Two Mass Shootings by Trans Shooters, or None? What We Know

Conservatives are promoting a false narrative that the suspect charged in a mass shooting in Philadelphia is transgender—after similar claims about a school shooting in Nashville.

Kimbrady Carriker, 40, was arraigned on Wednesday morning on five counts of murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons counts of possession without a license and carrying firearms in public, prosecutors said. He is accused of killing a man in a house and then gunning down four others on the streets on Monday, before surrendering to police.

Even before Carriker's name was released by the authorities, however, some Republican lawmakers were posting on social media labeling the suspect as transgender.

Conservative figures are increasingly seeking to blame mass shootings on trans people, at a time when a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures.

After the Philadelphia shootings, some commentators pointed to the authorities' use of gender-neutral pronouns to refer to Carriker. Others jumped to the conclusion that he was trans after the New York Post and other outlets published photos from his now-deleted Facebook page that showed him with long, braided hair and wearing women's clothing.

One law enforcement officer did use "they/them" pronouns for the suspect during a news conference on Tuesday, but at the same event District Attorney Larry Krasner repeatedly referred to Carriker as a man.

"Another trans shooter," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted on Tuesday, alongside a link to an article from right-wing website The Post Millennial.

The Republican lawmaker has repeatedly been criticized for anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and for spreading conspiracy theories. Newsweek has contacted Greene for further comment.

Secure America Now, a conservative nonprofit with 3 million followers on Facebook, posted on Wednesday that the Philadelphia suspect had been "revealed to be a trans [Black Lives Matter] activist."

Vice News, which reviewed Carriker's Facebook account before it was deleted, reported that aside from the "handful of pictures" with braided hair, there was no evidence on the page that Carriker was transgender.

The outlet also reported that the far right has labeled Carriker a Black Lives Matter activist based on a single image referring to the movement, ignoring that he repeatedly posted about Second Amendment rights, his pro-gun stance and his support for former President Donald Trump.

Asa Khalif, a member of the LGBTQIA advisory committee for the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, said Carriker does not identify as transgender and condemned commentators who label transgender people as "killers."

"The suspect has not identified themselves as trans. They have only identified themselves as male," Khalif said during a news conference on Wednesday.

"But the language spewed out by the conservative press is violent and it's dangerous, and it's targeting trans women of color. It's rallying the community to be violent and we're better than that."

Transgender people "are the most vulnerable to violence," he added. "They want to live their lives and they have every right to do so, and we will not allow conservative bigots to use that type of language to attack trans people."

Krasner echoed this sentiment during a news conference on Wednesday. "There are some people for whom hate is a full-time job and if they can stay away from the facts and talk about nonsense, that's what they're going to do," he said.

Anti-trans rhetoric and disinformation were also spread in March, after six people were killed in a mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville.

At the time, police said Audrey Hale, who was killed by officers at the scene, identified as transgender.

However, the authorities have yet to confirm Hale's gender identity and have not shared any evidence that links Hale's gender identity to the shooting.

Some conservatives have called for the release of a manifesto that Hale reportedly wrote ahead of the shooting, but LGBTQ+ groups cautioned against releasing the document. Police have said they would not release it during their investigation.

Some right-wing figures used the Nashville killings to spread false claims about a rise in transgender mass shooters, prompting concerns that transgender people would be targeted.

Mass shootings by perpetrators who identify as transgender are "exceedingly rare," Jaclyn Schildkraut, executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, told Newsweek in March.

Because "the base rate of incidents in general is so small, any increase looks astronomical."