dailynewsnblog
Residents across British Columbia and Canada continue to try to come to grips with the tragedy that unfolded in the small community of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., on Tuesday.
But an organization that works with trans and gender-diverse individuals across Canada is concerned about some of the information being spread.
“I think the first thing that I really want to voice is, you know, I categorically condemn what’s happened,” Amelia Newbert, founder of Skipping Stone, told Global News.
“We have eight people who are dead, we have families who are shattered. And that condemnation of the shooter and the tragedy is absolute and unconditional. But it doesn’t require me or any of us to condemn an entire community of people who are overwhelmingly more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators.”
The Tumbler Ridge shooter has been identified by RCMP as 18-year-old Jesse VanRootselaar.
“I can say that Jesse was born as a biological male, who, approximately, the information that I have, approximately six years ago, began to transition to female and identified as female both socially and publicly,” Dept. Comm. Dwayne McDonald, BC RCMP commanding officer, said earlier this week.
There is currently no evidence to suggest VanRootselaar’s gender identity is linked to the crime.
“There’s fear around different identities,” Christopher Longtin with Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays Canada, said.
“What we know is that people don’t do these things because of their individual identity.”
Newbert said the focus at this time should be on coming together and being united in grief and support for the Tumbler Ridge community.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“Unfortunately, we’re seeing individuals online and in the media, and even politicians, using this moment and using the grief of a country and of a world as ammunition for kind of pursuing their hateful ideologies,” she said.
“And I just think that’s unconscionable right now.”
At a press conference in Tumbler Ridge on Friday, McDonald addressed the misinformation spreading online, including some coverage and posts that have included images of an unrelated person, “which has resulted in false accusations,” he said.
“We would like to advise that an individual in Ontario, with a similar name to the person associated with our incident, has had been wrongly accused of being responsible. Zylee — this did not need to happen. We know you are not involved,” McDonald said.
On Thursday, BC Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender sent out a statement saying that what happened in Tumbler Ridge is “devastating beyond words.”
“By contrast, I am disappointed by the anti-trans disinformation and the hateful narratives that are being spread,” she said.
“Mis and disinformation amplify hateful beliefs, which can result in discrimination and violence towards trans people who already face extremely high levels of discrimination and harassment.”
Newbert said what they are seeing in some conversations online or on different platforms should not be happening.
“That’s not organic concern growing,” she said.
“That’s coordinated, coordinated attacks and the fact that, you know, I’m here and we’re having to be here having this conversation as opposed to focusing on the family and focusing on grief and healing — that’s not just wrong, it’s actually exactly what the families of this tragedy have asked us not to.”
Newbert said it is human nature that when something devastating happens, people want to know why.
“For folks who don’t know trans people, that maybe that othering is a place where our fear can grow,” she said.
“But, you know, I think when anything happens, really reducing the truth down to one aspect of somebody’s identity — whether it’s their gender, their race, their religion, or anything else — when we do that and we’re pulling one aspect out of context, that’s not about seeking truth. That’s about seeking scapegoating.”
Newbert said she would like to see the focus placed on the experiences of those affected and looking for ways to support them, instead of looking for one part of one person to vilify.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
