A 30-year-old Washington state resident was charged with providing assistance to a teenager who killed eight people in Canada, including schoolchildren, U.S. prosecutors said Tuesday.
asserted
prosecutors → charge → schoolchildren
James Cody Bryant, who the FBI said identifies as female, was arrested Tuesday and is charged with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country in connection with the Feb. 10 shootings in the British Columbia town of Tumbler Ridge, officials said.
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officials → say → Ridge
Prosecutors said Bryant had been in contact over Discord with the shooter, who killed five children and a teacher at a secondary school as well as two other people.
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who → say → school
He gave the shooter advice, money and offered to help livestream the killings, the U.S. Justice Department said.
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Department → give → killings
Bryant ”had been in repeated contact” with the shooter, Neil Floyd, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, said at a news conference Tuesday.
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Floyd → act → conference
Bryant ”had the information and ability to alert law enforcement, and even discussed that possibility with the shooter — but chose not to,” Floyd said.
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Floyd → have → shooter
“Instead, he encouraged and offered assistance to a murderer.”
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he → encourage → murderer
About 2 p.m. Feb. 10, Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, who was born male but had been transitioning to female for six years, killed her mother and 11-year-old stepbrother in the small town of Tumbler Ridge, officials said,
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officials → bear → Ridge
She then went to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and killed five children — three 12-year-old girls and two boys, one 12 and the other 13 — and a teacher, authorities said.
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authorities → go → children
Van Rootselaar then died by suicide.
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Rootselaar → die → suicide
In addition to those killed, two other children were shot and suffered serious injuries, officials said.
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officials → kill → injuries
Bryant attempted to talk Van Rootselaar out of the attack or reconsider several times but did not tell law enforcement about the plan and offered to livestream it, the U.S. Justice Department said.
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Department → attempt → it
The two met on the former random video chat service Omegle around three years before the shooting and kept in contact through Discord, an online communication service, said W. Mike Herrington, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle office.
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Herrington → meet → office
There is no indication the two ever met in person, he said.
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he → be → person
The back-and-forth messages on Discord cited in the complaint have a conversational and friendly tone.
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messages → cite → tone
At one point, Bryant writes, “You believe me when I promise I won’t snitch on you, right?”
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I → write → you
At another point, Bryant tells Van Rootselaar, “if you are uncertain, maybe take it as a sign.”
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you → tell → sign
On the day of the shootings, after Van Rootselaar killed her mother and stepbrother, she had trouble starting her car, Floyd said.
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Floyd → kill → car
“Bryant provided advice and offered assistance on how to get the car started so that JVR could proceed to the school and kill children,” Floyd said, using the initials for the shooter’s name.
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Floyd → provide → name
The charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country carries up to life in prison.
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charge → murder → prison
Bryant was in custody Tuesday, officials said.
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officials → say → custody
Online federal court records did not show an attorney representing Bryant Tuesday afternoon.
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records → show → Bryant
The shooting was livestreamed on Twitch, but only for about 20 seconds before it shut off, officials said.
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officials → livestreame → seconds
Twitch said an account appearing to belong to Bryant’s was the only account that saw it, according to the criminal complaint.
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that → say → complaint
Herrington, of the FBI, said the shooter wanted maximum views, but didn’t have much of a social media presence.
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shooter → say → presence
“Without Bryant’s misplaced loyalty and willingness to operate the livestream, we don’t ultimately know if the shooter would have gone through with the crime,” Herrington said.
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Herrington → operate → crime
“We certainly know that the shooter was concerned that not enough people would see the livestream.”
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people → know → livestream
Elija Rain, assistant commissioner of the British Columbia RCMP, said that the impact of the shooting was widespread.
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impact → say → shooting
“The people of Tumbler Ridge experienced a tragedy that forever changed the lives of families, friends, students, educators, first responders and the entire community,” he said.
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he → experience → families
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