Anti-trans sentiment rises after Philly shooting suspect Kimbrady Carriker is identified as crossdresser (2024)

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: After the rifle-wielding suspect in the Philly mass shooting case, Kimbrady Carriker, was identified as a cross-dressing supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, anti-trans sentiment has reached new highs online. Carriker fatally shot five men and injured two children in Philadelphia. The 40-year-old Carriker was arrested shortly after he opened fire in the city's Kingsessing neighborhood on the eve of the Fourth of July.

Kimbrady has not yet been charged but District Attorney Larry Krasner stated during a press conference that he anticipates the suspect to face several multiple charges. The victims of the bloodbath have been identified as 20-year-old Lashyd Merritt, 29-year-old Dymir Stanton, 59-year-old Ralph Moralis, 15-year-old boy Daujan Brown and 31-year-old Joseph Wamah, Jr. Deputies noted that two children, a 2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy, were also shot during the incident while another 2-year-old boy and a 33-year-old woman were injured by flying glass. It was also revealed that Carriker was armed with a rifle, pistol, extra magazines, a police scanner, and bulletproof vest when he started the rampage.

Who is Kimbrady Carriker?

It has been revealed that Carriker was a computer geek with an insatiable obsession with guns. He even posted a video of young children shooting at targets a few days earlier. Facebook posts from March 2022 show him dressed as a woman, wearing a bra, hooped earrings, and gold bracelets. Additionally, he frequently made social media posts supporting Black Lives Matter, including showing support for workers who protested in the 'Strike For Black Lives' in July 2020. He had also shared unsettling posts on Facebook such as"How do you know if an evil spirit is following you" and "We kept the receipts," as well as a picture of a map displaying notable US "black massacres."

Those who knew Carriker were left shocked after the news of his arrest. Tina Rosette, 49, Carriker's former flatmate, expressed disbelief at his involvement in the shooting to the Inquirer. ”I didn’t even know he had a gun,” she said. Rosette called Carriker "really smart, intelligent, creative" and someone who liked technology, but added that he had "an aggressive approach to some things in life" and had been in a "dark place" lately but she was unsure of the cause. Tina Rosette’s daughter, Cianni Rosette, 24, who also lived with the alleged shooter, said Carriker had flashed a handgun several times. "He was trying to get me comfortable around guns and stuff like that,” she said.

‘These radical crazy trans’

While crossdressers are not necessarily transgender, this detail about Carriker became the reason for a surge in anti-trans posts on social media. Carriker’s arrest after the bloodshed sparked a wave of anger on the Internet, with one user saying, "Media won’t talk about this so we will. Time to start having a national dialogue on Trans mass shooters that target children. Enough!!" A second user said, “We need to really look to see if medications might be involved. It sounds so very likely.” A third user wrote, "The names and locations may change, but the faces and patterns of behavior remain the same." Another one said, "So they might want to release Audrey Hale’s manifesto so we might better understand what these people are thinking." Another tweeted, "These radical Trans are destroying decades pf (sic) progress made by LGB movement."