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.

Court Orders Expedited Appeal in Covenant Killer Manifesto Lawsuit, Delays Show Cause Hearing

M.D. Kittle

The Tennessee Court of Appeals in Nashville has agreed to expedite an appeal that will determine who is allowed to intervene in a lawsuit seeking the release of the Covenant School killer’s manifesto — a move that will push a July 12 show cause hearing into August. 

“Until the appeal regarding the intervention is resolved, there is no way to know who the parties in the underlying action will be to participate in the show cause hearing,” the court wrote. “Without a stay of the trial court proceedings, this appeal would be rendered moot or the parties may be forced to conduct a new show cause hearing depending on the results of the appeal.” 

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Former Covenant Presbyterian Church Pastor Grieves, Prays for Church He Served for 25 Years

M.D. Kittle

Pastor Jim Bachmann remembers the early, intimate days of the new Covenant Presbyterian Church in the early 1990s. A few dozen souls with a love of Christ and a thirst to grow in faith gathering at a small venue.

That little congregation has grown into a thriving, evangelical church of some 1,400 parishioners in the southern hills of Nashville since Bachmann took the lead preacher post in 1991. He served as pastor until 2016.

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Parents of Children Murdered in Covenant School Mass Shooting Weigh in on Records Lawsuit, Blast Tennessee Star and Others for Seeking Covenant Killer Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

Parents of two of the children murdered in the Covenant School massacre are joining others in asking Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles to keep the Covenant killer’s manifesto and related documents locked from public view. 

The mother of William Kinney and the parents of Evelyn Dieckhaus, two of three 9-year-olds fatally shot in the March 27 mass shootings, issued declaration letters to the court detailing the pain they’ve suffered and lambasting the news outlets and other organizations suing to have the records released.

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Commentary: Nashville Forensic Files

Admin

On March 27, in the run-up to “Trans Day of Vengeance,” Audrey Hale murdered six people at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. Nearly three months later, Hale’s manifesto is still under wraps but autopsies enable the youngest victims to testify. 

The nine-year-old Hallie Scruggs, daughter of Covenant Presbyterian pastor Chad Scruggs, sustained an “indeterminate range gunshot wound of the head,” that caused injuries to the scalp, left temporal bone, and left temporal lobe of the brain. Hale also targeted Scruggs with an “indeterminate range gunshot wound of the pelvis,” entering at the left lower abdomen and causing injuries to the left femoral artery, vein and soft tissue. 

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Threats of Copyright Infringement Lawsuits over Release of Covenant Killer’s Manifesto Probably Wouldn’t Hold Up in Court, Open Government Advocate Says

M.D. Kittle

While the Covenant School killer’s parents consider their daughter’s deadly manifesto “intellectual property” and suggest anyone who publishes the documents could face legal damages, records experts say the threat is more legal posturing in a nationally watched public records lawsuit. 

But the latest legal twist in the court battle over Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s journals, written notes, memoirs and related writings is an attempt to take a “wrecking ball” to Tennessee’s public records law, one open government expert told The Tennessee Star. 

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Federal Judge: FBI Must Respond by July 3 in The Star News Network Lawsuit Demanding Agency Release Covenant Killer Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

A federal judge has given the Federal Bureau of Investigation until July 3 to respond to The Star News Network’s lawsuit demanding the agency turn over the manifesto and related records of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the Covenant School killer.

The FBI had sought to delay the proceedings by another two weeks or a full month.

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Private Schools Seek to Argue Against Release of Records in Covenant Killer Manifesto Lawsuit

M.D. Kittle

Four Nashville private schools are seeking entry into a nationally watched public records lawsuit that demands the release of the Covenant School killer’s manifesto and related documents. 

Attorneys for Franklin Road Academy, Montgomery Bell Academy, Oak Hill School, and St. Paul Christian Academy filed a motion on Monday asking Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles for permission to file an amicus — friend of the court  — brief in the lawsuit. 

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Davidson County District Attorney General Seeks to File Amicus Brief in Records Lawsuit Bolstering Argument to Block Covenant Killer’s Manifesto Release

M.D. Kittle

Davidson County District Attorney General Glenn Funk filed an amicus — friend of the court — brief on Monday in the nationally watched public records lawsuit over the Covenant killer’s manifesto and related documents. Funk, as attorneys for the parents of students at the Covenant Presbyterian School do, argues that the parents are victims and entitled to certain rights. 

