(LifeSiteNews) — A Nova Scotia teenager imprisoned for conspiring with a 14-year-old Manitoba boy to perpetrate simultaneous killings at their high schools in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, and Rivers, Manitoba, was initially identified as female – but according to the CBC, that has changed. According to March 23 reporting:
Police in Bridgewater arrested the 15-year-old last week and searched a home where they said they uncovered handwritten plans and imitation weapons, including an imitation pipe bomb and assault rifle.
The teen appeared in Bridgewater youth court Monday morning for what was supposed to be a show-cause or bail hearing. But the defence requested the one-month delay while a special report on the teen’s background is prepared.
The defence lawyer also told the court that the teen uses the pronouns “he” and “him.” Police had earlier described the Bridgewater accused as a girl.
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The reporting does not make clear whether the teen is a trans-identifying female or a trans-identifying male. In fact, the reporting ensures confusion as to the identity of the would-be mass shooter, who was arrested last week and found in possession of detailed plans and “imitation weapons, including an imitation pipe bomb and assault rifle,” as well as clothing featuring unspecified “hate symbols.” The girl has been charged in youth court for conspiracy to murder and uttering threats.
On March 20, the National Post identified the 15-year-old as a “girl.” Global News referred vaguely to a “teen,” as did CityNews. The Globe and Mail, in its detailed report on March 18, referred to the teenager as a “girl,” and noted that she and her co-conspirator “were allegedly co-ordinating attacks on their respective high schools in Nova Scotia and Manitoba [and] began discussing their plans online just 10 days after the mass school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., that killed eight, police say.”
It is relevant that in its coverage, the Globe and Mail – Canada’s newspaper of record – referred to the Tumbler Ridge killer as a “her.” Jesse Strang (also referred to as Jesse Van Rootselaar) was male but identified as “transgender.” Canadians who only read mainstream media coverage might still be under the impression that a female perpetrated the murders. Indeed, when asked, an RCMP spokesperson stated, “We identify the suspect as they chose to be identified in public and in social media.” The Toronto Star published a short, inaccurate headline: “Police identify 18-year-old female Jesse Van Rootselaar as Tumbler Ridge school shooter.”
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It is stunning how swiftly the debate that broke out after the Tumbler Ridge tragedy – about the identity of the killer, about the profile picture on his YouTube account which featured an anime-style figure on a transgender pride flag alongside an SKS rifle, on whether the press should conform its coverage to the diktats of gender ideology and identify Strang as a female – vanished beneath the surface of the Canadian press with scarcely a ripple.
Some journalists, most notably from the National Post and the independent outlet Juno News (which broke several stories that the mainstream press missed), called for a debate and correctly identified Strang. The rest of the Canadian establishment closed ranks, and the discussion ended abruptly.
A second major mass school shooting tragedy in two months has, thankfully, been averted by law enforcement. Apparently, the would-be killer identified by police and initial reporting as a girl now identifies as a boy. I suspect that in coverage of the case going forward, the media will smoothly pivot. And once again, the Canadian public will receive their news after it is strained through the sieve of gender ideology, and almost nobody will say a word.
