SEATTLE — Federal authorities arrested a Bellingham, Washington, resident Tuesday and charged him with conspiring to murder people in a foreign country, alleging that he helped the person who carried out the February mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.
A criminal complaint filed in the Western District of Washington accuses 30-year-old James Cody Bryant of providing money, technical assistance and advice during roughly six months of online communications with shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar. Bryant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty, and the complaint’s assertions have not yet been tested at trial.
What prosecutors allege
The Justice Department said on Oct. 6 that Bryant allegedly agreed to record and redistribute a livestream of the attack, helped test streaming equipment, sent money for items connected to the plan and advised the shooter to delete messages and use a virtual private network. Prosecutors also allege he offered tactical guidance and, shortly before the school attack, helped the shooter troubleshoot a vehicle after two people had already been killed at a home.
The Feb. 10 attack killed two people at the shooter’s home and six people at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School: five children ages 12 and 13 and an educational assistant. The shooter died by suicide. The Associated Press reported that 25 other people were wounded.
Case moves to federal court
Bryant appeared in federal court Tuesday and was ordered detained pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 20, according to The Associated Press’s Oct. 6 report. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, though any sentence would be determined only after a conviction and under federal sentencing rules.
The FBI investigated with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Reuters reported Oct. 6 that court records did not immediately identify an attorney for Bryant.
The prosecution adds a U.S. criminal case to a tragedy investigated across the border. Readers can follow other developing legal cases in AskNovus’s Crime & Courts coverage, including the latest appeals-court dispute involving ABC and the FCC.
Featured image: Seattle streetscape, photographed by Peter Robbins via Unsplash. The image is illustrative and does not show the courthouse or people involved in the case.