Category: Covenant School Shooting

COVERAGE OF COVENANT SHOOTING INVESTIGATION – The Tennessee Star has obtained a large number of case documents regarding the investigation of Audrey Elizabeth Hale and the mass shooting she perpetrated at Covenant Presbyterian School on March 27, 2023.

Pappert Criticizes Copyright Argument in Covenant Records Appeal as ‘Absurd’

Kaitlin Housler
Audrey Hale

As the legal fight over the release of the Covenant School shooter’s writings continues, The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter, Tom Pappert, is sharply criticizing one of the central arguments raised in the latest appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court, focusing on claims that the materials are protected by copyright.

Speaking during Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert argued that the effort by Metro Nashville, Covenant-associated parties, and intervening parents to block further disclosure based on copyright claims is fundamentally flawed, especially given that many of the documents are already publicly available.

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After Appeals Court Loss, Nashville and Covenant School Parents Ask TN Supreme Court for New Open Records Act Exceptions in Manifesto Lawsuit

Tom Pappert

Metro Nashville, the Covenant School, parents of some Covenant School students, and the Covenant Presbyterian Church, asked the Tennessee Supreme Court for permission to appeal the transparency victory handed to The Tennessee Star in February by the Tennessee Court of Appeals in the lawsuit to force the release of the Covenant School shooter’s writings.

After the appellate judges determined there was no reason to continue shielding the release of the files, citing the conclusion of the investigation by Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), and lack of any ongoing prosecutions, the losing side told the high court that the Court of Appeals decision fails to uphold the Victims Rights Amendment (VRA) of the Tennessee Constitution, and that its decision means the VRA is no longer in effect after a case concludes.

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Pappert Reflects on Third Anniversary of Covenant School Shooting, Ongoing Fight for Records

Kaitlin Housler
Audrey Hale

On the third anniversary of the deadly shooting at the Covenant School, The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter, Tom Pappert, reflected on the tragedy, the ongoing legal battles to obtain the shooter’s writings, and the overall lack of transparency from Metro Nashville regarding the case.

The March 27, 2023, attack left six people dead after 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as transgender, entered the private Christian school and carried out the shooting before being killed by police.

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Two Law Firms that Opposed Release of Covenant Manifesto Hired by Nashville Electric Service to Prepare Report on Power Outage Debacle

Tom Pappert
Nashville Electric Service

The Nashville Electric Service (NES) on Wednesday named the two law firms who will oversee the completion of an independent report from a third-party contractor over the response by the municipally-owned power company to Winter Storm Fern.

Despite NES acknowledging its transparency-related communication shortcomings during the storm, both of the law firms enlisted by the municipally owned utility were notably retained in efforts to prevent the documents left from the Covenant School shooter from being released to The Tennessee Star and other news outlets. 

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Court of Appeals Gives The Tennessee Star Major Victory in Covenant Manifesto Case

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

The Tennessee Court of Appeals on Wednesday granted a major victory to The Tennessee Star in the lawsuit to obtain the writings left by the Covenant School killer, reversing much of the trial court’s July 4, 2024 ruling, and paving the way for the eventual release of redacted versions of the killer’s writings, as well as files from the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) investigation.

In an opinion released nearly three years after Audrey Elizabeth Hale killed six at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023, the panel of judges determined Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles incorrectly determined the killer’s writings could not be released due to copyright and school safety exemptions.

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Covenant School Shooter Listed Guns Used in Popular Movies, Emphasizing ‘Bourne’ Franchise

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Covenant School killer Audrey Hale dedicated two pages of her 2021 journal, which was recently released by the FBI, detailing “guns used in movies,” with a particular focus on firearms depicted in two films within “Bourne” franchise.

Hale, who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Christian elementary school she once attended on March 27, 2023, claimed to list the weapons used in “The Bourne Identity,” “The Bourne Supremacy,” “Fargo,” “The Dead Zone,” and “Stand By Me,” in a two-page journal entry written pages apart from wish-lists of guns and accessories for her secret arsenal and transaction records that show how she used federal Pell Grant money to cover the transactions.

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Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Resumed Secret Purchases with Grant Money After Parents Learned of Hidden Guns: New Writings

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale - Covenant shooting

Writings by the Covenant School killer, released this week by the FBI, confirms she resumed using federal student aid to purchase and hide firearms at her family residence immediately after agreeing to sell the guns following a confrontation by her parents. 

