Earlier this year, the worst school shooting in Canadian history happened. You might remember that I talked about it then.
It was an absolutely tragic situation which absolutely should not have happened.
Ten people died, including eight students and the shooter. 27 more people were injured.
Just horrible.
It was bad enough that one disturbed individual decided to make a name for themselves by going down in history in infamy, but another person was involved in the situation, this time an American. Martha Bellisle with the Associated Press writes,
Federal authorities said Tuesday that they have arrested and charged a 30-year-old from Washington state with encouraging an 18-year-old to commit one of the worst school shootings in Canada’s history by offering to livestream the February attack, providing money and sharing advice on how to delete online messages to keep the plot a secret.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle said James Cody Bryant of Bellingham, Washington, communicated with Jesse Van Rootselaar in British Columbia for at least six months ahead of the shooting. Bryant, who identifies as female, did not report Van Rootselaar’s plans to authorities, authorities allege.
W. Mike Herrington, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle office, said without Bryant’s “misplaced loyalty” and willingness to livestream the killings, officials didn’t know if Van Rootselaar would have gone through with the attack.
“Misplaced loyalty.”
That’s a phrase to use. I wouldn’t say that it was misplaced. That makes it sound like you set down your keys when you rushed into the house and don’t know, yet, where you left them (check the kitchen counter).
In my mind, this wasn’t a case of loyalty. It was a case of criminal intent by proxy, using an emotionally unstable individual to do horrible things and enabling them and empowering them to do so through encouragement and funding.
Absolutely dispicable.
We live in a world in which there are dangerous people, and, frankly, there isn’t always a way to identify them before they commit violence toward you or near you. That’s why you should train to proficiency, train to maintain proficiency, and carry daily. You don’t know how many lives you may save by doing that.
