The following includes content that is editorial in nature and reflects the opinion of the writer, a retired Chief of Police and current staff writer for Law Enforcement Today.
NASHVILLE, TN- On March 27, 2023, a gender-confused individual named Audrey Hale walked into The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, and started shooting, a rampage that killed three children, all nine years old and three staff members.
Over six months later, Hale's so-called “manifesto” has not been released.
Contrast that with a gunman who entered a Dollar General in Jacksonville, Florida on August 26, 2023. Within days, Jacksonville police released details of the shooter’s manifesto before his name was released.
What is the difference? It appears to be politically motivated. In the case of Nashville, the shooter was part of a so-called “protected” class—a transgender individual.
In Jacksonville, the shooter, Ryan Palmeter, 21, was white, while his victims were all black. Jacksonville Police Chief T.K. Waters immediately told the media the shooting was driven by racial hatred:
“This shooting was racially motivated, and he hated black people,” Waters said. That statement was made one day after the shooting, as reported by The Western Journal.
In the case of Hale, however, there has been the equivalent of an information lockdown over the case. Aside from Hale being identified as transgender, no details about the manifesto have been released to the public.
The only thing that has come out of the shooting were calls for stricter gun controls in Tennessee, the Daily Caller reports. In fact, over 100 individual pieces of legislation have been filed in the state primarily by Democrats.
Hale’s manifesto, including journals and writings detailing his plans to attack the school and other potential locations, was uncovered by police shortly after the shootings.
However, law enforcement officials said they would not release the contents of those documents until the investigation was concluded. Ironically, there will be no trial since Hale was killed in a shootout, so it is unknown what the delay is.
Several groups, including the Tennessee Firearms Association, have filed suit to obtain copies of Hale’s manifesto. Conversely, the Covenant Presbyterian Church has filed a counter-motion to halt the documents being turned over to the public. It is unknown why the church is trying to hide the release of the documents.
The Daily Caller stated they contacted the Nashville Police Department, the governor’s office, and the Tennessee Republican Party for comment. However, none responded.
The only statement released by the police department concerning the massacre came about one week after the incident.
“In the collective writings by Hale found in her vehicle in the school parking lot, and others later found in the bedroom of her home, she documented, in journals, her planning for months to commit mass murder at The Covenant School,” the police department said on April 3.
“The writings remain under careful review by the MNPD and the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The motive for Hale’s actions has not been established and remains under investigation by the Homicide Unit in consultation with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. It is known that Hale considered the actions of other mass murderers.”
Officials have attempted in some regard to downplay Hale’s manifesto, with the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, David Rausch, calling Hale’s documents “’ramblings’ rather than writings that point to a clear motive,” The Tennessean wrote.
Conversely, Metro Nashville Council Member Courtney Johnston defined the writings as “a blueprint on total destruction, and it was so, so detailed at the level of what she had planned.”
All of this conflicting information leads one to conclude that someone appears to be trying to hide something. And at a time when the trans issue has become a divisive lightning rod issue between the left and right, one must wonder where the truth lies.
By all appearances, The Covenant School appears to be trying to hide something. There are conspiracy theories (which need to be taken with a grain of salt) that Hale may have suffered some type of assault when she attended the school.
The school claims the documents “may include and/or relate to sensitive information owned by The Covenant School.” What exactly is that “sensitive information?” Nobody is saying.
Then there is the issue of the victims’ families, who are also trying to suppress Hale’s writings. Last month, Hale’s parents transferred ownership of the documents to the victims’ families. That transfer may be a moot point, however, since they are currently in possession of law enforcement officials.
All of this, however, is trumped by the public interest in the case. By all appearances, it seems Hale was inspired by anti-Christian bias. At a time when Christians are under attack, including by the US Department of Justice, it is a legitimate concern for Christians when an attack is carried out against a Christian institution.
lip the script, and if it were an LGBTQ organization that suffered the same type of attack, the entire media complex and every Democrat politician would be demanding the release of the manifesto. If they even had to.
There is also the issue of Second Amendment rights. Since the shooting resulted in the usual response of trying to punish lawful gun owners, those gun owners have the right to know what motivated this individual to shoot up a Christian school and kill six people. This wasn’t just a random person who owned guns and decided to commit murder. Something inspired Hale, and it’s important to know what that is.
Reason noted that in 2019, Brenton Harrison Tarrant committed a mass murder in Christchurch, New Zealand. In that case, the government attempted to deep-six his manifesto to the point of prosecuting citizens who shared it. The manifesto, however, “specifically focuses on the anti-immigrant aspects of eco-fascism, dedicating at least an entire page to espousing what it calls ‘Green Nationalism.’”
Citizens have lost faith in their public officials, including law enforcement, and suppressing the motivation of Hale in murdering six people, including three innocent children, does nothing to mitigate that loss of trust.
In a Gallup poll in 2022, only 14 percent of respondents said they had a “great deal or a lot of confidence in the criminal justice system.” That was down from only 20 percent in 2021. What has been witnessed from the Department of Justice in the past year will do nothing to assuage those concerns.
Until police release the manifesto to the public, people will be left to their imaginations to decide why Hale did what she did. The public has a right to see what her motivations were. Informing the public what drives individuals to commit mass murder should not be driven by what is politically correct. The government must be completely transparent in these matters.
