Nashville, TN. – Nashville mass shooter Audrey Hale’s manifesto will not be released in its entirety because of the danger its contents pose. American Wire reported on the comments by Metro Nashville Council Member Courtney Johnston.
“That document in the wrong person’s hands would be astronomically dangerous,” Johnston said.
While parts of the manifesto are set to be released, Johnston claims that the FBI told her that “the vast, overwhelming majority of it” poses too much of a danger to the public.
There speculation in media that we may never see the manifesto of the Nashville shooter because she's dead and there won't be a trial.
We should absolutely know what motivated someone to shoot and kill six people, including three nine-year-old children.
— Walter Hudson (@WalterHudson) April 10, 2023
Joseph Giacalone, a former police officer who’s now an author and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, argued to the Post that the public “has a right to know” what’s in the manifesto “even if it’s heavily redacted.
That said, he believes he knows why the FBI is delaying releasing the manifesto.
“I think what the FBI is really concerned here with, and I think law enforcement, is that if there is something in there that is truly damaging for the transgender community, I think they are hesitant to do it because they are afraid of a violent backlash against that protected class of people,” Giacalone said.
Representative Walter Hudson, also a Republican, suggested that not releasing the manifesto will only result in “increasing distrust with the FBI and with government agencies generally.”
“If you’re going to wield power in a free country, then you have a responsibility to maintain the public’s trust in that power – and the FBI needs to figure out how to do that,” he added.
