Should the Covenant School shooter's manifesto be made public?
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — There has been a lot of debate about whether Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale's manifesto should be made public and if so, to what extent.
Metro Police are the lead investigators: They are the agency determining when the manifesto will be released and to what capacity.
Sergeant Joseph Giacalone is a retired New York Police Department sergeant with more than 20 years of experience conducting and supervising major criminal investigations.
He says if the entire manifesto was released to the public, there could be a lot of backlash against the trans community.
“We don’t want to give anybody else an idea," Sgt. Giacalone said. "Right, there are enough people out there who have issues with the LGBT community and/or have mental illness themselves."
Giacalone emphasizes he does not want the manifesto to turn into a how-to manual.
Conservative commentator Steve Gill believes if this shooting was done by a white, heterosexual male that's a Trump supporter, the documents would have been released weeks ago.
He says it is ridiculous Metro Police are covering it up because they're concerned about the transgender status.
“I think it’s also important to know what was the real motivation here," said Gill. "I mean we’re being told that the legislature should craft responses to the shooting when we don’t know what motivated it, what planning went into it."
Metro councilwoman, Courtney Johnston, told FOX 17 News Friday she was told the shooter’s hatred was equal opportunity and she does not believe any good will come out of releasing the shooter's journals.
“I think the best way to move forward is not necessarily to get into the brain and you know learn the depths to what someone’s psychosis reach is," Johnston said. "It’s more about okay, let’s start having some real conversations about what we can do."
She says it's about focusing on gun reform and making schools safer.
Metro Police say they don't have a timeline as to when these documents will be released.
For continuing coverage on The Covenant School tragedy, stay with FOX 17 News.
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