Not that long ago, people who struggled to accept their biological gender were diagnosed with a mental health disorder called gender dysphoria. But radical tolerance pushed by the left has ushered us into an age where transgenderism is so embraced, and even popularized, that advocacy for it continues even as transgender-perpetrated violence increases.

On February 10, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, a biological male who identified as a woman, allegedly carried out a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, killing eight people — including his mother, stepbrother, five students, and a teacher — before dying by suicide. The mass shooting is one of the deadliest in Canadian history.

The mainstream media, however, has consistently portrayed Van Rootselaar as a woman with mental health issues, seemingly aligning with the transgender movement’s emphasis on gender-affirming language and self-identification.

But BlazeTV host Rick Burgess argues that mental illness isn’t the full picture.

“A[n alleged] mass killer that then takes their own life — that is a calling card of demonic activity,” he says.

On this episode of “Strange Encounters,” Rick delves into the spiritual dimensions of the atrocity, arguing that what society calls “mental illness” in such cases may actually stem from demonic oppression fueled by cultural confusion over God’s design for gender.

“On this podcast, we do not believe that all mental health is demonic. There’s no doubt that the human brain is a piece of our fallen bodies, like everything else, and it can be sick,” Rick says.

“However, there’s also a clear indication that many times we label demonic activity as mental illness when it’s not,” he adds.

Much of the violence we’re seeing from trans-identifying individuals, he says, falls into that category: demonic oppression repackaged as mental illness.

The LGBTQ+ movement that insists gender is a broad spectrum instead of the male/female dichotomy created by God is creating an environment that is both “chaotic and confusing.”

“And what lives in those two worlds?” Rick asks. “Demonic activity. No question.”

“We’re just pretending something, and it’s costing people their lives — and I’m including the people who are struggling with this,” he adds. “They become dangerous to other people and dangerous to themselves.”

To hear more of Rick’s spiritual analysis, watch the episode above.

Want more from Rick Burgess?

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​Rick burgess, Strange encounters, Strange encounters with rick burgess, Spiritual warfare, Canada mass shooting, Transgender violence, Transgenderism, Tumbler ridge shooting, Jesse van rootselaar, Blazetv, Blaze media 

Anyone who has been a teenager for more than five minutes can probably reach the same conclusion after watching the flood of videos recently posted to social media. Many of the kids streaming out of school to take part in anti-ICE protests look less like committed activists and more like students thrilled to be out of class. You can see it written all over their faces.

Perhaps the plan is to destroy the current system before deciding what the new one should be.

But students who simply want to ditch class are not the ones coordinating nationwide demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Most young people are not deeply invested in politics, if they are interested at all. Large-scale, coordinated walkouts don’t materialize organically.

Unfortunately, perception often becomes reality. Videos of tens of thousands of students leaving school buildings across the country are invaluable propaganda for left-wing activists seeking to foment cultural and political upheaval. This is not hyperbole. It comes directly from the far-left nonprofit organizations helping to organize, train, and mobilize K-12 students.

One such group is the Sunrise Movement, a far-left climate organization that has increasingly expanded beyond environmental activism. Originally focused on promoting a Green New Deal, the group recently announced it was pivoting toward “fighting Trump.” To accomplish this shift, Sunrise appears intent on eliminating opposition to its ideology by any means necessary. The organization has openly bragged about harassing hotel staff and guests for allegedly hosting ICE agents.

Central to Sunrise’s strategy is recruiting young people and embedding itself in K-12 schools. The organization sponsors clubs nationwide, which are then described as “student-led.” Unsurprisingly, these same clubs often organize walkouts centered on climate activism and anti-Trump messaging.

These protests are not meant to be one-off events. According to training materials obtained by Defending Education, Sunrise calls for monthly “direct actions” designed to “disrupt business as usual” and advance a so-called political revolution. The group’s 25-page guidebook — riddled with tired Marxist clichés — explicitly urges minors to engage in Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions-style actions against businesses deemed to be “propping up ICE.”

The issue, in other words, is never the issue. The issue is the revolution.

Sunrise’s materials offer little clarity about what this revolution will actually achieve; perhaps the plan is to destroy the current system before deciding what the new one should be.

RELATED: When parents pay twice to escape public schools, the verdict is in

id-work / Getty Images

But these acts of “civil disobedience” have become less about expressions of student voices and more about spectacles of class-skipping that benefit activists who openly call for dismantling the very system that allows these protests to occur.

In 2018, Robert Pondiscio warned schools that refusing to enforce discipline for the Parkland gun-control walkouts would make them “regret it down the road.” If students are permitted to disrupt learning for one political cause, he argued, schools would have to refrain from punishing disruptions for any cause that follows.

Eight years later, that warning looks prescient. Parents, activists, and even school officials now routinely encourage or excuse walkouts tied to the cause of the month. Meanwhile, the activist groups behind these demonstrations are targeting businesses and institutions that fail to conform to prescribed political views. History suggests that once a movement normalizes coercion, its circle of targets inevitably expands.

It is time for parents, administrators, and school board members to put an end to mass student walkouts before they become a permanent feature of a school system that is already failing far too many children. Roughly 70% of American students are not proficient in core academic subjects. Schools cannot afford to treat instructional time as expendable.

Students absolutely retain their First Amendment rights. But they also have a civic responsibility to become educated citizens. Real, lasting change comes from knowledge, discipline, and understanding — not from performative outrage and adults who confuse activism with education.

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A man who allegedly claimed to be an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was arrested after he assaulted workers at a McDonald’s restaurant in Southern California.

Joshua Cobb, 44, walked into the La Jolla McDonald’s on Nobel Drive on Thursday at about noon and put the manager in a headlock, according to a press release from the San Diego Police Department.

‘Why do you think I’m willing to take two punches in the motherf**king face with some illegal immigrants while I make an arrest for Immigration and Customs Enforcement?’

The manager was described as a Hispanic male by Lt. Cesar Jimenez, who said that Cobb accused him of being an illegal alien.

Cobb led the man outside the restaurant while claiming he was being arrested, but the other workers came to his aid and forced Cobb to release him.

Police were able to identify and arrest Cobb, according to Jimenez, who was charged with impersonating an officer as well as battery.

The manager, Daniel Martinez, spoke to KGTV-TV and described what happened.

“He grabbed me from the back, grabbed my neck, like, really hard,” Martinez said. “So when that happened, all my co-workers jumped on him, and he let go, but after that, he just punched me on the side.”

The employees at the McDonald’s said they didn’t believe the man was an ICE officer because he frequented the fast food place, would only order sodas, and would leave a mess.

“Why do you think your 911 phone calls aren’t f**king working?” said the man police identified as Cobb. “Why do you think I’m willing to take two punches in the motherf**king face with some illegal immigrants while I make an arrest for Immigration and Customs Enforcement?”

RELATED: Church worker pretended to be ICE agent to extort $500 from massage therapist, police say

Jimenez also addressed the videos circulating online about the incident.

“There are several videos of this incident circulating online,” he said. “We understand how concerning this can be for members of our community. We want to assure residents that impersonating a law enforcement officer is a crime and the San Diego Police Department takes any reports of this nature very seriously.”

Martinez said he was not hurt during the attack.

“At that moment, my first reaction was just to protect my crew because I’m in charge of all of them,” the manager said.

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