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.
The report found Davidson’s claims largely unsubstantiated, with no evidence suggesting MNPD officials violated department policy or improperly interfered in disciplinary proceedings, and instead determining their actions in the cases raised by Davidson either aligned with contemporary department policy or did not rise to the level of misconduct.
Butler Snow reported multiple difficulties when it came to Davidson’s claims regarding the Covenant School shooting case, including interviews that were either stalled for months or came with forbidden topics due to an ongoing investigation into Davidson.
The law firm also did not interview former MNPD Detective Bobby Samuels, who was assigned as the lead investigator on the Covenant case before leaving Tennessee in early 2024.
Butler Snow wrote in the report that Davidson’s claims about MNPD misconduct related to the Covenant School shooting were deemed outside the scope of its investigation due to circumstances that emerged after it started.
In his whistleblower complaint, Davidson listed numerous allegations against MNPD Assistant Chief Mike Hagar, including his alleged, “interference with and mismanagement into the investigation into the Covenant photo leak and the subsequent decision to disband the entire investigative team despite them not being responsible for the leak.”
According to Davidson, the initial publication of three pages from the Covenant School manifestos by conservative pundit and comedian Steven Crowder prompted Hagar to immediately seek interviews with the detectives assigned to the Covenant case, even though many were unable to first contact attorneys. Hagar eventually postponed the interviews, according to Davidson, but the detectives were ultimately reassigned from the case.
Davidson has since been accused of theft, burglary, and official misconduct in two indictments containing more than 30 counts. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the second indictment includes misconduct charges, “related to the Covenant School Shooting.”
The Butler Snow report states that its investigation was stalled for “several months” after the execution of a search warrant by TBI, which sought materials submitted by Davidson.
After the search warrant was executed, Butler Snow wrote, “the investigative team was not permitted to conduct interviews of MNPD officers ‘for fear’ that the investigative interviews would have an impact on or possibly compromise ‘an ongoing criminal investigation,'” and once the Butler Snow team was allowed to interview officers, “questions regarding The Covenant School shooting were off limits.”
According to the report, 15 current and former MNPD employees or officials were interviewed as part of the investigation. These include Davidson, former MNPD Officer Zachary Maxa, and leaders ranging from Hagar to Chief John Drake.
Butler Snow’s list of witnesses notably did not include Samuels, whose departure from MNPD was first reported earlier this year, when the department told The Tennessee Star that he left Tennessee, “as part of a planned move to another state at the very beginning of 2024.” Crowder published three pages from the manifestos left by Hale in November 2023.
MNPD concluded its investigation into the Covenant shooting earlier this year, when the department claimed Audrey Hale was mentally sane and motivated by the desire for notoriety on March 27, 2023, when the 28-year-old woman who identified as a transgender man killed six at the Christian school she once attended.
The Tennessee Star legally obtained the final journal left by Hale last year, and published the full document in September 2024. The FBI has since partially fulfilled its pledge to release the other journals written by the killer, which was made as part of a settlement to resolve litigation against the agency, including the lawsuit by Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM), which owns and operates The Star, and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, which sought to compel their release.
Leahy and SNDM launched similar litigation to compel MNPD to release the killer’s writings. The case was appealed after a Tennessee Chancery Court Judge ruled against Leahy, SNDM, and the other plaintiffs. A panel of judges recently heard oral arguments in the case.
Davidson appeared as a guest on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show in June 2024, when he discussed his complaint and revealed new information about the Covenant investigation.
The Star was nominated for the Dao Prize in Best Local Journalism for its reporting on the Covenant case.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Metro Nashville Police Department” by MNPD.
I know that’s right.
Release the covenant files.
Coverups come in all sizes, shapes and flavors.