A former police officer was charged last week with leaking the writings of the transgender-identifying woman who murdered three children and three adults at the Covenant School in March 2023.
But retired Lt. Garet Davidson — who was arrested and jailed on May 6 — says that he&#8217;s innocent. Davidson claims he&#8217;s being retaliated against for a complaint he filed against the department criticizing its Covenant investigation in May 2024, four months after he retired.
Davidson&#8217;s May 2024 <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/17k--mes3tmiC54vjj0uiZ9NJTsc69cau/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> complaint</a> against the police department alleges numerous instances of misconduct by top police officials, including mismanagement of the Covenant investigation, a pattern of bias in disciplinary investigations, altering performance results for low-achieving recruits, avoiding accountability, and failure to follow sexual harassment policies.
Davidson&#8217;s legal team believes that the charges were brought in retaliation for his efforts to expose problems at the police department.
“The charges against retired MNPD Lieutenant Garet Davidson represent a transparent attempt to discredit and silence a whistleblower who exposed serious misconduct within the Metro Nashville Police Department,” Davidson’s legal team said. “We look forward to vigorously defending Mr. Davidson against these retaliatory charges.”
Davidson has <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/news/retired-mnpd-lt-garet-davidson-claims-fbi-told-nashville-police-not-to-release-documents-from-covenant-school-killer-audrey-elizabeth-hale-investigation-pointed-to-precedent-for-document-destruction/tpappert/2024/06/04/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">been outspoken</a> about the investigation into the Covenant shooting, telling conservative radio host Michael Patrick Leahy in June 2024 that the FBI sent a memo to police instructing them not to release any details of the attacker&#8217;s writings.
At the time, Davidson said that he had some concerns that there would be action taken against him based on the information he had shared about the FBI memo.
“I don’t put it beyond anybody,” he said. “Part of the reason why I left law enforcement was to avoid some aspects of retaliation, but that doesn’t guarantee anything.”
In the charges unveiled last week, Davidson is accused of being involved in the leak of the writings of the woman who entered the Covenant School, a Christian school in an affluent Nashville neighborhood, on March 27, 2023, and murdered six people before she was killed by police.
Following the attack, the police announced that the shooter had a &#8220;manifesto,&#8221; but refused to release it to the public. Despite that refusal, media outlets, including The Daily Wire, obtained portions and uncovered that the shooter wrote frequently of her desire to be a man and anger at her parents for resisting her so-called transition.
Prior to his arrest last week, Davidson had been linked to the police department&#8217;s investigation into the leak.
His home was raided by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in November 2024 in relation to the investigation into the leak. He faces two indictments: one charges him with theft, two counts of burglary, and 30 counts of official misconduct; the other charges him with six counts of official misconduct related to the Covenant School shooting.
The raid came after he was named in a June 2024 court filing on the leak, though he was not directly named as a leaker. That came just weeks after he filed a misconduct complaint against the police department, which included criticism of the Covenant investigation.
A GoFundMe Davidson set up to help with his legal expenses has been shut down. A spokesman for the platform told The Daily Wire that the fundraiser was removed because of its policies not to raise money for “the legal defense of financial and violent crimes, including those related to money laundering, murder, robbery, assault, battery, sex crimes or crimes against minors.”
The spokesman did not further elaborate on why the fundraiser had been shut down. A <a href="https://www.givesendgo.com/garetdavidson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GiveSendGo</a> page has since been set up for Davidson&#8217;s legal fees.
Last month, the Nashville police department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-police-in-final-report-downplay-covenant-shooters-transgender-identity-hatred-of-christianity?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Nashville+Police+In+Final+Report+Downplay+Covenant+Shooter’s+Transgender+Identity%2C+Hatred+Of+Christianity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> its final investigative report into the shooting. The report, released over two years after the attack, downplayed the attacker&#8217;s hatred of Christianity and fixation on gender ideology and &#8220;white privilege.&#8221;

