School Shooter Suspect Allegedly Posted Anti-Trans Messages Before Attack
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Misinformation also played a role in another transphobic accusation last year, namely in the aftermath of a mass shooting at a Georgia high school in September.
Fake social media accounts were made impersonating the suspect, with one including “she/her/they” pronouns.
Riley Gaines, an American swimmer and conservative political activist, posted a screenshot of a CNN article and stated the shooter's likely motive was a frustration with the lack of trans acceptance in society.
This wasn’t true. The article, which was later updated following the misinterpretation, stated the shooter expressed frustration that transgender people were being accepted by society.
Police linked a Discord account to the suspect, who was indicted in October on 55 counts. Records show messages from the account read things like “im on the edge of a lgbtq massacre.” Other users showed support for the suspect and wrote, “Do it.”
Though anti-trans social media users have a storied history of accusing transgender people of committing violent crimes, the facts reflect an entirely different narrative.
Transgender suspects accounted for 0.11% of all mass shootings in the last decade, the Gun Violence Archive told Reuters last year.
-Clinton Engelberger
