Liberal media outlets have refused to identify the perpetrator who went on a shooting spree at a Rhode Island youth hockey game on Monday as transgender. This comes as conservative media outlets have been raising the alarm about the number of violent incidents involving transgender perpetrators and suspects.
Several news outlets, including the Associated Press, CNN, ABC News, and NBC News, parroted Pawtucket Police Department chief Tina Goncalves, who said the shooter was identified as Robert Dorgan and also went by the name Roberta Esposito. MS NOW merely noted that "the suspect went by the name Roberta Esposito."
The New York Times initially reported that Goncalves said the shooter "went by two different names," but didn’t include either. It added them in Tuesday morning without an editors' note.
Dorgan entered a high school hockey game in Pawtucket, R.I., and opened fire, killing two family members and injuring three others before fatally shooting himself, according to police. Goncalves said the attack arose from a "family dispute."
Apparently, Dorgan’s gender identity was the source of several family disputes in recent years, the local news outlet WPRI reported, citing court documents. His father-in-law wanted to kick him out of his North Providence, R.I., home after he received sex reassignment surgery. Dorgan's wife originally cited "gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits" when she filed for divorce soon after, but she eventually crossed those out and wrote "irreconcilable differences which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage."
And twice on Sunday, Dorgan wrote on X that it was no wonder "why we Go BERSERK" in response to a post calling transgender Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride (Del.)—who just participated in a panel on "girls' rights" with Hillary Clinton—"a man."
stfu Alex
dont be so butt hurtt over somebody different. then wonder why trans ppl go fkn BERSERK— Roberta Dorgano (@Tgirlcuda) February 15, 2026
keep bashing us. but do not wonder why we Go BERSERK
— Roberta Dorgano (@Tgirlcuda) February 15, 2026
Nevertheless, national mainstream media outlets studiously omitted this widely available information from their press coverage of the killings.
Coverage of Monday’s shooting aligns with mainstream media outlets’ typical reporting on shootings by transgender gunmen. Many did not note that the person who shot up a Canadian school last week, Jesse Van Rootselaar, was born male and began transitioning six years ago. Reuters described Van Rootselaar as "an 18-year-old woman with mental health issues," while AP made no mention of his birth gender.
Last August, 23-year-old Robin Westman, who is transgender, opened fire during Mass at a Catholic church, killing two children. His suicide note mentioned frustration with being transgender. The New York Times used the shooting as the basis for an article, "Conservatives Use Minneapolis Shooting in Anti-Transgender Campaigns," which stated that "others" have used the case "to falsely portray all transgender people as prone to mental illness and violence."