3 children, 3 teachers fatally shot in US city of Nashville school shooting

Retired Cop Accused Of Leaking Covenant Shooter’s Diary Says He’s Being Set Up

Nashville

Police

Tennessee

The Covenant School

The final police report on Nashville&#8217;s deadly Covenant School shooting, released more than two years after the attack, claims the motive of the attack was &#8220;notoriety&#8221; and makes little mention of the shooter&#8217;s radical positions on gender, race, or religious animus.
While pages from the writings of the 28-year-old woman who murdered three children and three adults at The Covenant School in March 2023 demonstrate that she was fixated on gender ideology and &#8220;white privilege,&#8221; police <a href="https://www.nashville.gov/sites/default/files/2025-04/Covenant_Final_Summary.pdf?ct=1743609642" target="_blank" rel="noopener">say</a> that she was primarily motivated by a desire for notoriety. Investigators said that neither her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covenant-journal-revealed-my-imaginary-penis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documented hatred</a> of Christianity or affluent white people played a role in her targeting of The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school in a wealthy area of Nashville.
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&#8220;Regarding why she selected The Covenant, many have speculated [the shooter] selected this location for racial, religious, or economic motives,&#8221; the report said. &#8220;It is certainly true she raged over these topics at times in her writings. But none of those motives impacted her decision to attack The Covenant.&#8221;
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Instead, the police said that Covenant was targeted because the attacker, who was killed by police, believed that she would receive greater notoriety by murdering young children. Three of the victims of the March 27, 2023, attack — Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney — were all just 9 years old. The other victims of the attack were adults Michael Hill, Katherine Koonce, and Cynthia Peak.
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Throughout the report, police made little mention of the attacker&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covenant-shooter-cited-transgender-rights-in-shooting-spree-manifesto-contradicting-official-claims" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transgender identity</a>, only mentioning that she identified as a male and that she had made references to wanting to transition. 
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&#8220;It should be noted that in life, the offender &#8230; gender identified as a male and used he/him as preferred pronouns. Under Tennessee law, a person’s gender identity must correspond with their biological sex or with information present on their certificate of live birth,&#8221; police wrote. &#8220;As [the attacker] was a biological female at the time of her death and throughout the incidents described in this summary and in the case file, [the attacker] will be referred to as a female.&#8221;
In the only other mention of her transgender identity, investigators said that they uncovered no evidence of her undergoing any gender medical procedures.
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&#8220;Nothing has been found to suggest she initiated or was undergoing a transition at the time of her death, including medical documentation,&#8221; police wrote. &#8220;During her autopsy following her death, it was determined she was biologically female.&#8221; 
These mentions don&#8217;t appear to fully take into account the attacker&#8217;s transgender identity, which dominated her life.
In journal entries previously published by The Daily Wire, the attacker wrote just weeks before the deadly shooting about her fantasy of having an “imaginary penis” and said that it was a &#8220;f***ing curse&#8221; that she was born a woman.
“I want to know what that’s like, but I never will because I was damned to be born this way,” she wrote in the journal of her desire to have a penis. “I swear to f*** I hate it so goddamned much. It’s a f***ing curse.”
<div id="attachment_750005" style="width: 730px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-750005" class="size-full wp-image-750005" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page2_720.jpg" alt="Image of Covenant School shooter's journal obtained by The Daily Wire" width="720" height="480" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page2_720.jpg 720w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page2_720-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" />Image of Covenant School shooter&#8217;s journal obtained by The Daily Wire</div>
She said that puberty ruined her life, lamenting the fact that her parents never put her on puberty blockers.
“A bare flat chest made me free. Girl puberty imprisoned me. And so does my mind. Puberty = life sentence. The people in this world adds more bullets to shoot violent thoughts into my head on full-auto,&#8221; she wrote.
In other journal entries, the attacker made clear her hatred of  Christianity and people with &#8220;white privilege,&#8221; which she believed hindered her development.
For example, she wrote that she wanted to kill “crackers going to private fancy schools&#8221; and explained why she rejected her parents&#8217; faith.
“Parents actually believe religion can change nature,” the shooter wrote. “That could explain why I don’t practice religion anymore. Let kids think for themselves, listening to parents does no damned good but to mold their premature minds into a pre-formatted program.”
These writings were portions from 16 notebooks, which some have referred to as her manifesto, and were the subject of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-judge-appears-to-back-off-on-threats-to-punish-journalist-over-articles-on-covenant-shooter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lengthy legal battle</a>. In their report, police denied the existence of a manifesto, saying that there was no singular &#8220;document explaining why she committed the attack, why she specifically targeted The Covenant, and what she hoped to gain, if anything, with the attack.&#8221;
Police investigators also ruled that the attacker was &#8220;sane&#8221; despite numerous mental health disorders.
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&#8220;Despite all her assorted mental health disorders, [the attacker] was certainly sane,&#8221; police wrote. &#8220;She was capable of adjusting her plans as needed, manipulating others into seeing her as meek and nonthreatening, and fully understood her attack was not only criminal but morally reprehensible.&#8221;
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Police say that the attacker first started to fantasize about carrying out a school shooting in 2017 before beginning to plan one in 2018.
&#8220;By this point, [the shooter] wrote how she was tired of being alone and ignored, ostracized by those she felt were her friends, and shunned by society for being autistic,&#8221; the police wrote. &#8220;After writing an expletive rant directed towards her &#8216;best friend&#8217; for choosing a relationship with a man over her, [the shooter] decided it was time to make others notice her for a change. She felt by &#8216;killing a bunch of children&#8217; she would no longer be ignored.&#8221;
Police said that the attacker floated in her mind a number of different targets, including various Nashville schools and malls. At one point, one of her plans was disrupted after her guns were confiscated by her parents, with whom she lived in Nashville.
She moved away from targeting one school because it was predominantly black, worrying that she &#8220;would be seen as a racist, which would affect how much control she had over the narrative after her death and allow others to state her motive behind the attack.&#8221;
Eventually, police say that she settled on the Covenant School because she believed she would receive more notoriety by attacking a Christian school and that the faith of the students would make them &#8220;meek and afraid.&#8221; She prepared for the attack for years, even going on a tour of the facility in September 2021 so she could map out the school&#8217;s layout in preparation.
Despite this conclusion, police said that the attacker never left behind any evidence of having a specific animosity for the Covenant School.
&#8220;She never remarked of being bullied and ostracized there; on the contrary, she remarked on a couple of occasions how she established friendships, which included play-dates at the homes of other children and a sense of acceptance,&#8221; police said. &#8220;She gave no examples of how anyone at the school belittled her or harmed her, as she did in other places she attended school.&#8220;
At the end of the report, investigators officially closed the investigation, saying that they identified no other individuals who were criminally culpable for the shooting.

Nashville Police In Final Report Downplay Covenant Shooter’s Transgender Identity, Hatred Of Christianity

