More than 10,000 anti-LGBTQ posts made by Canadians day after Tumbler Ridge shooting, memo says

OTTAWA — As the country mourned the eight killed and others injured by a shooter who attacked a secondary school in interior British Columbia, more than 10,000 anti-LGBTQ posts expressing hate and calling for violence were made the next day by Canadians online, according to an intelligence brief.

The details, contained in a memo prepared by the Canadian Security Intelligence Services’ integrated threat assessment centre, warned that those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer were likely to face “increased intimidation, harassment, criminal and extremist violence,” along with public officials affiliated with the community.

“Changes to the hate speech policies of major social media platforms, the amplification of hateful rhetoric on social media, and the increased visibility of (LGBTQ) individuals and events have likely heightened the risk of violence in Canada targeting the (LGBTQ) community, including public officials,” reads the assessment, obtained by National Post.

The unclassified document, dated April 2, outlines how despite a rise in hateful rhetoric online and the greater risk of being targeted, a violent extremist attack targeting LGBTQ public officials was unlikely.

Made using “open-sourced information,” the assessment listed as a “case study” what analysts saw in the wake of the Feb. 10 shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary, where it said extremists were likely to try and capitalize on real-world events to “amplify hateful and violent extremist rhetoric,” which raised the risk for LGBTQ officials.

“According to open-source analysis of social media,” the memo reads, “Canadian users made more than 10,000 such posts the day after the attack, which was the most pronounced spike in anti-(LGBTQ) hate speech between August 2025 and February 2026.”

“This coincided with a parallel increase in online activity from Canadian domestic extremists, who according to open-source reporting used the attack to increase their anti-(LGBTQ) posts from approximately 20 per day to over 230 per day in the aftermath of the attack.”

Magali Hébert, a spokesperson for CSIS, says the term “domestic extremist” noted in the report refers to “violent extremists based in Canada.”

The memo says public officials that identify as LGBTQ stand a greater threat risk because of the confluence of ideological extremism that revolves around “extremist interpretations of gender roles, authoritarianism, nihilism,” as well as religious extremism that emanates from “extremist interpretations of religious doctrine,” which can be used to justify violence.

According to Statistics Canada, police-reported hate crimes directed at individuals over their sexual orientation fell in 2024 from what was recorded in 2023. However, the agency noted that June reported higher numbers as compared to other months. June is the month where Pride festivals and other celebrations are typically staged.

The risk that Canadians would become polarized over the Tumbler Ridge shooting was previously noted in a memo that had been prepared for Prime Minister Mark Carney by the Privy Council Office in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

That report, which was released to National Post and other outlets under federal access to information legislation, warned that social media was showing signs of such polarization around the shooter’s identity which were resulting in “identity-based political commentary” and “disputes over police handling of gender identity” as well as “hostile exchanges between ideological groups.”

It specified that “false claims and misinformation” surrounding transgender violence were circulating online.

RCMP in B.C. say the investigation into the Feb. 10 shooting remain ongoing. The provincial coroner has also directed that an inquest take place, with a date not yet announced

Police say the shooting at the school killed eight people and injured more than two dozen more.

RCMP identified the shooter, who authorities say died from a self-inflicted wound, as Jesse Van Roostelar, whom police said was born a biological male but later began identifying as female.

Of the six killed at the school, one was a staff member while the other five were 12 and 13-year-old students. RCMP also said that Van Roostelar’s mother and 11-year-old half brother were found dead at home.

RCMP said the shooter was known to police because officers had been at the residence where they lived due to mental health concerns, with Van Roostelar having been apprehended in the past under B.C.’s provincial mental health act.

Questions and concerns also arose after RCMP revealed that guns seized from the home had been returned in spring 2025. Police have not publicly disclosed details of the guns believed to have been used in the shooting.

National Post

• Bureaucrats warned PM about 'misinformation,' 'claims of transgender violence' after Tumbler Ridge shooting
• The Tumbler Ridge shooter was a trans female. How rare is that?

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