Star News Challenges FBI’s Assumptions in Covenant Killer Manifesto Lawsuit

Attorneys for Star News Digital Media Inc., the parent company of The Tennessee Star, asked a federal judge to order the Federal Bureau of Investigation to respond to a motion for limited discovery as part of a nationally watched public records lawsuit.

Star News Digital Media Inc. filed the lawsuit in May, demanding the FBI release the manifesto and related writings of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the Covenant School killer.

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Illinois Sheriff Says Trans Woman Who Threatened to Shoot School Children Repeatedly Referenced Covenant Killer

The 47-year-old transgender woman charged with multiple felony counts of threatening to shoot and rape school children seemed to draw inspiration from Nashville’s Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, according to the Illinois sheriff involved in the arrest.

An earlier report suggests the school shooting threats were a call to action to the transgender community.

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FBI Asks Judge to Block Discovery in Tennessee Star’s Lawsuit Seeking Covenant Killer Records

Earlier this month, attorneys for Star News Digital Media Inc., the parent company of The Star and The Star News Network, filed a motion after the leak of three pages of Covenant Presbyterian School mass murderer Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s writings. The motion asserts the leak proves, “assuming the three pages’ authenticity,” that the FBI “could have selectively released” redacted portions of the manifesto without jeopardizing ongoing investigations.

The FBI has yet to confirm the authenticity of the manifesto pages shared online, but the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) has confirmed they are Hale’s writings. Prior to that admission, The Star was among the first outlets to independently verify the pages were part of Hale’s manifesto.

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FBI Won’t Comment on Whether Covenant Killer’s Manifesto Pages Constitute a Hate Crime

In the three pages released last week from Covenant Killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s manifesto and related writings, the hand-written notes were filled with racial and anti-LGBT slurs. Hale expressed at great length her hatred for white people, and in particular, her animus for the white children at the private Christian elementary school.

However, officials at the FBI won’t say whether or not they are handling the investigation of the March 27 school shootings as a hate crime.

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EXCLUSIVE: Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell Stands by Metro Law Director’s Claim That Covenant Killer Manifesto is ‘Locked’ Under Court Seal

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell is standing by his man, Metro Law Director Wally Dietz, and his suspect claim that a court order prohibits the release of the Covenant Killer’s manifesto.

“To be clear: I’m not intent on withholding anything, but I’m not going to violate the best understanding I have of what the law is,” the mayor told The Tennessee Star in responding to questions about Dietz’s controversial assertions.

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Parents of Children Murdered in Covenant School Mass Shooting Weigh in on Records Lawsuit, Blast Tennessee Star and Others for Seeking Covenant Killer Manifesto

Parents of two of the children murdered in the Covenant School massacre are joining others in asking Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles to keep the Covenant killer’s manifesto and related documents locked from public view. 

The mother of William Kinney and the parents of Evelyn Dieckhaus, two of three 9-year-olds fatally shot in the March 27 mass shootings, issued declaration letters to the court detailing the pain they’ve suffered and lambasting the news outlets and other organizations suing to have the records released.

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Threats of Copyright Infringement Lawsuits over Release of Covenant Killer’s Manifesto Probably Wouldn’t Hold Up in Court, Open Government Advocate Says

While the Covenant School killer’s parents consider their daughter’s deadly manifesto “intellectual property” and suggest anyone who publishes the documents could face legal damages, records experts say the threat is more legal posturing in a nationally watched public records lawsuit. 

But the latest legal twist in the court battle over Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s journals, written notes, memoirs and related writings is an attempt to take a “wrecking ball” to Tennessee’s public records law, one open government expert told The Tennessee Star. 

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Federal Judge: FBI Must Respond by July 3 in The Star News Network Lawsuit Demanding Agency Release Covenant Killer Manifesto

A federal judge has given the Federal Bureau of Investigation until July 3 to respond to The Star News Network’s lawsuit demanding the agency turn over the manifesto and related records of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the Covenant School killer.

The FBI had sought to delay the proceedings by another two weeks or a full month.

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Private Schools Seek to Argue Against Release of Records in Covenant Killer Manifesto Lawsuit

Four Nashville private schools are seeking entry into a nationally watched public records lawsuit that demands the release of the Covenant School killer’s manifesto and related documents. 

Attorneys for Franklin Road Academy, Montgomery Bell Academy, Oak Hill School, and St. Paul Christian Academy filed a motion on Monday asking Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles for permission to file an amicus — friend of the court  — brief in the lawsuit. 

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Court Filing: The Tennessee Star and Others Argue Metro Nashville Has No Case in Denying Release of Covenant Killer’s Manifesto

In a new court filing, attorneys for Star News Digital Media, parent company of The Tennessee Star, argue that the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davison County and intervenors in a public records lawsuit have no right to keep the Covenant School killer’s manifesto and related records from the public.

The memorandum of law, filed with Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles, asserts the Metro Nashville Police Department cannot “play ‘hide the ball’ with the reason for denial and come in later, raising wholly new and unrelated denial reasons.”