Attorneys for family members of the students and staff argue those rights allow them to keep the documents locked from the public, a controversial legal theory that plaintiffs in the lawsuit say could have a chilling effect on Tennessee’s public records laws. 

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Attorney for Parents of Covenant Killer Notifies Court They Intend to Transfer Ownership of Manifesto to Children of Covenant School

M.D. Kittle

In a new twist in the legal battle over the release of the Covenant School killer’s manifesto, the parents of Audrey Elizabeth Hale are asking the court to give them assigning rights so that they may turn the deadly records over to the children of the school. 

Attorneys for Star News Digital Media, parent company of The Tennessee Star, and the other plaintiffs suing the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department to release the records related to the March 27 mass shootings at Covenant Presbyterian School, were in court Thursday arguing against multiple parties intervening in the lawsuit. 

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Court Filing: The Tennessee Star and Others Argue Metro Nashville Has No Case in Denying Release of Covenant Killer’s Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

In a new court filing, attorneys for Star News Digital Media, parent company of The Tennessee Star, argue that the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davison County and intervenors in a public records lawsuit have no right to keep the Covenant School killer’s manifesto and related records from the public.

The memorandum of law, filed with Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles, asserts the Metro Nashville Police Department cannot “play ‘hide the ball’ with the reason for denial and come in later, raising wholly new and unrelated denial reasons.”

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Court Filing Explains Why Covenant School Parents Don’t Want Killer’s Manifesto Released

M.D. Kittle

Asking the court to “shield” Covenant Presbyterian School students from a “lifetime of abuse and harassment by the shooter from beyond the grave,” a new court filing lays out why parents of the children don’t want the Covenant killer’s manifesto and other writings made public. 

Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles last week ruled that the Covenant Presbyterian Church, its private elementary school and the parents of the schoolchildren may intervene in a lawsuit seeking the manifesto and related writings of mass shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale. 

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The Tennessee Star Appeals Judge’s Decision Allowing School and Parents to Intervene in Covenant Killer Manifesto Lawsuit

M.D. Kittle

The Tennessee Star and other plaintiffs in a closely watched public records lawsuit are appealing Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles’ decision last week to allow the Covenant Presbyterian Church, the school and parents of students to intervene in the case. 

Filed in the Tennessee Court of Appeals-Middle Section, the appeal could soon be consolidated with those of the other plaintiffs in the case — The Tennessean with State Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), the Tennessee Firearms Association, and the National Police Association with private investigator Clata Renee Brewer — should the court grant it. 

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Nashville City Council to Hold Gun Violence Hearings in the Wake of Covenant School Massacre

M.D. Kittle

More than two months after 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale shot and killed three children and three staff members at the Covenant Presbyterian School, Nashville’s Metropolitan Council is planning to hold hearings on gun violence as a “public health issue.” 

The Public Health and Safety Committee will conduct the first special meeting on gun safety, co-hosted with Education Committee Chair Zulfat Suara, on June 14, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 pm.

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Legal Battle Rages Between Victims’ Rights and The Public’s Right to Know in Covenant Killer Manifesto Lawsuit

M.D. Kittle

In the days following the horrifying shootings at Nashville’s Covenant Presbyterian School, police said the killer, Audrey Elizabeth Hale, acted “totally alone.”

Hale, a 28-year-old woman who identified as a transgender man named “Aiden,” was killed by police 14 minutes after her deadly rampage began. Before she was neutralized, Hale had taken the lives of three 9-year-olds and three staff members at the private Christian school she once attended as a child.

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The Star News Network Seeks Court Ruling That FBI Is Breaking the Law in Its Refusal to Release Covenant Killer Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

The Star News Network asked a federal court on Thursday to issue summary judgment declaring the Federal Bureau of Investigation violated the law and must immediately turn over the Covenant Killer’s manifesto and related records.

Star News and its parent company, Star News Digital Media Inc., earlier this month filed a federal lawsuit against the FBI demanding it release the relevant writings of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the mass murderer who in late March shot dead three 9-year-olds and three staff members at Nashville’s Covenant Presbyterian School.

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Metro Nashville Lead Attorney Admits Trying to Slow Down Court Proceedings to Let School, Parents Intervene in Covenant Killer Records Lawsuit

M.D. Kittle

We learned this week that Metro Nashville’s lawyers deliberately attempted to slow down court proceedings on the lawsuit seeking the release of the Covenant Killer’s manifesto and related documents.

