(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Parties in an ongoing lawsuit over the disclosure of Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale’s writings gathered in court on Monday after at least 80 pages of Hale documents were allegedly leaked to the Tennessee Star.
However, it wasn’t clear exactly why they were there.
The hearing was set after Nashville Judge I’Ashea Myles ordered Star editor-in-chief Michael Patrick Leahy to appear before her this Monday to “show case” as she considered whether to hold him in contempt for publishing excerpts of Hale’s writings.
Judge Myles’s order appeared to be a prima facie First Amendment violation. But after she was widely ridiculed for her likely unconstitutional order, the judge later claimed that she never actually ordered a contempt-of-court hearing for Monday.
Instead, she claimed that Monday’s hearing was simply for her to be “educated” on how to proceed, now that documents subject to the court proceedings have been leaked.
COVENANT WRITINGS: Hearing takes place to talk about potential court violations by The Tennessee Star after mass shooter’s writings were leaked by the outlet. https://t.co/BoCm28p1pu https://t.co/irMo9RM6vZ
— FoxNashville (@FOXNashville) June 17, 2024
“I thought it prudent to have everyone in here to understand the landscape,” Judge Myles said.
That wasn’t good enough for Leahy’s attorney, Daniel Horowitz, who pressed the judge on why exactly his client was ordered to appear Monday.
“We were ordered here to show cause as to why we shouldn’t be held in contempt. This court then expanded the order it put down to say it would investigate [how the documents were leaked],” said Horowitz, who was frequently interrupted by Judge Myles as he made his argument.
“What cause did you order him to show?”
Judge Myles didn’t answer Horowitz’s question. Instead, she claimed she learned enough information from Monday’s hearing to make a ruling. What she’s ruling on isn’t exactly clear.
Following the hearing, Leahy released the following statement: “We started The Tennessee Star so I could exercise my First Amendment rights. I think we have served the public well, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to continue exercising our First Amendment rights.”
Here’s @michaelpleahy after today’s hearing in Nashville, where a judge had threatened to hold him in contempt.
The judge appears to have backed off the threat, and Leahy says he’ll continue to exercise his First Amendment rights pic.twitter.com/SwLNHgIOlJ
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) June 17, 2024
Police have said the writings that they collected as part of their investigation into the March 27, 2023, shooting at the Covenant School that killed three 9-year-old children and three adult staff members are public records. However, they have said they cannot be released until their investigation is concluded.
Despite law enforcement’s attempts to keep the manifesto secret, the first three pages the purported manifesto were leaked to conservative broadcaster Steven Crowder last November. The Nashville Police Department reportedly suspended seven detectives over the leak.
The portion of the manifesto that was leaked purportedly revealed Hale, who identified a transgender, had been planning the school shooting for years, and that she deliberately targeted “white privileged” “cr*****s” and “f****ts.”
“Can’t believe I’m doing this but I’m ready… I hope my victims aren’t,” Hale wrote. “My only fear is if anything goes wrong. I’ll do my best to prevent any of the sort. God let my wrath take over my anxiety. It might be 10 minutes tops. It might be 3-7. It’s gonna go quick. I hope I have a high death count. Ready to die.”
The more recent excerpts published by The Star reveal Hale’s transgender ideation.
“2007 was the birth of puberty blockers and a newfound discovery for treatment of non-conforming transgender children,” Hale reportedly wrote. “I’d kill to have those resources.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
