![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IWITSKDKI5ELJG4M7MPIWQDDEA.jpeg\")
Jennifer Strang Jennifer Strang is seen in this undated photo. <\/p>\nLawyer and former RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German discusses the significance of police removing the tape at Tumbler Ridge as the investigation continues. <\/p>\n
Disinformation experts say while it\u2019s human nature to seek out more information after a tragedy, an online rush to identify suspects can have terrible consequences.<\/p>\n
Their remarks come after RCMP highlighted a falsehood targeting an Ontario woman as the suspect in the recent shootings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.<\/p>\n
RCMP released a confirmed photo of the actual shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, on Friday as Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald called out false accusations against a person named Zylii Strang, with no connection to the case.<\/p>\n
Ahmed Al-Rawi, a professor in the communication department at Simon Fraser University, says \u201cbiases and prejudices\u201d resulted in people spreading images of innocent transgender people after it emerged the shooter was trans.<\/p>\n
Al-Rawi, who is director of the Disinformation Project that studies misinformation, says some people may have been hoping their posts would go viral for financial gain, while others were drawn into conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n
Heidi Tworek at the University of British Columbia says there\u2019s always been people highly invested in trying to figure out details of crimes before official information is revealed, a phenomenon \u201cmassively accelerated\u201d by social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen in multiple cases, not just this one, these misidentifications of people that have had tremendous deleterious consequences for those innocent individuals who are not at all connected to these tragedies,\u201d said Tworek, an assistant professor at UBC\u2019s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and history department.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think part of it is the speed at which official investigations can move versus how fast people want to know things always creates this kind of base in which conspiracy theories flourish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tworek said social media accelerates the possibility of leaving more innocent people being \u201ccaught in the crossfire.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDonald said on Friday that the person in Ontario had a similar name to the person associated with the crime, apparently referring to the fact that Jesse Van Rootselaar\u2019s mother, Jennifer Jacobs, also went by the name Jennifer Strang. <\/p>\n
Jennifer Strang Jennifer Strang is seen in this undated photo. <\/p>\n
\u201cZylii \u2014 this did not need to happen. We know you are not involved,\u201d said McDonald. <\/p>\n
McDonald said the significant public attention to the incident has led to heightened concern in many communities across Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are mindful that public and media response and coverage can increase false reports, but can also bring forward serious complaints,\u201d said McDonald.<\/p>\n
B.C. resident Melissa Antoinette has been vocal on different media platforms by posting videos on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok, urging people to take down the misleading images of Strang. <\/p>\n
Reporters for some media organizations were among those who shared the incorrect images.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel absolutely terrible for anybody to have their image attached to any sort of horrific event or anything that they didn\u2019t do,\u201d said Antoinette. <\/p>\n
She said there was \u201cso much hate\u201d that she felt she needed to report some of the comments to the social media platforms.<\/p>\n
French wire service Agence France-Presse reported it had spoken with Krista Strang, who said her daughter Zylii was 25, seven years older than Van Rootselaar. <\/p>\n
She said Zylii Strang was \u201cdevastated\u201d by the situation and afraid to go outside after being misidentified.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t understand how (her profile) was linked to this crime other than my child being transgender and having (the) last name Strang,\u201d Krista Strang said.<\/p>\n
Teacher Mark Deeley, hailed as a hero for protecting his class at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, said on Facebook on Sunday that using the shooting as an excuse to vilify trans people is unacceptable. <\/p>\n
\u201cI do not and will not exacerbate the intolerance with hate. My humanity refuses it,\u201d said Deeley. <\/p>\n
Instead, he said love is the only way to combat hate. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need voices that are louder than those who would deny someone\u2019s right to exist as their true self.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by Nono Shen, The Canadian Press, was first published Feb. 15, 2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lawyer and former RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German discusses the significance of police removing the tape at Tumbler…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[76,75,43,713,47,44,715,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-478765","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-justice","12":"tag-national","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-social","15":"tag-top-news","16":"tag-top-stories","17":"tag-topnews","18":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}