School Shooting

Transgender

The Tennessee Star on Tuesday <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/covenant-school-shooting/the-tennessee-star-releases-manifesto-left-by-transgender-covenant-school-killer-audrey-hale/tpappert/2024/09/03/">published</a> the nearly 100-page journal of the 28-year-old woman who killed three adults and three children at the Covenant Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee.
The journal offers a glimpse into the mind of a self-proclaimed autistic person prone to depression and obsession. The shooter&#8217;s two most animating obsessions were left-wing ideas about transgenderism — including the idea that children will kill themselves if they cannot get gender surgery — and white privilege.
The two themes converged in the overall format of the journal, which often takes the form of diary entries addressed to a “brown girl” with whom the shooter was in love. The shooter reportedly played basketball with the girl in eighth grade and had not remained in contact, but created a race-based idea of the girl in her mind.
The diary entries detailed how the shooter&#8217;s “autistic brain” struggled with different ideas, like &#8220;white privilege&#8221;:
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<div id="attachment_789817" style="width: 869px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-789817" class="size-large wp-image-789817" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.57.12%E2%80%AFAM-859x576.png" alt="" width="859" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.57.12%E2%80%AFAM-859x576.png 859w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.57.12%E2%80%AFAM-300x201.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.57.12%E2%80%AFAM-768x515.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.57.12%E2%80%AFAM-1536x1030.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.57.12%E2%80%AFAM.png 1900w" sizes="(max-width: 859px) 100vw, 859px" />(Tennessee Star)</div></blockquote>
On February 7, 2023, a month before the shooting, the shooter drew a diagram that said &#8220;brain -&gt; white privilege -&gt; embarrassment of self.&#8221;
The shooter wrote poems about her longing for interracial sex:
<div id="attachment_789823" style="width: 880px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-789823" class="size-large wp-image-789823" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.53.35%E2%80%AFAM-870x576.png" alt="" width="870" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.53.35%E2%80%AFAM-870x576.png 870w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.53.35%E2%80%AFAM-300x199.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.53.35%E2%80%AFAM-768x509.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.53.35%E2%80%AFAM-1536x1017.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.53.35%E2%80%AFAM.png 1918w" sizes="(max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px" />(Tennessee Star)</div>
<div id="attachment_789825" style="width: 870px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-789825" class="size-large wp-image-789825" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.54.13%E2%80%AFAM-860x576.png" alt="" width="860" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.54.13%E2%80%AFAM-860x576.png 860w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.54.13%E2%80%AFAM-300x201.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.54.13%E2%80%AFAM-768x515.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.54.13%E2%80%AFAM-1536x1029.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-11.54.13%E2%80%AFAM.png 1922w" sizes="(max-width: 860px) 100vw, 860px" />(Tennessee Star)</div>
Nothing in the nearly 100-page journal appears to justify the FBI&#8217;s claim that it was withholding it in the name of public safety. Nashville City Council member Courtney Johnson told The New York Post that the FBI said the manifesto couldn’t be released because it “was a blueprint on total destruction, and it was so, so detailed at the level of what she had planned… That document in the wrong person’s hands would be <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/20/audrey-hale-manifesto-blueprint-on-destruction-say-pols-who-claim-fbi-stalling-release/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">astronomically dangerous</a>.”
A police inventory says that there were two journals on the shooter&#8217;s desk, one under her desk, and seven under her bed, so it is possible that such information was in another journal. But this journal, which appears to be the most recent, does not include any detailed information about penetrating a school or carrying out a shooting.
Tennessee Star editor-in-chief Michael Patrick Leahy filed a lawsuit under the Tennessee Public Records Act seeking release of the writings. Nashville judge I’Aesea Myles blocked the release of even a single page, saying the diaries were copyrighted. She also threatened Leahy with contempt of court.
Leahy said he obtained the diary through legal means outside of the Public Records Act, and published it because it was in the public interest to do so.
“These documents and photos have helped us inform the public about the underlying reasons for this heinous attack, and have helped drive the public discussion of what should be done to prevent such acts of violence in the future,&#8221; Leahy said. &#8220;We have documented a massive failure of the mental health system as a root cause of Hale’s reprehensible actions.&#8221;
The shooter wrote angrily about American politics, appearing to echo left-wing talking points about gender.
“&#8217;Land of the Free’ means, whatever f&#8212;er is taking away human rights is not of a human at all,” she wrote. “I wish death upon myself cause of the pure hatred of my female gender. With no rights, anyone’s country is a shitty dictatorship.”
She made a chart using the critical race theory buzzword of “deconstruction,” pairing it with “reconstruction&#8221;:
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<div id="attachment_789827" style="width: 891px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-789827" class="size-large wp-image-789827" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-12.07.08%E2%80%AFPM-881x576.png" alt="" width="881" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-12.07.08%E2%80%AFPM-881x576.png 881w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-12.07.08%E2%80%AFPM-300x196.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-12.07.08%E2%80%AFPM-768x502.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-12.07.08%E2%80%AFPM-1536x1004.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-12.07.08%E2%80%AFPM.png 1936w" sizes="(max-width: 881px) 100vw, 881px" />(Tennessee Star)</div></blockquote>
Autistic people are especially susceptible to adopting ideas that they are born in the wrong body. “Male brain -&gt; my autism?” the shooter wrote.
“Mom just says I’m young and young people make mistakes. but with me, it’s painfully more than that. with being autistic and waste time all the time,&#8221; the shooter writes.
&#8220;The torchure [sic] of being raised a girl, and actually believed I just had to deal with it, and tried to be feminine. But that didn’t last long after high school ended + no longer had to fear of being called a dyke or a faggot. It was only until my early 20s I finally found the answer-that changing one’s gender is possible. But oh f&#8212;ing no, not w/ my mother. What she believes, how she grew up conservatively and that LGBTQ-especially transgender in her era was an enigma, nearly non-existent,” she wrote.
The shooter also echoed the claim that children will commit suicide if their parents deny them the opportunity to change their gender.
“How could they not ever think of their own child suffering, and that they hate their gender so bad they cut + want to kill themselves first, and their preference of conservative religion-gay sh&#8211; makes them believe that their child they’re given should stay that way.&#8221;
Minutes before the shooting, the perpetrator messaged the person typically referred to as P.A.P. or &#8220;brown girl&#8221; in the journal, the woman —radio host Paige Patton — told <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/friend-contacted-authorities-after-speaking-nashville-shooter-audrey/story?id=98182991" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC News</a> after the incident.
“I’m planning to die today. This is not a joke. You will probably hear about me on the news after I die,” the message said. Patton called the police, who said they would send someone to review the screenshots.
Police did not arrive until after the shooting occurred.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covenant-shooter-cited-transgender-rights-in-shooting-spree-manifesto-contradicting-official-claims">Covenant Shooter Cited Transgender ‘Rights’ In Shooting Spree Manifesto, Contradicting Official Claims</a>

Covenant Shooter’s Entire Diary Published, Revealing Obsession With White Privilege, Transgenderism

A conservative publisher has appealed a decision from a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tennessee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee</a> judge to block the release of the writings of the transgender-identifying shooter who killed three children and three adults at a Christian school in Nashville in March 2023.
The <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/13X9TxPLPreTm2LA7nRsao5xa4Y3_f1xI/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeal</a>, from Star News Digital Media and Tennessee Star Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, was filed in the Tennessee Court of Appeals on Wednesday. Leahy is seeking to reverse a decision from Davidson County Judge I’Ashea Myles that said copyright claims put on the writings of the woman who attacked The Covenant School preempted public records requests. 
“We have appealed the very bad decision by TN Chancery Court Judge Myles to prohibit the release of the Covenant killer’s writings on the dubious claim of copyright ownership by intervenors. We will win on appeal,” Leahy said in a post on X. 
Last month, Myles sided with a group of Covenant parents who asserted a copyright claim onto the writings given to them by the shooter&#8217;s parents. The group had intervened to block the release of the writings after multiple parties sued the Nashville police department for access.
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“Based upon Supremacy Clause and conflict preemption, the federal Copyright Act serves as a valid exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act and thus preempts the disclosure of any original work of authorship in any form created by the assailant [shooter’s last name] which has been collected by Respondent Metro,” Myles wrote on July 4. 
The parties seeking access include Leahy, the Tennessee Firearms Association, The Tennessean, and the National Police Association. Leahy is being represented by  local lawyer Paul Krog and Nicholas Barry from the America First Legal Foundation. 
Earlier this year, police estimated they would release their investigative file by sometime in July, but that has not been done. It is unclear when the investigation will conclude.
Despite the judge’s ruling, portions of the writings have already been published by The Daily Wire and The Tennessee Star. Photos of the attacker’s journal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covenant-journal-revealed-my-imaginary-penis?topStoryPosition=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> by The Daily Wire showed a woman who had been consumed by radical transgender theory and conveyed her anger at Christianity and her parents over their traditional views.
The Tennessee Star also sued the FBI for access to the attacker’s writings. A federal judge is currently reviewing that case.

