Social justice advocates believe school shooter should be set free because of trans identity

McKinney is one of the two Colorado students charged in the 2019 STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting. He was a juvenile at the time that he killed one student and injured eight others. McKinney was born female but identifies as a male.

Leftist progressives claim that "oppressive society" and "a world designed to kill us" had driven McKinney to violence. They claim that he doesn't deserve to be punished for his crimes because it wasn't his fault that he committed the act.

Instead, they advocate for the mass shooter to be enabled to "thrive as a trans person," and that the courts should disregard the first-degree murder and 16 other counts to which he plead guilty.

"F*** Transphobia. That's the real story here," one outraged leftist wrote. "Alec McKinney deserves to be free, just like every human being,"

Some argue that McKinney acted out of self defense. His mass shooting was "[r]esistance against bullies and fascist" and "should be celebrated."

McKinney told police while in custody that he had targeted three students who bullied him for being transgender, but that he also wanted to make every student suffer like he had, the Denver Post reported.

"Locking people who were brutally bullied by bigots isn't the answer," a Free Alec McKinney fan account tweeted.

But violence is the answer, the mob asserts. The convicted murderer had no other choice but to take the innocent life of Kendrick Castillo. "Terror is sometimes the only and best way forward," a provocateur proclaimed.

One instigator even claimed that Mckinney "didn't go far enough. The claim is that there should be no consequences for acts that the mob deems in service to social justice.

John Castillo, Kendrick Castillo's father, testified at the sentencing hearing that he wanted McKinney to receive the maximum sentence possible.

Castillo was one of three students who rushed the older shooter to apprehend him during the open fire.

"This killer is a monster," Castillo's father said. "You took something from me that can never be replaced… You’ve taken my purpose… I will never find peace."

McKinney was remorseful, telling the judge that he doesn't want leniency.

"I not only physically killed people, I mentally killed people too," McKinney cried. "I don’t know how to describe the sorrow I feel when I think of the victims."

"I don’t deserve to come home," McKinney added, recognizing his wrongdoings and going against the leftist narrative online.

McKinney urged others who ruminate over committing a school shooting to seek help immediately, not internalize deep-seated hatred until it morphs into violence.

"The amount of pain it causes to anyone who ever cared about you, to the innocent people. Don’t be a coward and hide behind a gun. Be brave and learn how to get help," he stated.

District Attorney George Brauchler was not sure if McKinney would be sent to an adult male or female prison, but the Department of Corrections usually makes accommodations to protect trans individuals, CBS Denver reported.

Currently, McKinney is housed in a male wing of the juvenile corrections facility in his own cell.