The manifesto writings published on Monday contained dozens of pages devoted to financial transactions related to guns and accessories purchased or sold by Audrey Hale, the 28-year-old who identified as a transgender man until her death on March 27, 2023, when she killed six at the Covenant School.

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New Writings by Trans-Identified Covenant School Killer Show Desire to Kill White People Lasted Years

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Transgender-identified school shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale, in a journal entry released this week by the FBI, shows that the killer cited the race of the predominantly white student body at the Covenant School as early as 2021.

An entry from one of the killer’s later journals, but first published in 2023, suggested she maintained the racial animosity until shortly before killing six at the Christian elementary school she once attended on March 27, 2023. 

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Trans-Identified Covenant Killer Worried Canceled Plan to Attack ‘Black School’ Would Inspire ‘White Shooters’ in Newly Released Writings

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

The FBI released journal entries on Monday that show the Covenant School killer wrote a list of “advantages” and “disadvantages” regarding a scrapped plan to attack the Nashville middle school she once attended, revealing she harbored several race-based concerns over attacking the predominantly black student body.

In an entry written sometime in 2021, and located one page after Audrey Hale listed her hatred of religion as an “advantage” to attacking the Christian elementary school where she killed six on March 27, 2023, the killer specifically expressed her concerns about the effect of a potential attack at I.T. Creswell Middle School would have on black people.

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Reporter Exposes Shortcomings in Mayor-Commissioned MNPD Investigation

Kaitlin Housler
Metro Nashville Police Department

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, identified several shortcomings in the independent investigation commissioned by Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell into allegations of misconduct within the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD).

An independent review commissioned by O’Connell to examine whistleblower allegations against the MNPD concluded with major questions still unresolved, particularly those tied to the Covenant School shooting investigation.

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New Covenant Manifesto Writings Show Trans-Identified Killer Listed ‘Hate Religion’ as Reason to Attack Christian School

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

The FBI on Monday released new writings by Covenant School killer Audrey Hale, who identified as a transgender man when she killed six on March 27, 2023, revealing the killer listed hatred for religion as reason to attack the Christian elementary school she once attended. 

Hale included the motivator in a list of “advantages” and “disadvantages” the killer titled, “The Covenant School – Alternate Target / 2nd Choice,” which also noted her past history at the school, her knowledge of its layout, but also listed that it was a “bigger school,” and a “private school,” as well as a “school/church,” which meant “more revenue real estate.”

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Latest FBI Release of Covenant School Manifesto Files Appears to Confirm Trans-Identified Killer Bought Guns with Pell Grant Money

Tom Pappert

The FBI on Monday released another 230 manifesto pages written by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological female who identified as a transgender man on March 27, 2023, when the 28-year-old killed six at the Covenant School in Nashville, the Christian elementary school she once attended. 

This latest journal appears to have been written sometime in late 2021, and includes lengthy sections about the weapons the killer planned to use to commit a mass shooting at a school sometime that year.

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Third-Party Review of Nashville Police Misconduct Claims Concludes Without Interviewing Former Lead Detective on Covenant Case

Tom Pappert
Nashville Metro Police Department

The independent law firm appointed to review the allegations against Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) completed their investigation earlier this month, determining the claims raised last year by retired member of the police department either were not borne out by evidence or did not rise to the level of a policy violation or official misconduct.

Enlisted by Mayor Freddie O’Connell last year to investigate the whistleblower complaint submitted by retired MNPD Lieutenant Garet Davidson, the law firm Butler Snow announced on December 18 that it completed its report, which was published December 22 by Nashville Banner. 

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Court of Appeals Oral Argument in Covenant Case: Attorney for Tennessee Star Says Trial Court Decision Citing Copyright Claim Creates Legal ‘Black Hole’

Tom Pappert

A panel of three judges on the Tennessee Court of Appeals on Thursday heard oral arguments for the lawsuit brought by Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM), which owns and operates The Tennessee Star, and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, which seeks to compel Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) to release the complete writings of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who killed six at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023. 

Leahy and SNDM initially sued in May 2023, after Metro Nashville refused to comply with a Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA) request seeking the voluminous writings left by the killer, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation. Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles later allowed a group of Covenant parents to intervene in the lawsuit, as they claimed to own the copyright to the killer’s written works, and claimed that the government could not release them without the permission of the copyright owners.

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Tennessee Appeals Court to Hold Hearing on Tennessee Star Lawsuit Seeking Full Release of Covenant Killer Manifesto

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

A panel of three judges on the Tennessee Court of Appeals Middle Section on Thursday will hear oral arguments for the lawsuit brought by Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM), which owns and operates The Tennessee Star, and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy. 

