Man Charged After Death Threat Sent To Media CEO Over Request For Nashville School Shooter Manifesto

A Tennessee man has been charged after the CEO of a conservative news network received a death threat related to his request to obtain the manifesto of the transgender-identifying woman who killed six people at a Christian school in Nashville in March.

Michael Alonzo Rouse, 49, was charged in Williamson County with misdemeanor harassment after Star News Digital Media CEO Michael Patrick Leahy said he received a threatening email on July 9 demanding that he stop his push for the FBI to release the shooter’s manifesto. Leahy is also the host of The Tennessee Star Report radio show.

“Michael Patrick Leahy … if it were not illegal to beat your ass up … I’d have done it months ago. I have called your show twice because you decided to pound home the transgender [shooter] while people who suffered were healing. You dirty potato eating Mick. If I see you on the street … I’m going to end your conservative slant eye a**,” the email reportedly said. 

The email demanded that Leahy end his radio show and appeared to threaten the conservative media figure with death. 

“I’m willing to go to prison to end you. You dirty drug addict eyed Irish fool. You either end your talk show or I’ll end your life in real time while you do it.  You have no right to the manifesto of [the shooter] and you just want content by obtaining it,” the email, which was signed “Mike,” said. 

The threat was condemned by conservative groups in the Volunteer State, including the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition. 

“No one should be threatened with death for doing their job and Leahy is doing his job with the public interest in mind. No one should be threatened with death for a differing point of view or just because they are a conservative like Leahy,” the group said in a statement. “This situation is a prime example of the kind [of] insanity and potential for violence that is common amongst the Marxist Left. One can simply look back to 2020 in order to see the mass violence that the Marxists perpetrated here in Nashville and all over the country.”

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Leahy is part of a lawsuit against the FBI seeking a release of the manifesto from the woman who killed three children and three adults at The Covenant School in Nashville, a move the FBI has so far resisted. 

The Daily Wire has also sought access to the manifesto through Freedom of Information Act requests. Authorities initially signaled the material would be released but have since balked.

Some Tennessee Republicans have demanded that the manifesto be released ahead of a scheduled August special session, where lawmakers are expected to discuss gun legislation, including a potential “red flag” law.