Tumbler Ridge: Bryant Stays Behind Bars, and “No Violent Crime” Is a Coward’s Defense

As I mentioned in my last post about Tumbler Ridge, James Cody Bryant of Bellingham, Washington, was arrested for allegedly helping Jesse Van Rootselaar plan the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School shooting.

For anyone new to this story, Bryant uses she/her pronouns and goes by Melody. However, it is not my intention to deadname, but I’m sticking with the name that appears in the court filings, which is James Cody Bryant. I will try to be as respectful as possible when discussing gender.

Now, if anyone is coming to this post just to try to argue that all trans people are potential school shooters, you can fuck all the way off.

You can also educate yourself with the following posts…

But getting back to the story at hand, here’s a quick refresher on what Bryant is accused of.

According to prosecutors, Bryant was in frequent contact with Van Rootselaar for the six months leading up to the February 10th attack and agreed as early as August 2025 to record the shooting and stream it online.

The indictment says Bryant tested the livestream more than once to make sure it worked, offered advice on where to attack and what weapons to carry, and sent money through PayPal for a lighter meant for an improvised explosive device.

Prosecutors also say Bryant discussed ways to hide their communications and acknowledged that planning the attack was illegal. On the day of the shooting, Bryant allegedly confirmed that the livestream was visible and later confirmed that it had gone down.

This past Tuesday, a federal judge in Seattle ordered Bryant to stay locked up until trial. Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg argued that no set of conditions could keep the community safe and that anyone who helps plan a mass shooting and then sits back instead of “snitching” on the killer is a danger to the public.

Judge Mary Alice Thieler agreed, pointing to the “concerted, prolonged” planning of the attack and saying the release conditions floated by pretrial services couldn’t reasonably address the danger if they failed.

In other words, the court looked at what Bryant is accused of and decided that they pose a risk to the community that a few rules and some supervision can’t contain.

The very next day, a federal grand jury indicted Bryant on a single charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison, possibly without parole. Media reports have been conflicting on that last part.

Bryant is due to be arraigned on October 22nd, when a plea will be entered, and no trial date has been set.

Bryant’s lawyers see it differently. Public defender Gregory Murphy argued that Bryant has no criminal history, that there’s no evidence Bryant ever personally committed an act of violence, and that Bryant cooperated fully with investigators, voiced horror over what Van Rootselaar did, and even sobbed during the FBI interview.

The defense also noted that Bryant has never missed a court date and asked the judge to release Bryant under conditions like home detention, a mental health assessment, and limits on internet use.

Murphy described Bryant as someone who simply became friends with a deeply disturbed person, and he pointed out that the government has had the chat logs for eight months without making an arrest.

Everyone is entitled to legal defense, but the “no violent crime” angle is a coward’s argument.

Bryant may never have fired a shot or laid a hand on anyone, but that isn’t what Bryant is accused of. The allegation is that Bryant supplied tactical advice and money to the person who committed mass murder, agreed to broadcast the murders of children, tested the equipment to make sure the cameras would work, and never once alerted anyone.

It’s not as if reporting the plot never crossed Bryant’s mind, either, because according to the complaint, Bryant acknowledged being able to go to the authorities and save lives, then admitted not wanting to. Even inaction is a conscious choice.

As for the argument that the government sat on those chats for eight months, sometimes, that’s how investigations pan out. Prosecutors blame the sheer volume of evidence, and I would imagine especially, the novelty of the charge. Either way, the wait does nothing to change what the messages allegedly say or who Bryant allegedly helped.

One big question remains open, and that’s whether Canada will also prosecute Bryant. Canadian authorities haven’t announced any charges, and the public safety minister has said it’s too soon to say. A Canadian prosecution would be possible if investigators conclude Canadian laws were broken.

The acting U.S. attorney has also said more charges could come on both sides of the border, so for now Bryant’s fate is being decided in a Seattle courtroom, with no guarantee that it will stay there.

The shooting happened in a school hallway in British Columbia, but prosecutors say pieces of it were rehearsed and supported from Bellingham. If those allegations hold up, being hundreds of miles from the gunfire doesn’t make Bryant any less complicit.

(Sources)