Such delay tactics raise an important question: Is the city government colluding with the Covenant Presbyterian School and families of the private Christian elementary school to keep the records from the public?  

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Judge to Decide Wednesday Whether School, Parents, Are Allowed to Intervene in Lawsuit Seeking Covenant Killer Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles heard plenty of opinions Monday — many of them dripping with emotion — on a consolidated lawsuit seeking the release of the Covenant School Killer’s manifesto and related writings. 

Myles is expected to issue an order on Wednesday deciding whether Covenant Presbyterian School parents, the private Christian school and the Covenant Presbyterian Church can intervene in the lawsuit. 

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Christian Leader Calls for Immediate Release of Covenant School Shooter’s Manifesto Following Durham Report: ‘FBI Has Been Compromised’

Susan Berry, PhD

The director of the Christian Defense Coalition told The Star News Network in an interview Friday it is crucial that the FBI release The Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale’s manifesto to the public, especially in the wake of the “scathing report” by Special Counsel John Durham that has led to a firestorm over the federal law enforcement agency’s integrity and analysis.

“There have been many stories that the local Nashville Police Department is turning much of the manifesto in detail writings of Audrey Hale over to the FBI, for analysis, to try to get a sense of a profile, any issues that might help ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again,” Rev. Patrick Mahoney said.

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Metro Nashville Police Claim ‘Active’ Investigation into Covenant School Massacre is Ongoing, Could Take a Year to Complete

M.D. Kittle

Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Assistant Chief Mike Hagar claims there is an “active” investigation into the Covenant Presbyterian School shootings and that releasing the Covenant killer’s manifesto and related writings would be harmful. A lieutenant with the police department says it could take up to a year to complete said invetigation. 

In a sworn declaration, Hagar said he is not opposed to the release of a redacted version of the documents.

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Covenant School Parents File Motion to Intervene in Lawsuits Seeking Release of Covenant Killer Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

Parents of the three children killed in the Covenant Presbyterian School shootings are now seeking to intervene in lawsuits demanding the release of the Covenant killer’s manifesto and related documents.

And The Tennessee Star learned Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles rescheduled Thursday’s conference status meeting on the lawsuits for 1 p.m. Monday. It’s yet another delay in an increasingly complex web of lawsuits, consolidations, and interventions over the mass shooter’s writings.

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The Tennessean Follows Lead of The Tennessee Star, Sues to Obtain the Covenant Killer Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

The Tennessean on Wednesday followed The Tennessee Star and other organizations in filing a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County demanding the release of the Covenant School killer’s manifesto and related documents. 

The Nashville-based newspaper’s lawsuit comes nearly two months after Audrey Elizabeth Hale shot her way into the Covenant Presbyterian Scho

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The Tennessee Star’s Public Records Lawsuit in Covenant Killer Case Transferred to Chancery Court

M.D. Kittle

The Tennessee Star’s state lawsuit demanding the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) release the Covenant School killer’s manifesto and related documents is being transferred to Chancery Court. 

Tennessee First Circuit Court Judge David Briley this week granted the transfer, requested by attorneys for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, defendants in the case. 

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Attorneys for Covenant Church File Motions to Intervene in Lawsuits Seeking Covenant Killer’s Writings

M.D. Kittle

Attorneys for the Covenant Presbyterian Church have filed a motion to intervene in Star News Digital Media Inc.’s lawsuit seeking the immediate release of the manifesto and related documents of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the transgender killer behind the March 27 mass shootings at the private elementary school.

The 20th Circuit Court-Davidson County will hold a hearing on the motion to intervene, which seeks to protect the Covenant Presbyterian Church’s “interests relating to the release of records sought in this matter.” The court set a hearing for 9 a.m. May 26.

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Davidson County Court Chancellor Reviewing Covenant Killer Manifesto as Public Records Lawsuits Pile Up

M.D. Kittle

Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles is reviewing the unredacted and proposed redacted journal and other writings of the Covenant School killer ahead of Thursday’s scheduled status conference meeting, sources with knowledge of the case tell The Tennessee Star. 

