Two Colorado school shooters were convicted on 46 counts, including murder, for an incident in which they specifically targeted students she felt were “transphobic.”
Devon Michael Erickson and Maya “Alec” McKinney walked into a classroom at STEM School Highlands Ranch on May 7, 2019, and opened fire on students as they watched “The Princess Bride.”
Eight students were wounded. 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo was shot and killed as he attempted to disarm Erickson.
Erickson and McKinney, who was born female but identifies as male. Known as a male named “Alec,” McKinney is referred to as “Maya Elizabeth McKinney” a “juvenile female” in court documents.
The pair specifically targeted students they felt were “transphobic” against McKinney.
Despite the pair being involved in a mass school shooting, some liberal activists rallied to defend McKinney, arguing he was the victim of discrimination.
Heavy.com reports:
A friend of McKinney’s and Erickson’s wrote on Instagram that “Devon did not do what he did because he’s liberal or to make a statement. He did it due to internal struggles. They’re both struggling with mental health issues and this is a time for awareness. Alec did not do this because he’s trans, but had people supported him in the way he needed and deserved, he would not have struggled so much that he got pushed over the edge.”
The friend wrote that the pair did a “horrible thing” but called for more support for LGBT youth, saying the two didn’t allegedly act because they hated others but rather because of hate in themselves.
The Post-Millennial reports there is even an online movement to have the charges dropped, writing:
Social justice crusaders on social media advocated to #AbolishPrisons for McKinney’s release who was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole last July. McKinney was born female but identifies as male.
Leftists claimed that “oppressive society” and “a world designed to kill us” had driven McKinney to violence, alleging that he doesn’t deserve to be punished for his crimes because it wasn’t his fault that he committed the acts.
Instead, the social justice warriors advocated for the mass shooter to be able to “thrive as a trans person,” and that the courts should disregard the first-degree murder and 16 other counts to which he pleaded guilty.
Michael Brigham
Michael Brigham has written for American Action News since the summer of 2019. His areas of expertise include foreign affairs, government, and politics, but regardless of the subject matter, he has a nose and an insatiable appetite for news. In his free time, he enjoys reading nonfiction, watching a mix of comedies and true crime documentaries, and spending time away from the swamp hiking in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
Of course the guns are at fault.
Every person who’s ever committed a murder–OK, I’ll change that to “the huge majority”–does it because they feel they’ve been pushed to the edge. People are advocating excusing the action because of the particular type of “pushing” these two received. You really, really don’t want to open that can of worms. Once you excuse murder, you open the floodgates to the unscrupulous who will use this case as a precedent for future exemptions.
I totally agree with elem teacher. Since when is it ok to take another persons life in first degree! We have all felt shunned at one point in our lives but we did not go out with a gun to shoot people this is ridiculous! My daughter used to get ugly remarks from people because of her crazy hair color, piercings, and tattoos before they became the in thing with young people. It used to make me angry at the stares and ugly remarks made but not her she said the Lord knows my heart and I know what kind of person I am that is all that matters.
Have they ever considered having separate classes for kids with “issues”, taught by teachers who survived the difficulties, achieved their qualifications for both teaching, assessing and counseling alternative approaches so that the behaviors would seem more of a learning experience than a source of hostility?
Has anyone ever considered that these two teens who committed this atrocity have severe mental illness which is why they are biological females but identify as males and why they felt they needed to express their anger, frustration, and perceived un-acceptance with extreme physical violence. LBGTQ is a mental disorder.
They are better perceived as “victims” if they identify as to something they are CLEARLY not! Then anyone who disagrees is a hater or transphobe! It’s a spin from the good old race card..
They are both typical Democrats and in this case typical mentally disturbed people. When will people start waking up and realize this is a contrived condition. I don’t believe they should even hide behind the LBG movement. A man cannot become a woman and a woman cannot become man. I cannot understand how anyone can be proud of being gay or lesbian. It takes a very sick mind to do that.
These two people should spend the rest of their days in prison. They should put “Alec” in a male prison after all SHE identified as a man. Would be fun to see if she could survive as a male.
Their actions speak louder than words, a life was taken, disregard? That’s as insane as what the shooter did! Get your head out of the sand and come back to earth!
IT’s time we hold all who break the law accountable because that’s one of the issues of today, everyone has a right, but no one will take responsibility. What they did was wrong and they need to accept responsibility for their actions.
Just disgusting trash. Murder is a violation of a life, Those shooters and their supporters should pay compensation to every one of the victims, for the rest of their lives, How could you possibly take a gun to an unarmed individual and shoot them. That is disgusting. Death penalty or forever in prison is just fine for these two pieces of trash.
