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By Matthew Impelli
Life & Trends Reporter
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A court hearing on Monday involving the release of a manifesto believed to belong to Audrey Hale, the 28-year-old mass shooter who killed six people at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, last year has sparked backlash on social media.
Last week, The Tennessee Star, a conservative news site, published new pages of Hale's diary, written shortly before the March 27, 2023, mass shooting at The Covenant School where three students and three adults died.
"So now in America, it makes one a criminal to have a gun or, be transgender, or non-binary," Hale wrote, according to The Tennessee Star.
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"So now [because] of you, I wish death on myself cause of the pure hatred of my female gender," Hale wrote in another part of the diary.
Hale, identified by police as transgender, was fatally shot by officers from the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) during the school shooting. A LinkedIn profile for Hale had he/him pronouns listed; however, it remains unknown if gender identification played a role in the shooting.
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Shortly after The Tennessee Star reported on new aspects of the manifesto, its editor-in-chief, Michael Patrick Leahy, was ordered to appear before Tennessee Chancery Court Judge I'Ashea L. Myles.
The news site previously reported that Monday's hearing was "to determine why the alleged publication of certain purported documents by Petitioners Star Digital Media [sic] and Michael Leahy, as the Editor-in-Chief, does not violate the Orders of this Court subjecting them to contempt proceedings and sanctions."
Leahy is currently a plaintiff in a lawsuit calling on the FBI and the MNPD to release the manifesto written by Hale in its entirety.
According to The Post Millennial on Sunday, a lawyer hired by Leahy, Daniel Horwitz, filed a motion to stay last week, arguing that the required court appearance violated First Amendment rights.
Newsweek has reached out to Leahy via email for comment and to the Tennessee court via its website for comment.
Meanwhile, a number of social media users on X, formerly Twitter, criticized the court hearing as they showed support for Leahy in his fight.
"Absolutely insane they are harassing people for publishing portions of the manifesto. We could see the entire unabomber manifesto but not this one. And their justification keeps changing. First it's 'ongoing investigation.' Now 'false narratives,'" Gregg Re of The Daily Wire wrote on X on Sunday.
The Tony Bruno Show wrote on X, "you should win this easily. Pulling for you Sir!"
Braden Boucek of the Southeastern Legal Foundation wrote on X, "Gets boring to point out but nothing is normal about the covenant case. The press corps should be on fire. With a few exceptions, this is what local investigative journalists are covering. This should be a national story."
Mike Benz of the Foundation For Freedom Online (FFO) wrote, "This is insane. They're about to jail the brilliant journalist @michaelpleahy for his obtaining a copy of the transgender Covenant Killer's manifesto when the Feds were trying to block the public from seeing it."
In a separate X post, he added: "I encourage you to follow @michaelpleahy & send him your spirit energy. He was fearless on this case, and obtained the manifesto legally, and is now facing the wrath of our government. Michael Leahy has also covered the censorship issue fearlessly."
Commentator Breanna Morello posted, "We're praying for you @michaelpleahy. You've done nothing wrong."
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