Conservative Publisher Appeals Decision To Block Release Of Covenant Attacker’s Writings

Courts

Mass Shooting

U.S.

A Tennessee judge on Thursday ruled against releasing the writings of the transgender-identifying shooter who killed three children and three adults at a Christian school in Nashville in March 2023. 
In a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L_Ftr8eV2Y6sZqHMyalu3Po_88cpL6oz/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruling</a> released at 11:58 p.m. local time, Davidson County Judge I’Ashea Myles said that copyright claims put on the writings of the woman who attacked The Covenant School preempted public records requests. Myles also sided with Metro Nashville Police, who have so far refused to release its investigative file on the shooting, citing an ongoing investigation.
“Based upon Supremacy Clause and conflict preemption, the federal Copyright Act serves as a valid exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act and thus preempts the disclosure of any original work of authorship in any form created by the assailant [shooter’s last name] which has been collected by Respondent Metro,” Myles wrote. 
The ruling is the latest development in an ongoing legal battle over the writings, which began soon after the school was attacked last year. 
Multiple parties, including the Tennessee Firearms Association, The Tennessean, The Tennessee Star, Republican state legislator Todd Gardenhire, and the National Police Association, sued the city of Nashville last year to gain access to the writings.
A group of parents from The Covenant School later intervened to block release, citing a copyright given by the killer&#8217;s parents. 
Myles further said no documents needed to be produced while police say the investigation continues. 
“The release of the remaining documents which are not original, derivative or compilation works created by the assailant is further constrained by the exceptions to disclosure set forth by the General Assembly,” Myles said, writing that, “during the pendency of this investigation and any legal proceedings thereafter, the investigative files of the police and materials therein are not available.&#8221;
She said that police “need not disclose any materials which are in its open investigative file and are relevant to any pending or contemplated criminal action until such investigation and any collateral criminal proceedings are complete.”
Tennessee Star Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy vowed to appeal the decision.
“The judge has erroneously accepted a dubious copyright claim made by intervenors who should not have been allowed to intervene in this case in the first place,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The judge’s ruling is clearly not in the public interest and is a subversion of the intent of the Tennessee Public Records Act. We will absolutely appeal.&#8221;
Despite the judge’s ruling, portions of the writings have already been published by both The Daily Wire and The Tennessee Star. This led to Myles <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-judge-appears-to-back-off-on-threats-to-punish-journalist-over-articles-on-covenant-shooter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatening</a> to punish Leahy, but she later backed off. 
Last month, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covenant-journal-revealed-my-imaginary-penis?topStoryPosition=1">published photos</a> of the attacker’s journal obtained by a source familiar with the investigation. The pages showed a woman who had been consumed by radical transgender theory and conveyed her anger at Christianity and her parents over their traditional views.

TN Judge Rules Against Releasing Writings Of Trans-Identifying Covenant School Shooter

copyright

A judge appeared to back off threats to hold a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/conservative-journalist-says-first-amendment-in-jeopardy-as-he-faces-punishment-over-articles-on-covenant-shooter">Tennessee news executive in contempt</a> of court for publishing articles on the writings of a transgender-identifying shooter who killed six people at a Christian school in Nashville last year. 
Tennessee Star Executive Michael Patrick Leahy was ordered to appear on Monday for a contempt of court hearing over his publication of the articles that quote from the writings of the Covenant School shooter. But at the start of the highly anticipated hearing, Davidson County Judge I’Ashea Myles said she was just trying to “understand the landscape” of developments surrounding the case, and that contempt proceedings would not commence. 
Daniel Horowitz, a lawyer representing Leahy, said after the hearing that he was confused about the point of the hearing, but was glad that there was no initiation of contempt proceedings against Leahy, who has sued the city of Nashville seeking a full release of their report on the Covenant School shooting. 
“I don’t know how this evolved or why, but I&#8217;m glad the press isn&#8217;t being threatened with jail time today. That&#8217;s a welcome development,” Horowitz told reporters, including The Daily Wire, after the hearing. “I don’t want reporters going to jail for lawful reporting. That’s why we were here today.” 
Horowitz added that he was encouraged that it seemed like “we have veered off a very dangerous road threatening reporters for lawful reporting.” 
The hearing was the latest in the legal back-and-forth over the writings of the shooter who killed three children and three adults in a March 27, 2023 attack on the Covenant School. The city of Nashville has so far blocked any release of the shooter’s documents, while a group of parents from the school have also sought to have the writings sealed from public view. 
The Tennessee Star began publishing a series of articles earlier this month quoting from the shooter’s writings, noting that it had obtained images of roughly eighty pages of one of the shooter’s journals. Last week, Myles suggested that Leahy might be held in contempt over the articles for violating an unspecified court order. However, Myles said on Monday that the hearing&#8217;s purpose was for her to determine whether the publication of articles on some of the shooter&#8217;s writings should impact her ruling regarding the full release. 
Myles initial order last week said that Leahy must demonstrate why the “publication of certain purported documents” does not “violate the Orders of this Court subjecting them to contempt proceedings and sanctions.” Leahy was not given the opportunity to make this case. 
In a statement after the hearing, Leahy said that he would continue to practice his First Amendment rights. 
“We started The Tennessee Star so I could exercise my First Amendment rights. I think we have served the public well, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to continue to exercise our First Amendment rights,” Leahy <a href="https://x.com/BrentScher/status/1802757079087657432" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> reporters. 
In a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lrGLFz2cz8hF5rjKUgf7njiD_kC4nyn-/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">follow up order</a> on Friday denying an appeal from Leahy to dismiss the contempt hearing, Myles amended her order for Monday’s hearing, saying that it would be for the court to “ascertain the veracity of any alleged leak which may have occurred in this matter and if true, any effect on the status of these proceedings.”
At the end of Monday&#8217;s hearing, Myles said that she now “understood” what she needed to know about the case, and that she would issue a ruling. It is unclear if this ruling will be about whether there will be a future contempt hearing for Leahy or if it will pertain to the lawsuit against Nashville. 
Last week, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covenant-journal-revealed-my-imaginary-penis?topStoryPosition=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published photos</a> of the attacker’s journal obtained by a source familiar with the Covenant investigation. The pages showed a woman who had been consumed by transgender ideology and conveyed her anger at Christianity and her parents over their traditional views.

