Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell is standing by Metro Law Director Wally Dietz’s claim that a court order prohibits the release of the Covenant Killer’s manifesto.
“To be clear: I’m not intent on withholding anything, but I’m not going to violate the best understanding I have of what the law is,” the mayor told The Tennessee Star in response to questions about Dietz’s controversial assertions.
However, Dietz’s advice is incorrect, according to attorneys representing the plaintiffs in a lawsuit demanding the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) release the records to the public.
In late March, Hale, a 28-year-old woman identifying as a transgender male, fatally shot three 9-year-olds and three staff members of Covenant Presbyterian School in the deadliest mass shootings in Tennessee history. Responding police shot and killed Hale.
In a statement released Thursday, Dietz (pictured above) claimed that MNPD cannot release the documents or a redacted version of the manifesto because the records are filed under seal in Davidson County Chancery Court. He insisted that MNPD is forbidden to release either version of the manifesto until the legal matters surrounding them are settled.
“Until this matter is resolved by the Courts, Metropolitan Nashville is prohibited from releasing the journals. The journals are filed under seal with the Chancery Court and may not be released by MNPD, the Mayor, Metro Legal, or any other local authority,” Dietz said.
That’s simply not true, said Nicholas Barry, senior counsel for civil rights law firm America First Legal, the firm representing The Star in the multi-plaintiff lawsuit seeking the release of the documents. He said the Chancery Court has taken no action that would prevent Metro Nashville from releasing any documents related to the Covenant shooting.
The court, complying with the Tennessee Public Records Act, required the documents requested – including the Covenant Shooter’s manifesto – to be submitted under seal for the court’s review, Barry said. The burden of proof to justify withholding Hale’s manifesto is still on Metro Nashville.
“The Court has not ordered that these records remain sealed until the Court decides whether they should be released. The decision to release records is Metro’s decision, and it is Metro’s burden to prove that there is a valid justification for their nondisclosure,” the attorney said. “At a minimum, those records should be released immediately.”
He noted that MNPD Assistant Chief Mike Hagar stated in a declaration in the lawsuit that releasing the redacted version of the writings would not impede any investigation. Conversely, law enforcement officials have cited provisions under the Tennessee Public Records Act that allow police to block the release of records that could harm an ongoing investigation.
Dietz said Metro Legal redacted portions of the journals relating to the specific planning of the attack on the school. It did not redact comments on “what could be considered expressions of the motivation for carrying out this horrific crime,” he claimed.
But before “the process was completed,” Star News News Digital Media, parent company of The Star, the Tennessee Firearms Association, The Tennessean, and the National Police Association sued MNPD for the manifesto, Dietz said. What he failed to note is the lawsuits were filed in early May after Metro Nashville refused to release the records, citing an ongoing investigation into a crime in which the only suspect — Hale — is dead.
Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles was set to hold the required show cause hearing in May on whether Metro Nashville was justified in withholding the records, but Covenant Presbyterian Church, its private elementary school, and the parents of the school’s students sought to intervene in the case. They want Hale’s manifesto and related documents permanently sealed from the public.
The plaintiffs appealed Myles’ ruling, allowing the parents, church, and school to intervene, a challenge that remains unsettled. The show cause hearing is on hold while the appeals court deliberates.
Dietz’s version of events also follows conservative commentator Steve Crowder’s release of the images of three pages confirmed to be from Hale’s writings — screeds that detail the killer’s plan for “Death Day,” as Hale put it, and far-left tirades against white people and, particularly, white children.
“I wish to shoot you weaka** d**ks with your mop yellow hair, wanna kill all you little crackers!!! Bunch of little f****ts with your white privlages [sic]. ‘F**k you f****ts,” one entry declares.
Metro Nashville immediately launched an investigation into the leaked records, placing seven MNPD officers on administrative leave.
The law enforcement agency, critics charge, is using the legal process to break the state’s open records law.
Barry rejected Dietz’s assertions of powerlessness. He said Metro Nashville has the authority to release the redacted records at any time, and that time is now.
“Anything else is just a distraction and not reality,” the attorney said.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Freddie O’Connell” by Freddie O’Connell.
