Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale appeared to refer to herself as “white nothingness” twice and express her physical attraction to “brown girls” in the journal police recovered from her vehicle.
The Tennessee Star confirmed last Wednesday it obtained dozens of pages of Hale’s writings from a source close to the Covenant investigation. The writings were recovered by the Metro Nashville Police Department on the day of the March 27, 2023 attack that claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adults.
In a journal entry that appears to be dated February 7, 2023, Hale wrote in all capital letters, “white nothingness,” then drew arrows pointing to a paragraph about her life.
“My parents aren’t rich. They work hard for [their] money so I didn’t end up homeless. Yet I still feel bad,” wrote Hale, after declaring that “poor people resent this s***.”
Later on the same page, Hale created a flow chart that used arrows to connect the word “brain” to the concepts of white privilege and embarrassment. She additionally drew a series of arrows identifying herself as “no one.”
“It be better to be average [and] have friends. The most brilliant people suffer the most and are the most isolated from everything they love,” wrote Hale.
Hale also used the “white nothingness” term in a February 10, 2023 journal entry about losing delivery jobs due to oversleeping.
“No one, I mean no one will think my life meant something after I die.” Hale wrote, “None of this s*** will matter to them once I’m dead.”
She continued, “no way they will even to notice when I’m gone.”
In all capital letters, she signed the entry “White Nothingness,” followed by the name Aiden. Born a biological woman, Hale began using the name Aiden after identifying as a transgender male.
While Hale did not appear to use “white nothingness” again in the writings reviewed by The Star, she described herself as “nothing” in an undated, early entry that seemed to reveal Hale’s sexual preferences.
“No brown girls, no love,” wrote Hale. She then drew a picture of a broken heart, and wrote, “I am nothing. Brown love is the most beautiful kind.”
In 2023, a former classmate suggested Hale was infatuated with Sydney Sims, who died in 2022 following a vehicle accident. Hale wrote entries addressed to Sims, who was black, throughout the journal, in addition to entries about her desire to unite with Sims after death.
Elsewhere in the journal, Hale declared herself the “most unhappy boy alive” and wrote, “I will be of no use of love for any girl if I don’t have what they need: boy’s body / male gender.”
Hale also referred to herself as “nothing” in an undated entry that appears to have been written in January 2023. She wrote, “Without my creativity, my art, my possessions, I am nothing.”
Both Star News Digital Media Inc., which owns and operates The Star, and editor-in-chief Michael Patrick Leahy are plaintiffs in lawsuits which seek to compel the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and the FBI to release all of Hale’s writings, including those some have called a manifesto.
The Star published last Wednesday an FBI memo, sent to MNPD Chief John Drake, which “strongly” advised against releasing “legacy tokens” left by individuals like Hale.
An FBI definition suggests all of Hale’s writings, including those obtained by The Star and those sought in the lawsuits, are considered “legacy tokens” by the federal agency.
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Audrey Elizabeth Hale” by Audrey Elizabeth Hale.