Leahy and SNDM first sued in May 2023 to compel Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) to release the writings left by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who killed six at the Christian elementary school she once attended, after authorities initially claimed they would not release the manifesto until their investigation was complete.

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Covenant School Killer’s Journal Reveals Mix of Political Hatred, Satanic Imagery, and Mental Instability, Reporter Says

Kaitlin Housler
Tom Pappert

Transgender Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale included President Donald Trump on a handwritten “fantasy murder list,” according to newly released FBI documents that Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, says reveal a disturbing mix of political hatred, satanic imagery, and mental instability across approximately 1,500 pages of journal entries obtained by The Star.

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New FBI Release Shows Transgender Shooters of Annunciation Catholic and Covenant Schools Both Drew Demonic Imagery in Journals

Tom Pappert
Hale Devil Drawing

The FBI this week released to The Tennessee Star the latest portion of writings by Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a biological woman who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Christian school in Nashville on March 27, 2023, which were left in a journal the killer kept from 2019-2020.

One entry includes an illustration of the killer standing next to a figure she called the “Devil,” making her the second transgender mass shooter to leave such a drawing behind, after Annunciation Catholic School killer Robin Westman left a similar image in a notebook posted in a video to social media prior to his August 27 attack in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

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Transgender Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Included President Donald Trump in ‘Fantasy Murder List’

Tom Pappert
Trump in office

The FBI on Monday released to The Tennessee Star more pages from the journals written by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who killed six at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023. The newly released pages feature an entry where Hale included President Donald Trump on a “fantasy murder list.” 

Containing just four names, including two that were redacted by the FBI prior to their release of the journal, Hale included Trump as the first name in her second column of those who she would like to kill, potentially suggesting she added the name after writing a subsequent journal entry.

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Trans Covenant School Killer Complained About Money One Year Before Using Pell Grant Funds to Buy Guns

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

In a journal entry released to The Tennessee Star last week by the FBI, transgender Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale wrote that she struggled to save money, often with less than $200 in her bank account. The killer wrote the entry more than a year before she would use funds from a federal Pell Grant to purchase weapons before killing six on March 27, 2023. 

The 2019 journal entry adds context to Hale’s decision to use the grant money, as the killer seemed to connect her lack of funds with suicidal and homicidal plans. 

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Trans Covenant School Killer Wrote That Her Gender Identity Drove Her to ‘Cut Rope’ from Christianity

Tom Pappert
person praying

A newly released journal entry written by Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale, made public last week by the FBI to The Tennessee Star, reveals that the killer viewed her sexuality, and specifically her status as a self-identified transgender person, as an opposing force to her Christian faith. 

Written more than three years prior to her March 27, 2023 attack on the Covenant School, where she killed six, Hale dated the entry May 6, 2019, and while she began by discussing religion, she concluded by writing about school shooters. 

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Reporter Tom Pappert: New Covenant School Killer Writings Show Years-Long Mental Decline Ignored by Authorities

Kaitlin Housler
Audrey Hale

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, argued that the newly released journals of deceased 28-year-old Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale reveal a disturbing and progressive mental decline over nearly two decades.

Last week, the FBI released a new series of writings by Hale, the transgender shooter who claimed the lives of six at the Covenant School in Nashville on March 27, 2023.

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Trans Covenant Killer Wrote About Father’s Interest in ‘Dumb Politics’ and Donald Trump in Newly Released Journal Entries

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023, complained in two newly released journal entries about her father’s interest in “dumb politics” and President Donald Trump.

Though Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) determined the killer was sane and motivated by a desire for fame in its April report on the Covenant investigation, the journals seem to suggest that Hale’s mental state deteriorated over years, including the weeks prior to her 2019 evaluation for commitment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), where MNPD documents obtained by The Tennessee Star last year revealed that Hale told a staff member she fantasized about killing her father. 

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Nashville Police Say ‘Nothing Additional to Add’ After New Journals Show Trans Covenant Killer Claimed to Hear Voice of ‘Imaginary Boy’

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) said it has “nothing additional to add” regarding its conclusions regarding the March 27, 2023 attack on the Covenant School, where Audrey Elizabeth Hale, then identifying as a transgender man, killed three 9-year-old students and three staff members at the Christian elementary school she once attended.

