A 30-year-old Bellingham resident has been charged with conspiring to commit murder in Canada, accused of supporting the planning and online broadcast of a February attack that killed eight people in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, federal prosecutors said Tuesday, Oct. 6. James Cody Bryant, who goes by Melody and uses she/her pronouns, was arrested on a criminal complaint filed in the Western District of Washington. Prosecutors allege Bryant communicated with Jesse Van Rootselaar through Discord for months before the Feb. 10 attack, offering money, technical assistance and advice. FBI Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington said Bryant also agreed to livestream the attack in a way intended to draw attention to the shooter. Investigators allege Bryant was receiving the stream shortly before the attack and stayed awake after an overnight work shift to help ensure it could be viewed online. Prosecutors say the pair began discussing a plan to kill multiple people in Canada by August 2025. According to the complaint, Bryant advised Van Rootselaar on concealing the plan, including deleting messages and using virtual private networks. The filings also describe discussions of other mass shootings and the public attention they received. Authorities say Van Rootselaar killed two family members at home before going to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where five children ages 12 and 13 and an educational assistant were killed. Prosecutors say Van Rootselaar used an improvised explosive device at the school, fired through locked classroom doors and exchanged gunfire with police before dying by suicide. Herrington said Bryant helped Van Rootselaar travel to the school after the killings at home. The complaint also says Bryant at times tried to dissuade Van Rootselaar from carrying out the attack, but did not alert law enforcement and agreed shortly before the shooting to manage the livestream. Discord said it investigated activity on its platform after learning of the attack, provided relevant information to law enforcement and removed Bryant’s account for violating its policies. The company said it was cooperating with authorities. The FBI investigated with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Conspiracy to murder people in a foreign country carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison. Bryant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.