More than seven months after Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s murderous rampage at Nashville’s Covenant Presbyterian School, Governor Bill Lee says he remains “frustrated” by the lack of transparency from law enforcement officials.
Lee’s office did not return The Tennessee Star’s requests for comment Wednesday regarding conservative commentator Steven Crowder’s release this week of three shocking pages from Hale’s “Death Day” manifesto.
Lee did issue a statement earlier this week insisting he will “continue to push for more information and urge MNPD [Metro National Police Department] to address the horrific pages published” by Crowder’s investigative reporting unit.
Exactly how the governor intends to do that isn’t clear. He did say that the state is not involved in the investigation and has no legal authority.
But Tennessee’s chief executive does have the authority to review criminal investigation files of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), said Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government. And Lee would also probably have the authority to publicly release the Hale manifesto and related writings, Fisher said.
As the head of the executive branch, the governor has authority over the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
It’s not likely he will release any of the records, but has Lee reviewed them? His communications director did not respond.
“I would imagine if the governor really wanted to see something in those files he could, but I also imagine he would not routinely interfere or want to interfere with that,” Fisher said.
TBI records are confidential but they are open to inspection by “elected members of the general assembly,” through a resolution by either house or of a standing or joint committee.
Bureau officials also have said they would allow lawmakers to examine the file.
But the MNPD and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have denied multiple requests to release the voluminous writings of the shooter, which include at least 20 journals, a suicide note and memoir, according to court filings.
Hale, a 28-year-old biological woman who identified as a transgender male, fatally shot 9-year-olds Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney and three adult staff members of the private Christian elementary school on the morning of March 27. Responding police shot and killed Hale.
The Covenant Presbyterian Church, its private elementary school, and parents of the school’s students have sought to block the release of Hale’s writings, arguing they would create copycat shooters, put the school at more risk, and bring back terrifying memories.
Star News Digital Media, the parent company of The Tennessee Star, is a plaintiff in state and federal lawsuits demanding the release of the documents. The litigation is slowly moving through the courts.
I spoke with Ben Cunningham of @NashvilleTea this morning about @TheTNStar reporting on latest developments in the leaked Covenant Killer documents released by @scrowder on Monday: https://t.co/79ssLhXFaC
— MichaelPatrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) November 8, 2023
Sources in the Tennessee General Assembly who were allowed to view the Covenant Killer Manifesto by the Metro Nashville Police Department have confirmed to The Tennessee Star that the pages are indeed part of the documents obtained by MNPD during its investigation and were authentically written by Hale.
Critics of the manifesto’s release have hammered Crowder for publishing the images of the pages, which show Hale, who was white, to hold a seething hatred for white people.
“Wanna kill all you little crackers,” Hale wrote in one of the entries. The killer also took aim at affluent children “with their white privlages [sic]” and wrote out a detailed plan of action for the day of the mass murders — Death Day, as Hale called it.
Law enforcement officials refused to speak to the contents of the pages, instead quickly launching an investigation into the leaked documents. It was swift.
MNPD confirmed on Wednesday that seven of its officers have been placed on administrative assignment following the leak.
“The powers that be are more concerned about finding the leaker than they are about the contents of Audrey Hale’s anti-white manifesto,” Crowder wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
https://twitter.com/scrowder/status/1722358976367460839?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1722358976367460839%7Ctwgr%5Eb279a649b8fa2e737b31f7135fd1583e8bf42f5f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftennesseestar.com%2Fnews%2Fmetro-nashville-police-department-confirms-7-officers-on-administrative-leave-in-connection-to-covenant-killer-manifesto%2Ftpappert%2F2023%2F11%2F08%2F
Fisher said she’s not surprised the department went after the leakers, but the release of the records remains imperative for many reasons — not the least is transparency.
“At some point we do need to have public officials truly stand up for transparency because right now those files are being held hostage by Metro Nashville,” the public records expert said.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Since Governor Bill Lee called a Special Session of the Legislature to push Red Flag Laws based on this mass murderers Day of Death Mission, one can only assume, he must have read it.
Thankfully, the Legislature did not pass Red Flag Laws that would do nothing to stop a deranged person. The only ones who could stop it are the ones who knew of her plans. However, I’m pretty sure I recall the Legislators were allowed to view the Manifesto.
No matter who saw it & released it, I am grateful they took pictures, bc we all know eventually it would disappear. It reminds me of Dwight D Eisenhower at the end of WWII. He asked journalists to take pictures of the Nazi death camps & mass gas chambers to document that SIX MILLION JEWS were murdered in an effort to eliminate the Jewish People. Eisenhower said, if you don’t document it, there will be an effort someday to convince people that it never happened. He was right.
It’s ironic that the Leaker is being investigated, but not the Shooting of innocent people by a depraved criminal.
They hope people will forget one day, but we won’t.
We have not forgotten the Las Vegas shooting, & how the investigation was pretty much muted once the FBI took over. We will never know why this man would attack innocent concert goers. The investigation into the man who allegedly killed 50 concert goers miraculously went nowhere, bc he too was shot & killed on scene. But there was no Manifesto of his intentions that we know of. There was only one alleged shooter, even though bullets were coming from two windows at the same time. Hmmm… the victims were concert goers who were Country Music Fans & probably Trump supporters. 50 mostly young people DEAD, killed like fish in a barrel. Lots of outstanding suspicions about that non-investigation as well.
In the Covenant School shooting, I recall in the first presser from Chief Drake, he acknowledged Audrey was a Trans woman, who had a Manifesto in her car that revealed she had other targets on her Day of Death list as well. He also acknowledged they discovered several journals & computers in her room where she lived with her parents. He also said they would be releasing the Manifesto & other evidence to the public in the near future. THEN THE FBI got involved, & everything was shut down. AMAZING!!! Did the order come down from DC to supress the evidence? I think I remember the TBI also had access to the Manifesto & other evidence.
Audrey was 28 years old & still living with her parents. But what did they know? Have they been questioned? Her associates? Her treatment provider? Someone close to her had to know of her stash of firearms. What did they think she might have those for?
There have been numerous eyes on the Manifesto, but some fall guy you don’t like in the MNPD will be accused & probably fired to protect the public. I can hear it now. Someone has to take the wrap right to insure there will be no other leaks.
RELEASE ALL THE EVIDENCE YOU HAVE IN THIS CASE
THE NASHVILLE COMMUNITY HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW HOW TO PROTECT THEMSELVES & THEIR CHILDREN FROM POTENTIAL SHOOTERS IN THE FUTURE.
WHO ARE YOU REALLY PROTECTING?
Bill doesn’t have to say anything. We already know that he is a RINO.
They’ll burn the manifesto before they release it to the public.
It’s about owning and sticking a middle finger in the eyes of their political opponents over the truth or quaint concepts like the law or transparency.
Protect the Trans at all costs.