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The Tennessee Star Appeals Judge’s Decision Allowing School and Parents to Intervene in Covenant Killer Manifesto Lawsuit

The Tennessee Star and other plaintiffs in a closely watched public records lawsuit are appealing Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles’ decision last week to allow the Covenant Presbyterian Church, the school and parents of students to intervene in the case. 

Filed in the Tennessee Court of Appeals-Middle Section, the appeal could soon be consolidated with those of the other plaintiffs in the case — The Tennessean with State Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), the Tennessee Firearms Association, and the National Police Association with private investigator Clata Renee Brewer — should the court grant it. 

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Legal Battle Rages Between Victims’ Rights and The Public’s Right to Know in Covenant Killer Manifesto Lawsuit

In the days following the horrifying shootings at Nashville’s Covenant Presbyterian School, police said the killer, Audrey Elizabeth Hale, acted “totally alone.”

Hale, a 28-year-old woman who identified as a transgender man named “Aiden,” was killed by police 14 minutes after her deadly rampage began. Before she was neutralized, Hale had taken the lives of three 9-year-olds and three staff members at the private Christian school she once attended as a child.

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The Star News Network Seeks Court Ruling That FBI Is Breaking the Law in Its Refusal to Release Covenant Killer Manifesto

The Star News Network asked a federal court on Thursday to issue summary judgment declaring the Federal Bureau of Investigation violated the law and must immediately turn over the Covenant Killer’s manifesto and related records.

Star News and its parent company, Star News Digital Media Inc., earlier this month filed a federal lawsuit against the FBI demanding it release the relevant writings of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the mass murderer who in late March shot dead three 9-year-olds and three staff members at Nashville’s Covenant Presbyterian School.

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Metro Nashville Lead Attorney Admits Trying to Slow Down Court Proceedings to Let School, Parents Intervene in Covenant Killer Records Lawsuit

We learned this week that Metro Nashville’s lawyers deliberately attempted to slow down court proceedings on the lawsuit seeking the release of the Covenant Killer’s manifesto and related documents.

Such delay tactics raise an important question: Is the city government colluding with the Covenant Presbyterian School and families of the private Christian elementary school to keep the records from the public?  

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Metro Nashville Police Claim ‘Active’ Investigation into Covenant School Massacre is Ongoing, Could Take a Year to Complete

Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Assistant Chief Mike Hagar claims there is an “active” investigation into the Covenant Presbyterian School shootings and that releasing the Covenant killer’s manifesto and related writings would be harmful. A lieutenant with the police department says it could take up to a year to complete said invetigation. 

In a sworn declaration, Hagar said he is not opposed to the release of a redacted version of the documents.

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Covenant School Parents File Motion to Intervene in Lawsuits Seeking Release of Covenant Killer Manifesto

Parents of the three children killed in the Covenant Presbyterian School shootings are now seeking to intervene in lawsuits demanding the release of the Covenant killer’s manifesto and related documents.

And The Tennessee Star learned Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles rescheduled Thursday’s conference status meeting on the lawsuits for 1 p.m. Monday. It’s yet another delay in an increasingly complex web of lawsuits, consolidations, and interventions over the mass shooter’s writings.

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The Tennessean Follows Lead of The Tennessee Star, Sues to Obtain the Covenant Killer Manifesto

The Tennessean on Wednesday followed The Tennessee Star and other organizations in filing a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County demanding the release of the Covenant School killer’s manifesto and related documents. 

The Nashville-based newspaper’s lawsuit comes nearly two months after Audrey Elizabeth Hale shot her way into the Covenant Presbyterian Scho

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The Tennessee Star’s Public Records Lawsuit in Covenant Killer Case Transferred to Chancery Court

The Tennessee Star’s state lawsuit demanding the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) release the Covenant School killer’s manifesto and related documents is being transferred to Chancery Court. 

Tennessee First Circuit Court Judge David Briley this week granted the transfer, requested by attorneys for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, defendants in the case. 

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Attorneys for Covenant Church File Motions to Intervene in Lawsuits Seeking Covenant Killer’s Writings

Attorneys for the Covenant Presbyterian Church have filed a motion to intervene in Star News Digital Media Inc.’s lawsuit seeking the immediate release of the manifesto and related documents of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the transgender killer behind the March 27 mass shootings at the private elementary school.

The 20th Circuit Court-Davidson County will hold a hearing on the motion to intervene, which seeks to protect the Covenant Presbyterian Church’s “interests relating to the release of records sought in this matter.” The court set a hearing for 9 a.m. May 26.

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The Tennessee Star’s Parent Company Files Lawsuit Demanding Metro Nashville Turn Over Covenant Killer Records

Star News Digital Media Inc., parent company of The Tennessee Star, is suing the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County seeking the release of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s manifesto. 

The lawsuit, filed in Tennessee’s 20th Judicial District Court-Davidson County, follows on the heels of Star News Digital Media’s federal lawsuit demanding the FBI turn over the documents that law enforcement officials have kept locked away from the public for more than six weeks. 

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