US-SHOOTING-SCHOOL-WEAPONS

‘Veered Off A Very Dangerous Road’: Judge Backs Off From Threat To Punish Journalist Over Covenant Reporting

First Amendment

A Tennessee news executive says his First Amendment and due process rights are in jeopardy as he faces punishment over his publication of articles on the writings of the transgender-identifying shooter who killed six people at the Christian Covenant School in Nashville in March 2023. 
Tennessee Star Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy was <a href="https://fox17.com/resources/pdf/bb104926-e6a1-4964-90ef-87a89ca72f0a-61024CHANCERYCOURTCOVENANTCASE.pdf.crdownload.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ordered</a> to show up in Davidson County court on Monday for a contempt hearing after his outlet <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/covenant-school-shooting-investigation/">published multiple articles</a> quoting from the writings of the woman who killed three children and three adults at The Covenant School on March 27, 2023. The articles quoted from the writings of the shooter, disclosing that it had obtained images of the full journal that was recovered by police at the scene of the shooting. 
In her order, Judge I&#8217;Ashea Myles said that Leahy must demonstrate why the “publication of certain purported documents” does not “violate the Orders of this Court subjecting them to contempt proceedings and sanctions.”
On Wednesday, Leahy’s legal team filed an emergency appeal in response arguing that Myles&#8217; order endangers freedom of the press and violates his right to due process. The appeal, which has since <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/justice/tennessee-judge-denies-motion-by-star-news-ceo-in-covenant-killer-writings-case-raises-possibility-of-prosecution-as-leahy-files-emergency-appeal/tpappert/2024/06/13/">been denied</a>, argued that the hearing should be set aside because it violates Tennessee laws protecting reporters and rules on contempt proceedings. 
“Tennessee has enacted a robust media ‘shield law’ that protects reporters from being compelled to reveal any information—or the source of any information—procured for publication or broadcast,” the court filing says. “Such compulsion would also seriously undermine freedom of the press and news gathering generally.”
The Tennessee Star has not disclosed the details of how it obtained the documents, which is standard practice in the journalism profession.
On Friday, Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2024/06/14/filing-singles-out-mnpd-whistleblower-in-covenant-records-leak">reported</a> that a retired Nashville police lieutenant has been singled out regarding the leak of records regarding the shooting investigation. Those records have been kept hidden from the public for more than a year. The lieutenant, Garet Davidson, has filed a <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2024/06/03/investigation-nashville-police-complaint">whistleblower complaint</a> regarding mismanagement at the department, and has <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/justice/retired-mnpd-lt-garet-davidson-claims-fbi-told-nashville-police-not-to-release-documents-from-covenant-school-killer-audrey-elizabeth-hale-investigation-pointed-to-precedent-for-document-destruction/tpappert/2024/06/04/">appeared</a> on Leahy&#8217;s Tennessee Star show in recent weeks.
Myles did not specify in her order what specific court orders she was referring to that might lead to Leahy and Star Digital Media being held in contempt. 
“By failing to identify the previous orders — or the provisions within them —  that this Court believes Mr. Leahy may have violated, though, this  Court’s Show Cause Order does not afford Mr. Leahy meaningful notice of the concerns that he is being ordered to address,” Leahy’s legal filing says. 
If Myles&#8217; order did restrict Leahy &#8220;from publishing lawfully obtained documents to his readership,” that order is constitutionally suspect, the filing says. 
“None of this Court’s earlier orders appears — at least to the undersigned — to contemplate such a drastic restriction,” the filing says. “If this Court  interprets one of its earlier orders that way, though, then the order is a  prior restraint that suffers from serious constitutional infirmities and is  presumptively unconstitutional.”
For well over a year, Nashville police have refused to release the writings of the shooter arguing that the investigation into the shooting is ongoing. In response, there are two ongoing lawsuits, one against the FBI and the other against the city, pushing for the release of all the shooter&#8217;s writings.
On Wednesday, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covenant-journal-revealed-my-imaginary-penis?topStoryPosition=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> photos of the attacker&#8217;s journal obtained by a source familiar with the Covenant investigation. The entries show that she had a deep-seated hatred for Christianity and her parents for pushing back against her desire to identify as a male.

Journalist Says First Amendment In Jeopardy As He Faces Punishment Over Reporting On Covenant Shooter

We Have Some Of The Covenant Shooter’s Writings. Here’s What They Say.

We Have Some Of The Covenant Shooter's Writings. Here's What They Say.

