Conservative Commentator Steven Crowder Pushes Back Against Legacy Media Criticism About Bombshell Release of Covenant Killer Documents

While much of the legacy media attacks the messenger, conservative commentator Steven Crowder wants to know why major news outlets haven’t been more diligent in going after Covenant School Killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s manifesto.

The host of the Louder with Crowder podcast this week published photos of three pages from Hale’s prolific writings, which the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have blocked from public release.

The pages, obtained by Crowder’s MugClub Undercover investigative unit, include Hale’s hour-by-hour plan for March 27, when the killer stormed into Nashville’s Covenant Presbyterian School and fatally shot three 9-year-old students and three staff members. Hale, a 28-year-old biological woman who identified as a male, appears to detail a motive for the school shootings, particularly her anti-white hatred expressed through far-left talking points.

Sources in the Tennessee General Assembly who were allowed to view the Covenant Killer Manifesto by the Metro Nashville Police Department have confirmed to The Tennessee Star that the pages are indeed part of the documents obtained by MNPD during its investigation and were authentically written by Hale.

In a piece published Monday, WSVM investigative reporter Jeremy Finley minimalizes the conservative talk show host and comedian for not providing proper context. Finley noted that “journalists have been vying to obtain the entire writings before releasing anything.”

“You have only released three pages and I’m wondering if you think that’s irresponsible?” Finley, who reports for Nashville’s NBC affiliate, asked during the interview. Crowder released Monday’s entire interview with Finley on his website.

“Why would that be irresponsible?” Crowder asked Finley

“Because there isn’t a context to it,” he responded.

Crowder told Finley that the MNPD’s so-called investigation into a school shooting by a killer who was fatally shot by police on that late March day has been dragging on for more than seven months. He said the FBI got involved and has also moved to suppress the release of Hale’s writings.

“They haven’t been able to name any other people of interest with their investigation and the American people has [sic] seen nothing,” Crowder told Finley.

He said Hale, who in the released pages wrote, “Wanna kill all you little crackers” and took aim at affluent children “with their white privlages [sic],” said the transgender man had been “steeped their entire life in the modern progressive ideology.”

The Covenant Presbyterian Church, its private elementary school, and parents of the school’s students have sought to block the release of Hale’s writings, arguing they would create copycat shooters, put the school at more risk, and bring back terrifying memories.

Star News Digital Media, the parent company of The Tennessee Star, is a plaintiff in state and federal lawsuits demanding the release of the documents. The litigation is slowly moving through the courts.

Also, during the interview, Finley told Crowder, “Obviously, you identify as a conservative, and you will have your critics who will say you have an agenda in this.”

“So what’s your end game?” Finley said.

Crowder acknowledged he’s not unbiased. He’s a conservative who started an investigative unit on his show because investigative journalism in 2023 America is severely lacking. He said his unit shouldn’t have gotten the Hale documents first. Investigative reporters at Nashville and nationwide news outlets should have been digging for what Crowder said MNPD sources released to his reporters.

Finley told Crowder he should be criticized “a bit” for his actions.

“As one of the reporters who wants to see all of the writings, my goal has always been to see all of the writings so that I could put that into context,” the TV journalist said. “What you have gotten is a couple of pages, and so I do think there is a bit of criticism here that what you put out is just a sliver of the story and doesn’t give the whole story, and that’s dangerous.”

Crowder said, “Do you have access to any of the pages?”

Finley said he couldn’t reveal what he’s seen. He has to protect his sources, too. But the reporter acknowledged that he hasn’t seen all of Hale’s writings.

“Do you have any writings?” Crowder said. “I’m not asking you to reveal your sources. I’m asking, do you have any writings? No one has anything and the criticism is, ‘You released some pages,’ while no one has really been doing their due diligence or doing the leg work to get any pages.”

That’s not quite true.

The Tennessee Star, the Tennessean, the Tennessee Firearms Association, and the National Police Association all have filed very expensive lawsuits in state court demanding Metro Nashville follow public records laws and turn over Hale’s writings. The plaintiffs have filed open records requests. The Tennessee Star’s parent company is suing MNPD’s partner in records suppression, the FBI.

But Crowder’s point to the WSVM investigative reporter and others in corporate journalism is clear. Crowder’s team obtained important documents in a horrifying school shooting, and he’s letting the public know. Ultimately, he’s trying to force law enforcement and city officials to do what they’ve failed to do: be transparent.

“I would love for all of it to be released,” Crowder told Finley. “No one has done it and it was never going to happen. We released what we have.”

Crowder hammered home the point when Finley asked him what he thought of Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s decision to open up an investigation into the leaked documents. O’Connell, in a statement, said he was “deeply concerned with the safety, security, and well-being of the Covenant families and all Nashvillians who are grieving,”

Crowder said he’s concerned about safety, too, “because six people are dead, three of them children.” Knowing more could help Nashville and communities across the country prevent such attacks in the future, he said.

– – –

M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Steven Crowder” by Steven Crowder. Background Photo “Covenant School” by Metro Nashville Police Department.