Metro Nashville’s Claims that Covenant Killer’s Records Are Sealed and Can’t Be Released Don’t Hold Water, Attorneys Say

Metro Nashville’s top attorney released an urgent statement Thursday evening claiming the Covenant School Killer’s manifesto is under court seal and can’t be released.

Not true, say attorneys for plaintiffs in lawsuits seeking to make the records public.

Metro Law Director Wally Dietz (pictured above) rushed out a summary on the release of the so-called manifesto, the voluminous writings of Audrey Elizabeth Hale —  28-year-old woman identifying as a transgender male who in late March fatally shot three 9-year-olds and three staff members of Covenant Presbyterian School before being shot dead by police.

Dietz’s claims reiterate what local law enforcement officials have already noted in court filings, that there is a redacted version of the manifesto, but the records are filed under seal in Davidson County Chancery Court. He insists the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) is forbidden to release either version of the manifesto until the legal matters surrounding them are settled.

“MNPD approved this limited release because they wanted to answer some of the questions being raised about the crime and thought that releasing this redacted version would not harm the ongoing investigation. However, those documents remain under seal,” Metro’s legal chief wrote, adding that “Pursuant to the terms of the Court order,” Metro Legal has not shared the documents with anyone else.

Nicholas Barry, senior counsel for civil rights law firm America First Legal, the firm representing The Tennessee Star in the multi-plaintiff lawsuit seeking the release of the documents, said the Chancery Court has taken no action that would prevent Metro Nashville from releasing any documents related to the Covenant shooting.

The court, complying with the Tennessee Public Records Act, required the documents requested, including the Covenant Shooter’s manifesto, to be submitted under seal for the court’s review, Barry said. The burden of proof to justify withholding Hale’s manifesto is still on Metro Nashville.

“The Court has not ordered that these records remain sealed until the Court decides whether they should be released. The decision to release records is Metro’s decision, and it is Metro’s burden to prove that there is a valid justification for their nondisclosure,” the attorney said. “At a minimum, those records should be released immediately.”

He noted that MNPD Assistant Chief Mike Hagar stated in a declaration in the lawsuit that releasing the redacted version of the writings would not impede any investigation. Conversely, law enforcement officials have cited provisions under the Tennessee Public Records Act that allow police to block the release of records that could harm an ongoing investigation.

Dietz says Metro Legal redacted portions of the journals relating to the specific planning of the attack on the school. It did not redact comments on “what could be considered expressions of the motivation for carrying out this horrific crime,” he claims.

But before “the process was completed,” Star News News Digital Media, parent company of The Tennessee Star, the Tennessee Firearms Association, The Tennessean, and the National Police Association sued MNPD for the manifesto, Dietz said. What he fails to note is the lawsuits were filed in early May, after Metro Nashville refused to release the records, citing an ongoing investigation in a crime in which the only suspect — Hale — is dead.

Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles was set to hold the required show cause hearing in May on whether Metro Nashville was justified in withholding the records, but Covenant Presbyterian Church, its private elementary school and the parents of the school’s students sought to intervene in the case. They want Hale’s manifesto and related documents permanently sealed from the public.

The plaintiffs appealed Myles’ ruling allowing the parents, church and school to intervene, a challenge that remains unsettled. And the show cause hearing is on hold while the appeals court deliberates.

“Until this matter is resolved by the Courts, Metropolitan Nashville is prohibited from releasing the journals. The journals are filed under seal with the Chancery Court and may not be released by MNPD, the Mayor, Metro Legal, or any other local authority,” Dietz insists.

Barry rejects Dietz’s assertions of powerlessness. He said Metro Nashville has the authority to release the redacted records at any time, and that time is now.

“Anything else is just a distraction and not reality,” the attorney said.

Dan Lennington, attorney for The Tennessee Star in a similar lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said he’s not aware of any court order that would prohibit MNPD from releasing the manifesto.

“If there is such a court order, I would like to see it,” said Lennington, deputy counsel for the Wisconsin Institute Law & Liberty, a Milwaukee-based civil rights law firm.

Dietz’s admission of the redacted version also contradicts the FBI’s argument that the release of any of the documents would harm the “ongoing” investigation, Lennington said.

“MNPD and FBI are taking different positions in different lawsuits in an apparent attempt to keep the records from the public eye,” the attorney said.

Dietz’s summary of events curiously arrived on the heels of a tweet from the Nashville Tea Party asking if there was anything that would prevent law enforcement officials from immediately releasing all of the manifesto. Star News Network CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, a plaintiff in the state and federal lawsuits, told the conservative organization that there is nothing preventing MNPD or the FBI from releasing it immediately on their own initiative.

Good interview yesterday with Michael Patrick Leahy @michaelpleahy about #NashvilleManifesto. I meant to ask him if there was anything in his litigation with @FBI and @MNPDNashville that would prevent them from immediately releasing ALL of the Manifesto. I followed up with him…

— Nashville Tea Party (@NashvilleTea) November 9, 2023

Dietz’s version of events also follows conservative commentator Steve Crowder’s release of the images of three pages confirmed to be from Hale’s writings — screeds that detail the killer’s plan for “Death Day,” as Hale put it, and far left tirades against white people and, particularly, white children.

“I wish to shoot you weaka** d**ks with your mop yellow hair, wanna kill all you little crackers!!! Bunch of little f****ts with your white privlages [sic]. ‘F**k you f****ts,” one entry declares.

Metro Nashville immediately launched an investigation into the leaked records, placing seven MNPD officers on administrative leave.

Attorneys for The Tennessee Star on Tuesday filed a motion in the federal lawsuit asking the judge to allow discovery into the leaked manifesto documents. The FBI has refused to confirm their authenticity despite confirmations from the MNPD and lawmaker sources who have viewed the records.

Lennington said once it’s determined in the discovery process that the documents are authentic, the court will be able to consider that as evidence in determining whether the FBI has violated the Freedom of Information Act.

“We will update the court about Wally Dietz’s admission that they have confirmed the authenticity and the fact that Metro Nashville now says a redacted version exists, which does not support the FBI’s argument that the manifesto cannot be released even in part,” the attorney said.

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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Wally Dietz” by Wally Dietz and “Covenant Presbyterian School” is by MNPD.