The department’s Friday statement to The Tennessee Star came despite the release of new journal entries, written by the killer as late as June 2019, in which she claimed to hear the voice of an “imaginary boy,” which demanded to “express himself,” including through a romantic interest in women, for more than a decade.  

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Trans Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Feared Commitment at Mental Hospital Following Evaluation at VUMC, Newly Released Journal Shows

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale VUMC

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Christian school she once attended on March 27, 2023, wrote a journal entry to mark her evaluation for potential commitment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in 2019, as revealed new entries released by the FBI to The Tennessee Star last week. 

Though The Star last year broke that Hale was evaluated for possible commitment at VUMC, during which time police notes indicate she told a medical professional that she fantasized about killing her father, this entry is the first which reveals how the killer experienced the evaluation in her own words. 

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Trans Covenant School Killer Wanted Society to ‘Accept School Shooters’ in Journal Entry

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale wrote in a newly released journal entry that the world was too hostile to school shooters, arguing the public should have greater empathy for them, as many suffer from various mental illnesses. 

The FBI released more than 450 pages written by Hale on Wednesday, nearly a year after The Tennessee Star published the killer’s 2023 journal, with much of the new entries dated to years prior to her March 27, 2023 attack where she killed six.

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Transgender Covenant School Shooter Began Considering Attack as Early as 2019, Newly Released ‘Manifesto’ Pages Show

Tom Pappert
Covenant School Shooter Hale

Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man when she killed six on March 27, 2023 at the Christian school she once attended, began considering attacking a school as early as 2019, journal entries released to The Tennessee Star by the FBI on Wednesday reveal. 

In a journal entry written months after Hale determined she was attracted to other women, and just days after she wrote a written confession of her attraction to a former classmate, the killer seemed to express frustration upon realizing her feelings toward a specific individual were unrequited. 

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Trans Covenant School Shooter Credited Media’s Support for ‘LGBT Movement’ for Help Understanding Voice Inside Her Head

Tom Pappert
Audrey Elizabeth Hale

Nearly 500 pages of journal entries written by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale were released to The Tennessee Star by the FBI on Tuesday, and with many of the entries dated as far back as 2018, these journals offer insight into the killer’s state of mind in the years before she killed six at the Christian school she once attended in Nashville. 

Within these journals, Hale seemed to claim that she first experienced same-sex attraction as the result of an “imaginary boy,” which she experienced as a voice inside her head, which expressed a desire to “express himself,” including through romantic relationships with girls, from the time when she was a fourth grade student at the Covenant School. 

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Newly Released ‘Manifesto’ Pages from Trans Covenant School Killer Show Audrey Hale Claimed Father ‘Possessed’ by ‘Demon’

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

The FBI on Wednesday released new files from the journals written by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who killed six on March 27, 2023, including an entry in which the killer appears to accuse her father of demonic possession.

Audrey Hale, whose parents told police was diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses over her 22-year history as a mental health patient, appears to have written the entry sometime in 2018, based on the dates assigned to preceding entries.

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Trans Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Claimed to Hear Internal Voice of Boy Demanding to ‘Express Himself’ in Newly Released Journal

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

The FBI on Tuesday released to Judicial Watch a new series of writings by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the transgender shooter who claimed the lives of six at the Covenant School in Nashville on March 27, 2023, including an entry, apparently dated to 2018, in which Hale claimed to have heard a male voice inside her head. 

In an entry titled, “Is What I Feel A Mistake,” the killer wrote about the anguish she experienced related to “the truth about myself as to who I really am,” before claiming to have heard a male voice in her head for years. 

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Tennessee Star Settles Lawsuit with FBI Following Release of Covenant School Killer Manifesto Pages

Tom Pappert

The Tennessee Star on Wednesday settled its lawsuit against the FBI over the manifesto written by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a biological woman who identified as a transgender man when she killed six during her attack at the Christian school in Nashville on March 27, 2023.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty announced that its clients, Michael Patrick Leahy, the editor-in-chief of The Star, and his company, Star News Digital Media, Inc., agreed to settle the lawsuit after more than two years of litigation to secure the release of Hale’s writings.

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Congressman John Rose Says ‘No Good Justification’ for FBI to Block Release of Covenant Killer Manifesto After Reviewing 2,000 Pages

Tom Pappert
Rep John Rose

U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) on Thursday said there is “no good justification” for the FBI to block the release of the writings left by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological woman who identified as a transgender man when she attacked the Covenant School and killed six on March 27, 2023. 

