Alleged Tumbler Ridge shooting conspirator pleads not guilty, trial set for December

A Bellingham resident who was arrested after allegedly being linked to the Tumbler Ridge shooting has pleaded not guilty.

James Cody Bryant, a 30-year-old transgender woman, was found to have been communicating online with shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar for months leading up to the horrific Feb. 10 attack in the northern B.C. community.

This week, U.S. officials announced Bryant had been arraigned on Thursday morning and pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to murder people in a foreign country.

The charge carries a sentence of up to life in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release following any prison term.

Trial is scheduled to begin on Dec. 21.

Earlier this month, authorities announced Bryan had been arrested after an extensive investigation that found the pair had traded thousands of messages on Discord over several months. The messages included discussion about the logistics of a mass shooting, what weapons to use, “how to increase the carnage,” and other technical details of livestreaming the shooting.

Officials say Bryant and Van Rootselaar had chatted the morning of the attack, with Bryant allegedly helping Van Rootselaar to start the family car, allowing her to make her way to the school where the shooting unfolded. Bryan allegedly assisted in livestreaming about 20 seconds of the shooting before the broadcast was shutdown.

Van Rootselaar shot and killed her mother and half-brother at home, before heading to Tumbler Ridge Secondary where she opened fire and killed four students, an educational assistant, and injured several others. The shooting ended when she turned the gun on herself.

Two lawsuits have been filed against OpenAI, one by the B.C. government and the other by Tumbler Ridge community members and victims’ families, for allegedly failing to flag Van Rootselaar’s online activities and research into shootings and for not notifying police earlier.

sip@postmedia.com