NASHVILLE, TN- On March 27, 2023, a gender-confused individual named Audrey Hale walked into The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, and started shooting, a rampage that killed three children, all nine years old and three staff members.
Over six months later, Hale's so-called “manifesto” has not been released.
Contrast that with a gunman who entered a Dollar General in Jacksonville, Florida on August 26, 2023. Within days, Jacksonville police released details of the shooter’s manifesto before his name was released.
What is the difference? It appears to be politically motivated. In the case of Nashville, the shooter was part of a so-called “protected” class—a transgender individual.
In Jacksonville, the shooter, Ryan Palmeter, 21, was white, while his victims were all black. Jacksonville Police Chief T.K. Waters immediately told the media the shooting was driven by racial hatred:
“This shooting was racially motivated, and he hated black people,” Waters said. That statement was made one day after the shooting, as reported by The Western Journal.
In the case of Hale, however, there has been the equivalent of an information lockdown over the case. Aside from Hale being identified as transgender, no details about the manifesto have been released to the public.
The only thing that has come out of the shooting were calls for stricter gun controls in Tennessee, the Daily Caller reports. In fact, over 100 individual pieces of legislation have been filed in the state primarily by Democrats.
Hale’s manifesto, including journals and writings detailing his plans to attack the school and other potential locations, was uncovered by police shortly after the shootings.
However, law enforcement officials said they would not release the contents of those documents until the investigation was concluded. Ironically, there will be no trial since Hale was killed in a shootout, so it is unknown what the delay is.
Several groups, including the Tennessee Firearms Association, have filed suit to obtain copies of Hale’s manifesto. Conversely, the Covenant Presbyterian Church has filed a counter-motion to halt the documents being turned over to the public. It is unknown why the church is trying to hide the release of the documents.
The Daily Caller stated they contacted the Nashville Police Department, the governor’s office, and the Tennessee Republican Party for comment. However, none responded.
The only statement released by the police department concerning the massacre came about one week after the incident.
“In the collective writings by Hale found in her vehicle in the school parking lot, and others later found in the bedroom of her home, she documented, in journals, her planning for months to commit mass murder at The Covenant School,” the police department said on April 3.
“The writings remain under careful review by the MNPD and the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The motive for Hale’s actions has not been established and remains under investigation by the Homicide Unit in consultation with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. It is known that Hale considered the actions of other mass murderers.”
Officials have attempted in some regard to downplay Hale’s manifesto, with the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, David Rausch, calling Hale’s documents “’ramblings’ rather than writings that point to a clear motive,” The Tennessean wrote.
Conversely, Metro Nashville Council Member Courtney Johnston defined the writings as “a blueprint on total destruction, and it was so, so detailed at the level of what she had planned.”
All of this conflicting information leads one to conclude that someone appears to be trying to hide something. And at a time when the trans issue has become a divisive lightning rod issue between the left and right, one must wonder where the truth lies.
By all appearances, The Covenant School appears to be trying to hide something. There are conspiracy theories (which need to be taken with a grain of salt) that Hale may have suffered some type of assault when she attended the school.
The school claims the documents “may include and/or relate to sensitive information owned by The Covenant School.” What exactly is that “sensitive information?” Nobody is saying.
Then there is the issue of the victims’ families, who are also trying to suppress Hale’s writings. Last month, Hale’s parents transferred ownership of the documents to the victims’ families. That transfer may be a moot point, however, since they are currently in possession of law enforcement officials.
All of this, however, is trumped by the public interest in the case. By all appearances, it seems Hale was inspired by anti-Christian bias. At a time when Christians are under attack, including by the US Department of Justice, it is a legitimate concern for Christians when an attack is carried out against a Christian institution.
lip the script, and if it were an LGBTQ organization that suffered the same type of attack, the entire media complex and every Democrat politician would be demanding the release of the manifesto. If they even had to.
There is also the issue of Second Amendment rights. Since the shooting resulted in the usual response of trying to punish lawful gun owners, those gun owners have the right to know what motivated this individual to shoot up a Christian school and kill six people. This wasn’t just a random person who owned guns and decided to commit murder. Something inspired Hale, and it’s important to know what that is.
Reason noted that in 2019, Brenton Harrison Tarrant committed a mass murder in Christchurch, New Zealand. In that case, the government attempted to deep-six his manifesto to the point of prosecuting citizens who shared it. The manifesto, however, “specifically focuses on the anti-immigrant aspects of eco-fascism, dedicating at least an entire page to espousing what it calls ‘Green Nationalism.’”
Citizens have lost faith in their public officials, including law enforcement, and suppressing the motivation of Hale in murdering six people, including three innocent children, does nothing to mitigate that loss of trust.
In a Gallup poll in 2022, only 14 percent of respondents said they had a “great deal or a lot of confidence in the criminal justice system.” That was down from only 20 percent in 2021. What has been witnessed from the Department of Justice in the past year will do nothing to assuage those concerns.
Until police release the manifesto to the public, people will be left to their imaginations to decide why Hale did what she did. The public has a right to see what her motivations were. Informing the public what drives individuals to commit mass murder should not be driven by what is politically correct. The government must be completely transparent in these matters.
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