Metro Nashville attorney Lora Fox confirmed on Tuesday there is no objection to the release of documents found in the car of Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale with limited redactions.
Fox told Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles that the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) maintains the position previously articulated by Assistant Chief Mike Hagar in an affidavit declaring that a redacted version of the manifesto could be released without harming MNPD investigations.
“If you are referring to the writings that are in the car, yes, Metro believes that those materials that were redacted and given to your honor could be released pursuant to Chief Hagar’s affidavit,” Fox confirmed.
She then revealed, “In fact, some of those redactions could be removed because now, the names, the folks have been interviewed.”
Michael Patrick Leahy, the editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, and the publication’s parent company The Star News Digital Media Inc., are among the plaintiffs suing to compel the MNPD to release Hale’s manifesto.
Hale, a biological female who reportedly identified as a transgender male at the time of the shooting, was slain by police after fatally shooting three students and three faculty members at Covenant School last year.
While Fox appeared to consent to the release of documents recovered from Hale’s car, which became known as her manifesto, she said Metro continues to object to the release of “voluminous other writings” by Hale that include “names, activities, and information about weapons.”
Fox insisted these documents are “very important to police, and they’re still in the investigative process” and could help determine any possible accessories to Hale’s shooting that killed six in March 2023.
Images depicting three pages of the manifesto recovered from Hale’s car were released by conservative comedian and commentator Steven Crowder last year after they were previously photographed by an unknown individual associated with MNPD and later leaked to Crowder’s publication.
The Star News Digital Media Inc. is simultaneously suing to compel the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to consent to release Hale’s manifesto.
Despite the pages published by Crowder only mentioning a Tennessee gun store and Hale’s grandmother, the FBI has maintained releasing even one page from Hale’s manifesto could jeopardize ongoing investigations.
Watch the exchange here.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “The Covenant School Manifesto Hearing” by WSMV 4 Nashville.
these documents should be released immediately……
Sorry, you already lied to keep the coverup going. You do object to releasing the Manifesto.
This kabuki theatre has got to stop. There are no investigations going on. For all those opposed to releasing the manifesto, they just continue to repeat the same BS talking points. If they really wanted to stop these types of attacks from happening again in the future, they too, should demand the release. Unless you learn of the underlying causes, you will not correct or fix anything. The excuse that you don’t want to re-live the drama, then I guess there should be no history books either.
This is baloney. Release the friggin documents without redactions.