The statement as to the shooter's pronouns, etc. came from the legal defense team. It's either a strategy of theirs or something the shooter said to muddy the waters. None of it matters. There's no question that this person killed those people. Hate crimes charges may add to the sentence, but the murder charges alone mean there will be no chance this creature will ever leave prison. The media (both left and right) are a bit shook up about whether or not to go with the defense teams' request regarding pronouns.