Tennessee Republicans are calling for the release of a manifesto written by the person who killed six at The Covenant Presbyterian School on March 27, before entering into a special legislative session that will be focused on gun control.
State Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has filed a public records request with the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) in order to obtain information about the manifesto left behind by 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as transgender, after Hale’s rampage at The Covenant School in Nashville.
According to a report in The Tennessee Lookout, Gardenhire believes it is critical to know Hale’s motive before the upcoming special session.
That session was called by Gov. Bill Lee (R), who is seeking to implement “Order of Protection” laws, commonly known as Red Flag Laws.
“Giving an indication of Republican lawmakers’ resistance to passing gun control reform, whether in a special session or in the just-completed regular session, Gardenhire said Gov. Bill Lee ‘should know better than to rush a special session under these circumstances,'” The Tennessee Lookout reported.
U.S. Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-TN-11) also publicly called for the release of the manifesto, which has been under lock and key with MNPD and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) since the shooting.
“Audrey Hale murdered 6 Christians, and many Tennesseans are demanding that their state legislature ‘do something,'” Faison said Tuesday on Twitter. “We cannot possibly address this horrific situation until we know what was in her manifesto. I am calling on the Metropolitan Nashville Police Deparment [sic] & the FBI to immediately release this document so we can examine it, then take the appropriate steps.”
Audrey Hale murdered 6 Christians, and many Tennesseans are demanding that their state legislature “do something."
We cannot possibly address this horrific situation until we know what was in her manifesto.
I am calling on the Metropolitan Nashville Police Deparment & the FBI…
— Rep. Jeremy Faison (@JeremyFaison4TN) April 24, 2023
Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO of Star News Digital Media, Inc., which owns and operates The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network is also calling for the release of the manifesto.
He completed an MNPD open records request Monday afternoon, but was denied by the department.
Leahy requested the following:
[I]nspect and copy or duplicate all written records and documents, including written manifestos. journals, written notes, memoirs, and school yearbooks obtained by the Metro Nashville Police Department from search warrants executed on Monday March 27, 2023 and throughout the week of March 27, 2023 at the residence of Audrey Hale in Nashville and the car driven by Audrey Hale and left at the Covenant Presbyterian School parking lot on March 27, 2023 related to the investigation of the murder of six people at Covenant Presbyterian School by Audrey Hale on Monday March 27, 2023.
He also called upon Lee to demand the release of the manifesto from MNPD.
“I call upon Governor Bill Lee and Mayor John Cooper to request that the Metro Nashville Police Department immediately release the manifesto and all related written documents obtained in the search of the residence and vehicle of the murderer Audrey Hale because it is in the public interest to do so,” Leahy said.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Todd Gardenhire” by Sen. Todd Gardenhire. Photo “Jeremy Faison” by Ncrawford604. CC BY-SA 4.0. Background Photo “Covenant School Shooting” by Metro Nashville PD.
