Nashville’s Police Chief confirmed on Nov. 6 the authenticity of the leaked images published by podcaster Steven Crowder on Monday, which were purported to be taken of three pages of the Covenant School shooter’s “manifesto” she left behind in the wake of her deadly assault on the private Christian school back in March.
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Chief John Drake said the leak showed a “total disregard” for the victim’s families as well as the court system.
“I am greatly disturbed by today’s unauthorized release of three pages of writings from the Covenant shooter,” Mr. Drake said in his statement. “This police department is extremely serious about the investigation to identify the person responsible.”
He continued, chastising the release as disregarding the court system, which due to litigation filed seeking to force the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) to turn over the documents, has control of the journals at this time.
“It is now pending in Davidson County Chancery Court and the Tennessee Court of Appeals,” he added. “We are not at liberty to release the journals until the courts rule. Our police department looks forward to the ultimate resolution of the litigation concerning the journals.”
Conservative Daily Wire Podcast host and Nashville resident Candace Owens posted on X Tuesday morning she had information that led her to believe two officers were going to be fired by MNPD and that the images were “sold” by officers to the media.
The Epoch Times reached out to MNPD about the claims, to which a representative said in an email to The Epoch Times they were “not true.”
“The statements are all we have to offer at this time,” a spokeswoman said in an email. “The Candace Owens tweet is not true.”
Crowder also disputed the claim that the images were sold to him in a separate post on X.
What Leaked
The so-called “manifesto,” which is how the shooter’s ramblings were referred to by Mr. Drake in the days after the shooting before he began referring to them as a “series of writings,” detailed a hate-fueled ideology held by the shooter.
The writings detail not only anti-white rhetoric and homophobic slurs, but that the shooter had possibly planned the attack for two years. The shooter herself was white and according to police identified as a female-to-male transgender person.
In one page, Ms. Hale, who was also known as Aiden and signed pages in the leaked writings with both names, said she was nearly “caught” planning the attack, “especially back in the summer of 2021.”
She also referred to the children as having “white [privilege]” while going to “fancy private schools” with their “fancy khakis and sports backpacks” in their parents’ “mustangs and convertables [sic].”
She wrote that she had “been excited for the past 2 weeks” indicating further that the attack was planned.
In a page supposedly written on Feb. 3, a month before the attack, she went on an expletive-laden attack on the children themselves, of which the three she murdered were only nine years old.
She wrote “Kill those kids!!!” while attacking them for their “white privilege” and continuing her expletive-laden rant.
“[Expletive] you little [expletive]. I wish to shoot you [expletive] w/ your mop yellow hair. Wanna kill all you little crackers!!! Bunch of little [expletive] w/ your white privlages [sic]. [Expletive] you [expletive].”
She also included a schedule in the leaked writings, which she ended by writing “Let massacre begin. Time2die,” indicating that she planned to die at the hands of herself or the police. Hale was killed shortly after beginning her attack by responding officers.
Authorities Once Promised Release Before Backtracking
One month after the shooting, MNPD officials confirmed to The Epoch Times they were readying the writings left behind by 28-year-old shooter Audrey Hale for public release.
“We are in the process of going through the writings so that they can and will be released publicly,” MNPD Public Affairs Officer Kristin Mumford told The Epoch Times in a phone call in late April. “The FBI is assisting because they have the expertise in this area, but we are the lead, and the release will come through us.”
Days later, MNPD had reversed course, citing “ the advice of legal counsel” amid litigation filed in early May for those same documents to be released.
Multiple Epoch Times reporters both in Tennessee and outside of the state had their requests for the manifesto documents rejected alongside all other media outlets and private citizens requesting the documents through the state’s open records laws.
While MNPD declined to comment on the seeming change in direction from the previous interview with The Epoch Times, the department posted a brief statement on Twitter at the time.
“Covenant investigation update: Due to pending litigation filed this week, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has been advised by counsel to hold in abeyance the release of records related to the shooting at The Covenant School pending orders or direction of the court,” MNPD posted on Twitter.
Censorship of Leaked Images
Mr. Crowder’s reporting was censored by Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and Google (Search and YouTube), who deleted his recent episode discussing the documents, he said on his Nov. 7 show.
It was also briefly censored on X, formerly Twitter, with sensitive content filters placed on the images—however, this was soon reversed after being pointed out by Mr. Crowder.
“We wanted to let you know our team reviewed your content, and we think it violates our violent criminal organization’s policy,” Mr. Crowder said while reading a message from YouTube after airing the images.
“We know you may not have realized this was a violation of our policies,” YouTube continued, “so we’re not applying a strike to your channel. However, we have removed the following content from YouTube: “
YouTube detailed its policy saying that “content that glorifies violent criminal organizations or incites violence is not allowed on YouTube.” They further claimed to review incidents of alleged violations on a “case-by-case basis.”
What Happened Before The Leak
Since MNPD denied various requests for the records, the appeals on whether or not MNPD will be forced to release the shooter’s writings have been held up in court.
In court, the push to keep the records hidden has included support from families of The Covenant School, victims, and even the parents of the shooter.
The Tennessee Court of Appeals in June issued an order to temporarily halt the lower trial court proceedings concerning the lawsuits against MNPD.
The decision by the appellate court stems from the lower court allowing the Covenant School parents, church, and school to join the lawsuit as third-party interveners. The plaintiffs, who disagree with this decision, took their appeal to the higher court on May 30.
Originally, the lower court under Davison County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles declined to put the proceedings on hold, but the appellate court’s order took precedence over her ruling. The reason given by the higher court was to ensure all parties’ rights were adequately protected during the appeal process.
Myles had previously warned of potential delays, noting that appeals can extend for months, something which has now stretched on for several months. Given the law’s preference for swift resolution in public records cases, this delay contrasts sharply with the legislation’s intent.
Those concerns seem to be coming to fruition, as an appeals court heard oral arguments in recent weeks over whether families of the schoolchildren should be granted legal standing to intervene in the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA) case.
Lora Fox, representing MNPD and Metro Nashville, argued in the appellate hearing that Metro and MNPD had a “conflict[ing]” view from Covenant parties, noting that at the end of the investigation, Metro “believes that under existing case law, the criminal investigation mostly becomes a public record.”
“The families say no, under the exceptions that they assert, and their constitutional rights, they argue that none of the investigation files should become a public record,” she said. “And so not only do I not represent them, but Metro has a different position than the victims in this case.”
Following that hearing, a court officer told local media outlets it could take days, weeks, or months for them to rule on whether the lower court allowing the Covenant parties in as third-party intervenors can stand.
What Else Has Transpired
The March 27 tragedy revealed the shooter was a former student of the school, and Mr. Drake at the time said she was found to have detailed maps of the school, indicating planned entry points, and that she had been prepared for a confrontation with law enforcement.
At the time, he said police were examining a “manifesto” linked to the shooter, hinting that motives behind the attack might be revealed later, although the department walked back those comments later and said they could not release the documents due to an “ongoing investigation,” despite the shooter being killed by police on scene.
Many family members have said in court filings that they feel that their privacy has been violated by the media in the push to learn the shooter’s motivations.
However, victim Mike Hill’s brother expressed a desire for the documents to be released, emphasizing the need for closure and a clear understanding of the events.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Metro or MNPD had not released any additional information into their investigation of the leak.
From The Epoch Times
