. Department of Justice