LISTEN UP….NO EXCUSES for Those WHO COMMITT ASSAULT and MURDER. The SAME Goes for OTHER CRIMES. CRIME and PUNISHMENT. LAW and ORDER. From SamuraiQueen. 😄😄😄
she/he/it..will find great popularity in Prison.
Mental Illness
This is what is wrong with our society now-a-days. No responsibility for your actions, judges and prosecutors letting people off the hook for what they did. Life can be cruel, toughen-up cupcake!
Murder is not a solution in a civil society, but executing a murderer is an acceptable solution.
As mentally and emotionally deranged as are these two, their advocates are more dangerous. They are still free to spew and act on their spewing. Also, the guns aimed themselves and pulled the trigger.
Now it seems the curse of Revelation is upon us: good is evil and evil is good. Mistrust someone? Just pull out a weapon and blow them away. We can say this with confidence: these wretched human beings demonstrate what a load of self-hating conflicted misery the TS crowd tend to be; and such deeds will NOT advance the TS cause.
Awwwwww. The poor babies !!! Ridiculed for going so far out of social limits that they no longer belong to the human race. Bleeding heart liberal – “Oh, how can you say that ?” I can say that because they have proven themselves to outside of the human race by what they did.
I am struggling to understand how a liberal shoooter is a “victim “ yet if this was a conservative he would be pillared in the court of public opinion,
Sorry but the way the Left cover for their horrid acts yet attack any on the right who does something similar act.
Where were these two teenagers parents in all this, just standing around ringing their hands, and yes these two need psychological help BUT what they did was not right they new the difference between right and wrong that’s what makes this wrong, but the LGBTQ community didn’t help them either, where were they when transitioning were was the support? Lgbtq where is the help? Who did they get support from in that community? You need to become more aware and helpful to teenagers were are they to turn, you want equal rights, well its kids like these who have no support system in your little world, not everything whether you like it or Not isn’t about YOU! Get off your high horse stop with your phony boo-hood, everyone human being has rights, whether you like it or not! Nobody but you cares if your gay, lesbian, transgender or whatever you chose, that’s fine BUT it’s not only you, people who have a strong religious faith it’s their way of life, not your’s to destroy! Yes I’m bring up Mr Phillips the cake maker, you have NO right to destroy this man because of his faith, he’s Not out to destroy your life get over yourselves, you can be lesbians or transgender all you want but to deliberately try a destroy this family is wrong, this family is allowed to have the same rights as but you want to take it away from them, your bigots not Mr Phillips he was straight up about his faith But your arena bunch of hypocrites, you want it your way or the highway or else!
“Despite the pair being involved in a mass school shooting, some liberal activists rallied to defend McKinney, arguing he was the victim of discrimination.”
Why is this article calling one of the killers a “he”? She is a SHE!
Murder is murder. So they felt pushed, I do at times also, that does not give me the right to take the person’s life I feel is pushing me
These two should have received the death penalty. I would have gladly pumped them full of a toxic brew to send them on to hell. Creeps like this do not deserve to breathe air in our country.
After Leftist Socialists, called Democrats initiated the War on Whites Movement in this country does anyone really find this surprising?
All left wing communist supporting democrats are insane and should be banned from owning firearms! period.
In this article it indicates that the justification for the shooting by a friend of both perpetrators as being they were pushed over the edge by peer pressure and for not being accepted as transgender. There is always peer pressure in all phases of life and the majority of people don’t commit mass shootings, we deal with the pressure in positive ways. There is absolutely no justification other than self-defense for shooting someone.
This friend also mentioned that both perpetrators have mental health issues. I found that a very interesting statement. I believe that all LBGTQ behaviors stem from mental illness and we as sane straight citizens are being told that we MUST condone LBGTQ behaviors and accept them as normal when they are a result of mental illness. This is an example of the mentally insane in charge of running the asylum.
Charles Manson was bullied too! He spent 60 years in jail in liberal crime loving California.
Well now, I guess the taxpayers will be covering their ‘corrective surgeries’ and ‘hormone treatments’… yay.
You dumb a.. I don’t care who he hated. Hell if I was a kid that changed my sex/gender what ever you call it I’d hate myself too because of idiots like you morons ate allow this to go on. It is your fault and they killed people. If that was a regular person you would not be well the poor person had problems. To bad you weren’t in that classroom. Would love to see your response if you were. No dumb a.. like you show the problem with this crap. You do know thatr these transgender people have lots of suoicide and it isn’t because they were not supported. It is because they are so screwed up by idiots like you.
Let’s ask Kendrick Castillo? Oh wait HE’S DEAD! Because of the SENSELESS actions of two mentally confused Gender idiots, who thought it would be cool to murder people who disagree with them. Bravo, we’ve achieved Utopia to protect the sick and their actions for trying to imply this TRANS garbage is NORMAL! GFY “girls” and may God forgive you, but Mr.Castillo didn’t get that choice!!