Myles has scheduled a Show Cause hearing for June 8 on the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s refusal to turnover what has commonly been referred to as the “manifesto” of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who stormed into Nashville’s Covenant Presbyterian School on March 27 and fatally killed three 9-year-olds and three staff members. 

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DOJ’s Shadowy ‘Community Relations Service’ May Be Behind Covenant Killer Manifesto Coverup, Sources Say

M.D. Kittle

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Metropolitan Nashville Police Department have refused to release the manifesto and related documents of the Covenant School killer, citing spurious reasons for their denials. 

But is a shadowy Department of Justice unit billing itself as “America’s peacemaker” behind the information freeze? Some say the disclosure dance has all the markings of the Community Relations Service. 

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Hero Metro Officers Who Killed Covenant School Shooter to Receive National Award

Mac Roberts

Metro Nashville Police Officers Rex Englebert and Michael Collazo will receive the National Award of Valor at the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) School Safety Conference next month. NASRO annually presents its National Award of Valor to five individuals “for acts of courage and valor above and beyond what would normally be expected.”

NASRO admired how the officers “ended the tragic shooting at The Covenant School March 27 by confronting and firing at the shooter, fatally wounding them within 14 minutes of the first report of the incident.”

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The Tennessee Star’s Parent Company Files Lawsuit Demanding Metro Nashville Turn Over Covenant Killer Records

M.D. Kittle

Star News Digital Media Inc., parent company of The Tennessee Star, is suing the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County seeking the release of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s manifesto. 

The lawsuit, filed in Tennessee’s 20th Judicial District Court-Davidson County, follows on the heels of Star News Digital Media’s federal lawsuit demanding the FBI turn over the documents that law enforcement officials have kept locked away from the public for more than six weeks. 

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The Star News Network Sues the FBI Over Agency’s Refusal to Release Covenant Killer Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

The Star News Network is suing the Federal Bureau of Investigation alleging the law enforcement agency has broken a critical First Amendment guard in repeatedly denying Freedom of Information Act requests seeking the Covenant School killer’s manifesto.

Filed Wednesday, the federal lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee to order the FBI to release Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s manifesto and related documents and to issue a declaration that the agency violated FOIA in denying the request for the information.

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Covenant Killer Manifesto Coverup Deepens as Metro Nashville Police Department Moves to Delay Open Records Lawsuit Hearings

M.D. Kittle

The judge hearing lawsuits demanding the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department release the Covenant School killer’s manifesto has pushed back a show cause hearing on the litigation as MNPD attempts to maneuver around Tennessee’s public record laws. 

It appears the police department and its attorneys are going to try to bury the plaintiffs — and the court — in paper. 

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Covenant Killer Manifesto Coverup: Metro Nashville Police Department Refuses to Release Any Documents Due to Pending Public Records Litigation

M.D. Kittle

In a legal twist, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) now says it will not release the Covenant School killer’s manifesto and related documents because of pending litigation — lawsuits demanding the department turn over the records. 

“Covenant investigation update: Due to pending litigation filed this week, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has been advised by counsel to hold in abeyance the release of records related to the shooting at The Covenant School pending orders or direction of the court,” MNPD stated in a tweet Wednesday morning. 

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Court Date Set in National Police Association’s Public Records Lawsuit Against Metro Nashville’s Refusal to Release Covenant School Killer’s Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

The National Police Association has filed a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County demanding the release of the Covenant School killer’s manifesto. 

And The Tennessee Star has just learned that Tennessee 20th Judicial District Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles has ordered a show cause hearing for May 11, examining whether the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) has failed to comply with public records laws. 

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Tennessee Firearms Association, Former Sheriff Sue Metro Nashville Police Demanding Release of Covenant Killer’s Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

The Tennessee Firearms Association is asking a state court to order the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department to turn over the Covenant School killer’s manifesto — documents law enforcement have kept from the public more than a month after Audrey Elizabeth Hale stormed into the private Covenant Presbyterian School and killed three 9-year-olds and three adults. 

In a lawsuit filed Monday, the TFA and former Hamilton County Sheriff James Hammond request the 20th Judicial District, Chancery Court, in Davidson County to grant the organization access to the manifesto. The complaint also seeks an order from the court finding the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County’s denial of TFA’s records requests is unlawful. 