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Readers Pass

Shooting

WARNING: The below story includes graphic and disturbing content written by the shooter responsible for six deaths at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023.
The Covenant School shooter obsessed in her private journal over her desire to be a man, fantasizing about having an “imaginary penis” and lamenting that so-called gender affirming treatments weren’t available to her, according to images of her journal obtained by The Daily Wire.
The shooter’s handwritten journals, recovered by authorities at the scene of her deadly attack, have been hidden from the public for more than a year now, leaving unresolved questions about her motive to attack the private Christian school in March 2023. Images obtained by The Daily Wire from a source familiar with the Covenant investigation provide perhaps the most thorough illustration of her mental state in the days leading up to the shooting.
The images, first <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1385-we-have-some-of-the-covenant-shooter-s-writings-here-s-what-they-say">revealed Wednesday by Daily Wire host Matt Walsh</a>, show the shooter was driven in part by anger over her gender identity as she wrote a three-page journal entry called “My Imaginary Penis.” The journal entries from March 11, 2023 — less than three weeks before the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-christian-school-shooter-identified-as-transgender-authorities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transgender-identifying shooter’s horrific attack</a> — reveal both a fixation on her desire to be a man and anger at forces she believed stood in her way, including Christianity and her parents.
Fragments of the below journal entries have been reported on by the Tennessee Star, but this is the first publication of those pages in full.
<div class="mceTemp"></div>
<div id="attachment_750003" style="width: 730px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-750003" class="wp-image-750003 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page1_720.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="480" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page1_720.jpg 720w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page1_720-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" />Image of Covenant School shooter&#8217;s journal obtained by The Daily Wire</div>
The first entry that appears is fashioned as a letter to someone named “Paige.” It is unclear exactly who this is, though Paige is also the name of a woman the shooter played basketball with as a child who detailed to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/friend-contacted-authorities-after-speaking-nashville-shooter-audrey/story?id=98182991" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC News</a> how the shooter had long been infatuated with her. Paige called authorities after the shooter messaged her on the morning before her attack.
The journal entry reveals disdain for Christianity, and specifically her parents’ alleged attempts to maintain religion in her life.
“It’s total ignorance when parents step in and try to change their child’s environment,” the shooter wrote. “Make them go to youth group and force Christian friends in their life because the old ones were a ‘bad’ influence, I can’t f***ing stand that sh**.”
“Parents actually believe religion can change nature,” the shooter wrote. “That could explain why I don’t practice religion anymore. Let kids think for themselves, listening to parents does no damned good but to mold their premature minds into a pre-formatted program.”
Officials have denied that there was evidence suggesting that The Covenant School, a private Christian school that the shooter attended as a child, was targeted because of animus toward religion. The mentions of Christianity, which appear throughout the journal entries, suggest that it certainly may have been a factor.
The remainder of the four pages, however, revolves around the shooter’s fixation on being a man, and suggests a serious case of gender dysphoria. She fantasized about what it would be like to have a penis.
“I want to know what that’s like, but I never will because I was damned to be born this way,” she wrote in the journal. “I swear to f*** I hate it so goddamned much. It’s a f***ing curse.”
<div id="attachment_750007" style="width: 730px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-750007" class="size-full wp-image-750007" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page2_720-1.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="480" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page2_720-1.jpg 720w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page2_720-1-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" />Image of Covenant School shooter&#8217;s journal obtained by The Daily Wire</div>
The journal entry shows both anger at living through the “torture of being raised a girl,” as well as at her mother and “people in this world” for not accepting that she could change genders. She complains that for much of her life she “actually believed” she “had to deal with it” — until she learned that changing genders was “possible.”
“That didn’t last long after high school ended and no longer had to fear of being called a dyke or a fa**ot,” she writes. “It was only until my early 20s I finally found the answer — that changing one&#8217;s gender is possible, and who I really was I finally embraced to show.”
After more than a year of a near total lockdown on materials relating to the shooter, a flood of documents has come out in recent weeks. The leaked images further undermine official claims that there was no focus in her so-called manifesto about “specific political, religious, or social issues.”
Much of her anger was directed at her inability to get the treatments such as puberty blockers made available to children today.
“Children who were able to successfully take puberty blockers and never enter a tortured puberty, those little fa**ots don’t know how good they f***ing have it,” the shooter wrote. “I’d kill to have parents who would let their child be happy no matter how different it is to their viewpoints or dont agree or scared of it. They are willing to listen to their children, not the other way around. I’d kill to have those resources.”
She blamed not only her parents, but also their Christianity, the journal reveals.
“F*** parents like them who think of themselves first, and their preference of conservative religion,” the shooter writes in the entry on her imaginary penis.
She said in the journal that puberty was a “life sentence for her.”
“A bare flat chest made me free. Girl puberty imprisoned me. And so does my mind. Puberty = life sentence. The people in this world adds more bullets to shoot violent thoughts into my head on full-auto.”
Aside from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-shooter-decried-crackers-and-white-privilege-leaked-manifesto-pages-reveal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three pages</a> from her writings released last November by conservative commentator Steven Crowder, there has been a blackout of all materials that could provide insight into why she opened fire at the Christian school. Those pages showed the shooter rage about “white privilege” and state that she wanted to kill &#8220;crackers going to private fancy schools.”
That blackout appears to be due to a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-told-nashville-police-release-of-school-shooter-writings-would-lead-to-conspiracy-theories-inaccurate-info" target="_blank" rel="noopener">newly reported memo by the FBI</a>, in which the federal intelligence agency warned Nashville police that releasing her writings could result in “false narratives” that “may lead to unintended consequences for the segment of the population more vulnerable or open to conspiracy theories.”
The Tennessee Star <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/justice/audrey-hale-wrote-political-rant-about-guns-and-transgenderism-one-month-before-covenant-school-attack/tpappert/2024/06/05/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> last Wednesday, however, that it had reviewed nearly four dozen images of the shooter’s writings — including the entry on her “<a href="https://tennesseestar.com/justice/covenant-killer-audrey-hale-wrote-3-pages-in-journal-about-my-imaginary-penis/tpappert/2024/06/06/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">imaginary penis</a>.” Fox 17, a local Nashville outlet, also <a href="https://fox17.com/news/local/two-pages-of-covenant-shooters-audrey-hale-writings-released-to-fox-17-by-tennessee-star-nashville-green-hills-middle-tennessee-crime-metro-nashville-police" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> an image from the journal on Monday afternoon, in which she refers to herself as the “most unhappy boy alive” and confesses to thinking of “death a lot.”
In addition to the journal entries, The Tennessee Star has reported that the Metro Nashville Police Department sought a search warrant for records from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where the shooter had been a patient of mental health professionals for 22 years, according to an affidavit published by the Star last week. Vanderbilt has declined to answer questions about what kind of treatment she was receiving, including whether it was treating her apparent gender dysphoria. Vanderbilt did not respond to a request for comment.
Also revealed last week is the <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/justice/she-wanted-to-kill-you-99-7-wtns-brian-wilson-plays-police-interview-of-covenant-shooters-parents/mgiffin/2024/06/07/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recording of police interviewing</a> the shooter’s parents, revealing to them that the shooter “wanted to kill” them. The investigators also ask the parents about her treatment at Vanderbilt.
She wrote in the journal that “puberty already hit” before puberty blockers were a medical possibility for her. It’s unclear where she learned this, or what the medical information her belief is based on. In the same entry, she also describes herself as having an “autistic brain.”
“I’d kill to have those resources; 2007 was the birth of puberty blockers and a newfound discovery for treatment of non-conforming transgender children. 2007 was when I was in the 6th grade. Puberty already hit me,” she wrote. “The only reason I could conclude why it didn’t bother me too much is that my boobs were small. I thought they’d stay that way forever. My autistic brain … change in body f**ked me over now, even if my boobs are still small for the most part.”
Elsewhere in the journal entry she describes at length graphic sexual games she would play with her stuffed animals, fantasizing that she was the boy performing sex acts on a girl doll. The margins of her journal entries are filled with immature sexual drawings.
“I can pretend to be them and do the things boys do and experience my boy self as Tony — my stuffed boy doll is like the boy I am in another form since childhood,” she writes in the journal. “I constructed him a penis, then got out my girl doll named Ashley (who is Tony’s life-long boyfriend) to have sex w/ Tony. Ashley was represented as my dream girl I wished to have in real life.”
The Daily Wire is not naming the shooter. Nashville police did not respond to a request for comment on the journal entries.
Walsh, after revealing the images on his show, addressed the FBI’s blackout demand, as well as Vanderbilt’s refusal to respond to questions about its years-long treatment of the shooter, calling the lack of transparency a “national scandal.”
“Contrary to what the FBI said, it’s the absence of transparency that leads to ‘false narratives’ like the ones we’ve seen in the last year about the Covenant shooting,” said Walsh. The point of transparency, he underscored, is not to “demonize” or “marginalize” anyone, but to “give the public the information it has a right to know — and to likely save people’s lives in the process.”
A Tennessee judge is set to rule in the coming weeks on whether Nashville police must release the shooter’s writings. The Tennessee Star, which has reported on the contents of several of the pages, is the plaintiff in the case, arguing for their full release.

