Crime · Bellingham, WA
Bellingham Resident Pleads Not Guilty to Conspiracy in Canada School Shooting
Melody Bryant, also known as James Cody Bryant, of Bellingham, Washington, pleaded not guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to charges of conspiring to murder people in a foreign country. Investigators allege she provided money, agreed to distribute a livestream, and shared advice on deleting messages to conceal the February 2026 attack by Jesse Van Rootselaar at a secondary school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, which killed eight people and wounded 27. Bryant is being detained pending trial, set for Dec. 21 but likely to be delayed. Her public defender has noted that at some points she tried to dissuade Van Rootselaar from carrying out the attack.