(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Nashville Judge I’Ashea Myles has ordered The Tennessee Star’s editor-in-chief to appear before her to consider whether she’ll hold them in contempt for publishing excerpts of transgender mass shooter Audrey Hale’s “manifesto.”
Unsubstantiated allegation by WSMV reporter prompts judge to order show cause hearing over The Tennessee Star’s reporting on Covenant killer investigation. https://t.co/hxz5BZmEOM
— MichaelPatrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) June 11, 2024
Judge Myles’s order follows The Star reporting last week that it obtained 80 pages of Hale’s writings from a journal discovered by the Metro Nashville Police Department. Since then, the newspaper has been dropping bombshell articles on a near-daily basis, as Headline USA has covered.
The Star is also a party to a lawsuit seeking Judge Myles to compel the MNPD to release Hale’s writings. As part of that lawsuit, Judge Myles ordered in February that if any of the parties in the lawsuit obtain Hale’s writings, they should submit them to her for review—and it’s that order that The Star may have violated.
Judge Myles was apparently unaware that The Star had published some of Hale’s writings until a local WSMV4 reporter called her office for comment. That reporter later bragged about triggering a contempt hearing against his fellow journalists.
“On Monday, June 10, 2024, this Court received a media call requesting comment or a statement from the Court regarding The Tennessee Star’s … alleged publication of certain purported documents and information that this Court has in its possession for in camera review in this matter,” Judge Myles said in her Monday order, setting a hearing for this Monday, June 17.
“Based on the foregoing, this Court sets a Show Cause hearing to determine why the alleged publication of certain purported documents by Petitioners Star Digital Media and Michael Leahy, as the Editor-in-Chief, does not violate the Orders of this Court subjecting them to contempt proceedings and sanctions.”
My phone call to the court prompts contempt hearing in Covenant writings case following new round of leaks. @WSMV https://t.co/wky9GnucYN
— Stacey Cameron (@StaceyTVJourno) June 10, 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.
