The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has officially turned over all documents related to Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, including the killer’s manifesto, for an in camera review of materials.
The materials were ordered to be turned over in the case brought by plaintiffs Star News Digital Media Inc., the parent company of The Tennessee Star, and Michael Patrick Leahy, a resident of Tennessee and CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Star News Digital Media and journalist Matt Kittle.
The plaintiffs are seeking the release of the manifesto left behind by 28-year old Hale, a woman – who identified as transgender – who shot and killed three children and three adults inside The Covenant School in Nashville on March 27, 2023 before being shot dead herself by police.
On April 17, the FBI notified the U.S District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee that it had “provided the requested records to the Court for its ex parte, in camera review,” which the court ordered to be turned over last month.
The FBI’s Notice of Submission of Documents for In Camera Review reads:
Pursuant to this Court’s Order dated March 15, 2024, ECF No. 42, the FBI notifies the Court that today, April 17, 2024, the FBI provided the requested records to the Court for its ex parte, in camera review.
U.S. District Court Judge Aleta A. Trauger (pictured above), who ordered that such materials be turned over, cited in her order a “significant public interest” in the case and determined there is not enough information to justify siding with the FBI.
With the submitted materials by the FBI, the judge may now privately review the documents to determine if the information will be turned over to the plaintiffs.
Attorney Daniel Lennington of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) who represents Star News Digital Media in the lawsuit, previously called the judge’s order for the materials to be submitted a “promising development.”
“This is a very promising development,” Lennington at the time. “Someone is finally holding the FBI accountable for its handling of the manifesto. The people have a right to know what motivated the Nashville Shooter, and we are step closer to finding out more information.”
Star News Digital Media and Leahy are also plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to compel the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) to release the manifesto left behind by the killer.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “Judge Aleta A. Trauger” by USCourts.gov.