Nashville Shooting

COVENANT JOURNAL REVEALED: Shooter Said Being Female Was A ‘F***ing Curse,’ That She’d ‘Kill’ To Have Had Puberty Blockers

Christianity

Portions of the so-called manifesto of the school shooter who targeted The Covenant School last year show that contrary to claims by police, the shooter appears to have been motivated by gender ideology and other political issues.
“So now in America, it makes one a criminal to have a gun or, be transgender, or non-binary,” the shooter wrote in documents that were in her car at the time of the shooting, according to the <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/news/covenant-killer-audrey-hale-wrote-3-pages-in-journal-about-my-imaginary-penis/tpappert/2024/06/06/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee Star</a>, which obtained copies of dozens of handwritten diaries. “God I hate those s&#8212;head politicians,” the entry continued.
The diary entry was called &#8220;My Imaginary Penis&#8221; and said, &#8220;I finally found the answer – that changing one’s gender is possible.&#8221; She raged that her mother was raised &#8220;conservatively&#8221; and did not support her gender transitioning, saying, &#8220;I&#8217;d kill to have those resources.&#8221;
The discrepancy could explain why the FBI sought to suppress the manifesto, given that its contents raise issues about why the FBI did not count the shooting as domestic terrorism. Authorities have worked relentlessly to prevent the transgender killer&#8217;s writings from becoming public, while also suggesting that they do not contain political motives.
The FBI told The Daily Wire shortly after the shooting that it was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-isnt-treating-nashville-shooting-as-domestic-terrorism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not considering it domestic terrorism</a>.
The FBI’s definition of domestic terrorism is “violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.”
Joe Biden&#8217;s DOJ officials have said that right-wing terrorism is the biggest threat to the country, and the FBI has been accused of coming to that conclusion by juking the stats, falsely putting unrelated cases in the category of right-wing terrorism while not counting left-wing terrorism as such.
She wrote that she used stuffed animals to pretend to be a boy having sex with a girl, saying &#8220;God, I am such a pervert.&#8221; The diary entry was dated 16 days before the March 27, 2023 attack, The Star reported.
In another entry dated a month before the shooting, she wrote
“So now [because] of you, I wish death on myself cause of the pure hatred of my female gender&#8230; with no rights, anyone’s country is a s&#8212;&#8211; dictatorship,&#8221; <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/justice/audrey-hale-wrote-political-rant-about-guns-and-transgenderism-one-month-before-covenant-school-attack/tpappert/2024/06/05/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Star</a> reported.
The Star also uncovered a document this week showing that the <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/justice/fbi-memo-on-protection-of-legacy-tokens-sent-to-nashville-police-in-may-2023-opposed-release-of-covenant-killer-documents-cited-destruction-precedent/tpappert/2024/06/05/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI pressured the Nashville police</a> not to release the manifesto. Nashville Metro Police Department chief John Drake promised Gov. Bill Lee he would, before breaking his promise.
The uncovered documents also suggest that the head of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation also may have misrepresented their contents.
Nashville&#8217;s <a href="https://www.newschannel5.com/news/the-covenant-documents-hearing-starts-this-week-but-what-has-happened-in-the-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">News Channel 5</a> reported in April that TBI director David Rausch &#8220;said what police found isn&#8217;t so much a manifesto spelling out a target but a series of rambling writings indicating no clear motive. From what Raush said, the material finds that the killer did not write about specific political, religious or social issues.&#8221;
Two separate leaks have now undermined that claim, with documents obtained by Steven Crowder also showing the shooter — who was killed by police and who The Daily Wire is not naming — was fueled by hatred against left-wing targets like &#8220;white privilege&#8221; and &#8220;crackers.&#8221;
&#8220;Wanna <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-shooter-decried-crackers-and-white-privilege-leaked-manifesto-pages-reveal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kill all you little crackers</a>,&#8221; she wrote.
Josh DeVine, a spokesman for TBI, told The Daily Wire &#8220;The Director stands by his previous statement based on the entirety of the investigation.&#8221;
The FBI did not return a request for comment on why, given the contents of the manifesto, it was not deemed domestic terrorism, and whether the FBI&#8217;s suppression of the manifesto was designed to conceal that discrepancy.
In the months before the shooting, Democratic politicians had claimed, in overheated rhetoric, that Republicans were oppressing transgender people with new policies. After the shooting occurred&#8211;despite a manifesto that may have suggested it was left-wing terrorism ginned up by their own rhetoric&#8211;authorities concealed the manifesto, and Democrats used the shooting to demand another of their priorities, gun control.
Transgenders have allegedly been behind a spate of planned school shootings, and contents of their writings have in other cases <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/court-docs-show-trans-teen-arrested-for-planning-mass-shooting-fawned-over-covenant-shooter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">been released</a> without issue.
Last month, another female-to-male graduate of a Nashville Christian school was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/another-transgender-charged-with-threats-against-nashville-christian-school" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> with allegedly threatening to commit a copycat attack near the anniversary of the Covenant shooting. Tennessee Gov. “Bill Lee knows if he makes one wrong move it’s Joever [sic] for him,&#8221; she wrote, adding that the school taught her that &#8220;&#8216;Vengeance is mine,&#8217; sayeth the Lord.&#8221;

Nashville School Shooting

Covenant Shooter Cited Transgender ‘Rights’ In Shooting Spree Manifesto, Contradicting Official Claims

