Transgender shooters and mental instability: media cover-up

A mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, left nine people dead and 27 wounded on February 10. The suspect, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, was killed by police. The incident has sparked discussion over how media outlets report the gender identity of individuals involved in violent crimes.

Initial reports from several major international news organizations described the shooter using female pronouns and as a “female” or “woman,” while delayed or omitted reference to the fact that Rootselaar was assigned male at birth and identified as transgender. The New York Times, in early coverage, referred to the suspect as a “female in a dress.” Its later reporting noted Rootselaar was “born as a biological male and chose to identify as a female.” The Associated Press did not mention the suspect’s biological sex in its initial descriptions, stating only that “she was an 18-year