In a statement provided to The Tennessee Star, Rose announced that he was given access to “more than 2,000 pages” of documents from the FBI roughly two years after he contacted former FBI Director Christopher Wray to call for the documents to be released.

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FBI Hands Judicial Watch Small Portion of Covenant School Manifesto Pages as Tennessee Star Lawsuit Continues

Tom Pappert

The FBI on Friday gave Judicial Watch a small portion of the 1,299 pages left by transgender Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale, who killed six on March 27, 2023, with heavy redactions on portions of the killer’s full 2023 journal that was already published in full by The Tennessee Star last year. 

The Star last September published about 90 pages that were written by Hale in her 2023 journal, which was recovered by law enforcement in her vehicle after the attack, alongside a spiral notebook that reportedly contained an operational plan for the atatck. In 2023, conservative comedian and pundit Steven Crowder published two pages from the spiral notebook.

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House Intelligence Committee Silent After FBI Reportedly Gives Trans Covenant Killer Manifesto to Congress

Tom Pappert
Audrey Elizabeth Hale

The U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) did not respond to multiple press inquiries from The Tennessee Star after the committee reportedly received the 1,299 pages of journals written by transgender Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale from the FBI under Director Kash Patel. Shortly after the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) concluded its investigation into the attack at the Covenant School, where Hale killed six on March 27, 2023, independent journalist Megyn Kelly reported on April 7 that the FBI allowed her to analyze and report the contents of Hale’s writings, while restricting her from publishing the pages. The Star published Hale’s full 2023 journal last September, releasing about 90 pages of her writings from the months before her attack on her former Christian school. Kelly also stated that the FBI, in an effort to engage in transparency, provided the documents to HPSCI so that Congress might review their contents. The Star contacted HPSCI and its chairman, Representative Rick Crawford (R-AR-01), but did not receive a response from the chairman or his committee to its April 8 inquiry. Inquiries to the committee’s vice chairman, Representative Trent Kelly (R-MS-01), and to committee member Representative J. French Hill (R-AR-02), made by…

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FBI’s Release of Covenant Killer Documents to Third Party Carries Legal Inconsistencies, Expert Says

Kaitlin Housler
Phill Kline

Phill Kline, former Kansas Attorney General and current law professor at Liberty University School of Law, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) release of the 1,299 pages of writings left by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale to independent journalist Megyn Kelly carries legal inconsistencies as a case brought by The Tennessee Star’s parent company regarding the materials continues to be litigated in federal court.

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Reporter Details Legal Ramifications of FBI Releasing Covenant Killer Documents Exclusively to Third Party Amid Ongoing Lawsuit

Kaitlin Housler
MPL pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) release of the 1,299 pages of writings left by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale to independent journalist Megyn Kelly may have legal ramifications as a case brought by The Star’s parent company regarding the materials continues to be litigated in federal court.

Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM), which owns and operates The Star, and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy sued the FBI in May 2023 to compel the agency to release Hale’s writings.

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Parents of Trans Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Linked Anti-White Bias to Nashville Public School Years: Police Transcript

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Reports surfaced on Monday claiming that Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man during the March 27, 2023, attack where she killed six, harbored hatred toward white people, following news that the FBI conditionally released her writings to an independent journalist, barring publication of the actual pages.

This release came months after The Tennessee Star obtained Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) case files, which revealed that Hale’s parents attributed her feelings on race to her years in Metro Nashville Public Schools.

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Department of Justice, Nashville Police Left in Dark on Covenant Killer Manifesto Release to Third Party amid Lawsuit, FBI Silence

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

The Department of Justice and Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) both indicated to The Tennessee Star on Tuesday that they were unaware of the FBI’s apparent decision to conditionally release the 1,299 pages of writings left by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023, to independent journalist Megyn Kelly last week.

Kelly on Monday stated that the FBI provided the killer’s writings to her with permission to analyze and report their contents over the weekend, but that her team was restricted from publishing the materials in their entirety. Excerpts shared by Kelly appear to match the killer’s 2023 manifesto, which The Star legally obtained last June and published in September 2024. 

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Tennessee Star Seeks FBI Explanation for ‘Significant Abuse of Process’ After Covenant Manifesto Released to Third Party amid Lawsuit

Tom Pappert
Kash Patel

The law firm representing The Tennessee Star in its federal lawsuit demanding the FBI release the complete materials left by transgender Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale on Monday contacted the FBI to request an immediate explanation for the agency’s reported decision to release the killer’s writings to independent journalist Megyn Kelly.