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MNPD Tells The Tennessee Star that Covenant Mass Shooter’s ‘Dated Journals’ Will be Released, Does Not Provide Timeline

Peter D'Abrosca

In a shift from what has widely been called a “manifesto,” the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Friday told The Tennessee Star that it will release “dated journals” left behind by the mass shooter who killed six people at The Covenant School in Nashville one month ago. 

“The writings are essentially dated journals,” Don Aaron, an MNPD spokesman, told The Tennessee Star. “While the word manifesto was used on the first day, we have since referred to these as ‘writings’ or ‘journals.'”

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MNPD Denies Tennessee Star Public Records Request for Covenant Mass Shooter’s Toxicology Report

Peter D'Abrosca

After the CEO of Star News Media, Inc., the owner and operator of The Tennessee Star, submitted an open records request to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Thursday asking that Covenant School mass killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s toxicology report be made public, The Star learned Friday that that request has been denied.

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Dan Lennington of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty Explains Why Legal Action to Obtain Covenant Killer Manifesto on Behalf of Star News Network Began Against FBI

Julie Carr

Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed attorney Dan Lennington with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty to the newsmaker line to discuss the process in which they intend to obtain the Hale Manifesto regarding the Nashville Covenant School shooting.

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Commentary: Is School Shooter Audrey Hale’s ‘Manifesto’ an Open Record Under the Tennessee Public Records Act?

Admin

In a press conference the day after The Covenant School mass shooting, Nashville police said they were looking into the motive of the shooter, Audrey Hale, and had found a “manifesto” that outlined her attack with maps and action plans for the killings.

Since then, the Nashville police have walked back the characterization of Hale’s writings seized at her home as a manifesto but have given little additional information about them. They say they have shared Hale’s journals and writings with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, which is studying them.

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The Tennessee Star Files Open Records Request with MNPD for Toxicology Report from Autopsy of Covenant Killer Audrey Hale

Peter D'Abrosca

The CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Star News Network Thursday filed an open records request with the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), seeking the release of a toxicology report of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the person who shot and killed six people at The Covenant School a month ago, at the time of Hale’s rampage.

Hale identified as transgender, and a toxicology report would identify what, if any, drugs were in Hale’s system at the time of the mass killing.

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The Star News Network Files Legal Action Against FBI in Seeking Covenant School Killer’s Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

The Star News Network’s attorneys have filed a new case with the U.S. Department of Justice demanding the Federal Bureau of Investigation turn over Nashville mass shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s manifesto.

The Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) on Wednesday filed an administrative appeal with the Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy after the FBI twice rejected The Star News Network’s Freedom of Information Act requests, seeking the expedited release of the documents.

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Metro Nashville Police Department Says It’s Getting Ready to Review What It Will Release of Covenant School Killer’s Manifesto

M.D. Kittle

A day after the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department denied The Tennessee Star’s request for mass shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s manifesto, an official says the department has entered a “stage” of considering how to release the controversial documents. 

“The investigation is now at the stage that we are beginning the close review/preparation process for the public release of written material,” Metro Nashville PD spokeswoman Brooke Reese wrote in an email Wednesday to The Tennessee Star. 

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Catholic Civil Rights Leader Requests Nashville Police Department Release Covenant Killer’s Manifesto

Susan Berry, PhD

Catholic League President Bill Donohue is asking Nashville police to produce the manifesto they said they found among transgender shooter Audrey Hale’s belongings.

“The local police said she was planning the attack ‘over a period of months,’ and that she had studied other mass murderers,” wrote Donohue Monday. “They emphasized that the attack was ‘calculated and planned.’ Importantly, they found a manifesto that laid bare her thinking.”

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Davidson County Sheriff Wants Covenant School Shooter Manifesto Released

Peter D'Abrosca

Davidson County’s sheriff said he wants the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to release the manifesto The Covenant School shooter left behind.

“I think the manifesto needs to be released ASAP,” Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall reportedly said. “I think it would help. I don’t see any reason for it to be private any longer in my opinion.”

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Tennessee Lawmakers Call for the Release of Covenant Murderer Hale Manifesto Ahead of Special Session

Peter D'Abrosca

Tennessee Republicans are demanding a the release of a manifesto written by the person who killed six at The Covenant School on March 27, before entering into a special legislative session that will be focused on gun control. 

State Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has filed a public records request with the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) in order to obtain information about the manifesto left behind by 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as transgender, after Hale’s rampage at The Covenant School in Nashville. 

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