Terrorism

A newly revealed memo shows that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI</a> told the Metro Nashville Police Department that the release of a school shooter’s writings could lead to “conspiracy theories” and “inaccurate information” in the weeks following fatal shootings at a Christian school in Nashville, <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/news/fbi-memo-on-protection-of-legacy-tokens-sent-to-nashville-police-in-may-2023-opposed-release-of-covenant-killer-documents-cited-destruction-precedent/tpappert/2024/06/05/">according</a> to a report from The Tennessee Star.
The <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/LHM_Protection_of_Legacy_Tokens.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a>, dated May 11, 2023, and recently obtained by The Star, was sent to Nashville Chief of Police John Drake after a transgender-identifying woman killed six people, including three children, at The Covenant School. It was also sent just days after Star News Digital Media, owner of The Tennessee Star, filed multiple lawsuits seeking the release of the killer’s writings, which have remained sealed both by Nashville police and the FBI. 
While the memo does specifically mention The Covenant School shooting, it tells Drake that a mass shooter&#8217;s writings and other documents, referred to as “legacy tokens,” should not be released to the public. The memo came from the FBI&#8217;s Critical Incident Response Group in Quantico, Virginia. 
Inside the memo, the FBI argued that the public should not have access to a shooter’s materials because the writings would be misinterpreted and may inspire further attacks. 
“Reasonably, the request often proffered by those seeking the release of the materials revolves around the public’s need to understand what led to such tragic events,” the FBI said. “Yet, legacy tokens seldom provide the answers or comfort sought by the public and surviving victims.  Offender’s words are often misleading, biased, or lacking insight.&#8221;
The FBI said the release would also lead to “conspiracy theories.”
“Public access to legacy tokens will also facilitate false narratives and inaccurate information. For personal gain, self-professed ‘experts’ will proffer their perspectives on the motivations behind the attack,” the memo said. “This also may lead to unintended consequences for the segment of the population more vulnerable or open to conspiracy theories, which will undoubtedly abound.”
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Metro Nashville Police Department Public Affairs Director Don Aaron told The Star on Tuesday that the FBI&#8217;s Behavioral Analysis Unit has been working with Nashville police on the investigation into the shooting.  
The release of the Covenant shooter&#8217;s so-called &#8220;manifesto&#8221; has been held up for months as both the FBI and Metro Nashville have refused to release the materials. A group of families from the school have also sought to block the release of the materials. 
A Davidson County judge is currently looking at a lawsuit against the police brought by a group, including The Star, looking to release the shooter’s writings, while a federal judge is considering a similar challenge against the FBI. The Nashville Police said that it expects to release its full report and most of the shooter’s writings in July, adding that its investigation is ongoing. 
A small <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-police-finally-address-leaked-images-of-covenant-school-shooters-manifesto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">portion</a> was leaked in November by podcaster Steven Crowder, who obtained three photographs of the alleged writings. The pages included racial slurs against white children as well as an itinerary for “death day,” which articulated her intent to have a “high death count.”

FBI Told Nashville Police Release Of School Shooter Writings Would Lead To ‘Conspiracy Theories,’ ‘Inaccurate Info’

Crime

manifesto

A transgender alum of a Christian school in Nashville was arrested by the FBI after allegedly making threats against Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA), days before the one-year anniversary of another transgender person slaughtering six people at The Covenant School.
A <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.tnmd.99265/gov.uscourts.tnmd.99265.17.0.pdf">criminal complaint</a> unsealed May 6 said that on March 24, the defendant left a voicemail for CPA saying, &#8220;My name used to be legally &#8230;&#8221; — followed by a female name. The Daily Wire does not name mass shooters or others who aspire to infamy through violence. The defendant is charged under a male name.
&#8220;Ya&#8217;ll already know who I am. &#8230; Every time I think about my childhood. You know what I think about every time I put my head to sleep at night? You know what I think about every morning? First of all, you don&#8217;t want to know,&#8221; the voicemail said, court documents allege. &#8220;Do you wanna f&#8212; around. Ya&#8217;ll already know where I live. &#8230; I spent how many days sheltered in place, legally ordered by not only the state but America &#8230; your quote unquote date is going on a murderous rampage again.&#8221;
The voicemail references the movie <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5463162/plotsummary/">Deadpool 2</a>, about an &#8220;unstable young mutant &#8230; at an orphanage&#8221; who kills an abusive staff member.
The Covenant shooting occurred on March 27, 2023, and far-left activists in Tennessee billed March 31, 2024 — Easter Sunday — as a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-venue-cancels-trans-day-of-vengeance-after-daily-wire-article">&#8220;Trans Day Of Vengeance.&#8221;</a> The defendant posted to X, &#8220;CPA taught me: &#8216;Vengeance is mine,&#8217; sayeth the Lord.&#8221;
The Tennessee Department of Homeland Security said the defendant also filmed the school and posted the video to X, attempting to open a door to the school and mentioning &#8220;watching the school burn.&#8221; The school&#8217;s surveillance cameras captured her taking a picture of a school map, the charging document said.
The law enforcement agency interviewed her on March 25, and she acknowledged the voicemail and apologized.
After that, she posted volatile messages about religious and conservative figures, including Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Gov. Bill Lee, writing on April 25 that &#8220;Bill Lee knows if he makes one wrong move it&#8217;s Joever [sic] for him and my 4th grade teacher&#8230; i.e., his WIFE.&#8221; She wrote of Blackburn, &#8220;Every single word is another nail in your coffin.&#8221;
The FBI then interviewed one of the victims who works at CPA, who said that he was especially concerned because three of his nieces had transferred to the school from Covenant after the mass shooting there.
Another school employee told the FBI that the school closed for the day after the voicemail as a result of it and the fact that it was the anniversary week of the Covenant shooting. The employee also said that many families chose not to send their kids to school the following day as well.
The defendant was charged in federal court with cyberstalking, which &#8220;criminalizes the conduct of a person who, with the intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance with intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate another person, uses the mail [or] any interactive computer service.&#8221;
On X, the defendant also posted, &#8220;I&#8217;m here. I&#8217;m queer. Get used to it,&#8221; and like the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-police-say-ongoing-investigation-prevents-release-of-covenant-shooters-manifesto">Covenant shooter</a> — who was also a female who believed she was a male — demonized white people, even though she was white.
&#8220;White people will really slaughter your whole family and think they&#8217;re more civilized than you because they did it with their pinkies up,&#8221; she reposted.
Her X account reposted a stream of violent leftist rhetoric, suggesting Israel was conducting &#8220;genocide&#8221; and writing, &#8220;Bush ALLOWED 9/11 to happen.&#8221;
She reposted Vice President Kamala Harris saying that &#8220;the highest court in our land took a constitutional right away from the women of America&#8221; and &#8220;Trump is to blame.&#8221; She blamed gun laws for &#8220;the Columbine shooting.&#8221;
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She also said, &#8220;[T]he most dehumanizing and infantilizing thing that happened to us CPC/CPS kids post 9/11 was when wehad [sic] to go outside to walk to class and they wouldn&#8217;t let us look past the plastic that covered up america&#8217;s [sic] war crimes.&#8221; The complaint says the defendant attended the school from 1999 to 2004.
Although females rarely commit high-profile violence, there have been a string of alleged violent threats against schools by female-to-male transgender people, raising questions about whether sex-change hormones are playing a role.
In Maryland last month, an Asian woman who believed she was a male was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/court-docs-show-trans-teen-arrested-for-planning-mass-shooting-fawned-over-covenant-shooter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> for allegedly planning to shoot up her high school near the 20th anniversary of the Columbine shootings, paying homage in a manifesto to the Covenant shooter.

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