Kelly has reported that the FBI gave Hale’s written materials to her organization over the weekend, and in a Monday podcast shared details purportedly from the manifesto left by the killer, who killed six at a Christian school in Nashville on March 27, 2023, that match Hale’s 2023 manifesto. 

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FBI Provides Covenant Killer Manifesto to Megyn Kelly amid Silence on Tennessee Star Lawsuit Demanding Full Release

Tom Pappert

The FBI reportedly provided last week the 1,299 pages written by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Nashville school she once attended, to independent media personality Megyn Kelly.

Kelly’s release of the materials, which began on Monday, appears to contain some of the same writings The Tennessee Star legally obtained last June and subsequently published in their entirety in September 2024, suggesting the materials obtained by Kelly are authentic.

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Pappert on Covenant Shooter Investigation: Psychosis, Not Notoriety, Likely Drove the Covenant School Attack

Kaitlin Housler
Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, disagrees with the Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD) conclusion that 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the self-identified transgender man who carried out the Covenant School shooting on March 27, 2023, committed the attack while she was “sane” and out of her desire for “notoriety.”

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Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Feared Mental Health Commitment Would Stop Murder Plot, Final Police Report Claims

Tom Pappert
therapy

The final report on the Covenant School killings committed by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man when she killed three children and three staff members at the Christian school she once attended on March 27, 2023, feared that her mother and mental health professionals would have her involuntarily committed due to concerns over her mental health, derailing her plans to commit the attack.

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) released its report on the Covenant investigation on Wednesday, revealing that Hale grew increasingly concerned that her mother and therapist would have her involuntarily committed in the months prior her attack. Hale apparently became concerned about the prospect of commitment after she was evaluated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), despite the killer ultimately avoiding inpatient commitment on three separate occasions.

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Final Report on Covenant School Killer Contradicts Parents’ Claim They Didn’t Know Audrey Hale ‘Felt Close’ to Columbine Attackers

Tom Pappert
Columbine shooters

The final report on the Covenant School shooting, released by the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Wednesday, seems to contradict a key claim made by the parents of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological woman who identified as a transgender man when she killed six on March 27, 2023.

According to the report, Ronald and Norma Hale became aware their daughter legally purchased her first firearm in December 2020, and her father was aware of she subsequently purchased a shotgun the following year. MNPD claimed that Norma Hale objected to her daughter’s ownership of the weapons, but that Ronald Hale supported responsible gun ownership.

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Metro Nashville Police Say Mysterious Seventh Gun Owned by Audrey Hill Actually Belonged to Covenant Killer’s Father

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Just days after the attack committed by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological woman who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) stated publicly that the killer legally purchased seven weapons over the course of her life.

However, the final report MNPD released on Wednesday only accounted for six firearm purchases made by the killer, and MNPD Public Affairs Director Don Aaron on Friday told The Tennessee Star that the seventh weapon actually belonged to the killer’s father, and was apparently mistakenly included in the total count of firearms owned by Hale.

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Police: Trans Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Left ‘Will,’ Instructions for ‘Distribution’ of ‘Possessions, Thumb Drives, Writings, and Artwork’

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) confirmed through the report published upon the conclusion of its investigation into the Covenant School shooting that Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological female who identified as a transgender man when she killed six on March 27, 2023, left a “will” that contained specific instructions for the “distribution” of key personal items, including her “possessions, thumb drives, writings, and artwork.”

This fact seemingly contradicts the previous claim made in probate court by the killer’s parents, Ronald and Norma Hale, whose attorney stated in a June 2023 court filing that their daughter did not have a will and died intestate. 

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FBI Documents Suggest BAU-1 Group Behind ‘Legacy Tokens’ Memo Enlisted in Covenant Killer Investigation Days After Shooting

Tom Pappert
FBI Behavioral Analysis

Internal FBI documents obtained by independent journalist Breanna Morello via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, suggest the agency’s Behavioral Analysis Unit-1 (BAU-1) was enlisted by the FBI’s Memphis Field Office to assist with its investigation into Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale on March 30, 2023, just three days after Hale, who identified as a transgender man at the time of her death, claimed the lives of six at the Nashville school she once attended on March 27. 

The documents, which are heavily redacted and pertain to evidence gathered by the FBI’s field office in Memphis and BAU-1 pursuant to the Covenant investigation, were provided to The Tennessee Star on Friday. 

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