A Davidson County Tennesee judge has received the complete, unredacted manifesto belonging to the transgender murderer Audrey Elizabeth Hale to review before deciding if it can be publicly released as another lawsuit is filed in federal court for its release, Fox News reported.
Lawyers for the city of Nashville submitted a copy of the manifesto, along with a censored version, to the judge amid a slew of lawsuits demanding that the city publicly release the full manifesto of the 28-year-old woman who murdered three children and three adults at Covenant School in late March before being shot dead by police.
In the latest suit filed last Wednesday, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty is suing the FBI in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennesee on behalf of the conservative media company The Star News Network, Townhall reported.
In April, The Star News Network filed a public records request last month under the Freedom of Information Act. After the FBI denied the FOIA request, the Wisconsin Institute filed an appeal to the Justice Department. But on May 5, the DOJ rejected the appeal, prompting the lawsuit.
The manifesto was being reviewed both by the Nashville Police and the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. But according to Tennesee Republican Congressman Tim Burchett, it is the FBI that is behind the delay of the manifesto’s release.
Courtney Johnston, a Metro Nashville Councilwoman, said she had been told that the manifesto is a “blueprint on total destruction” and one high-ranking official from the Nashville police told her the manifesto “keeps him up at night.”
A status conference is scheduled to be held on Wednesday between a Davidson County Judge and attorneys for the city to discuss the possible release of the manifesto.
A public hearing is scheduled for June 8.
Audrey Elizabeth Hale was under a doctor’s care for an emotional disorder when she shot and killed Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney, and Hallie Scruggs, all 9 years old, along with Covenant School headmistress Katherine Koonce, janitor Mike Hill, and substitute teacher Cynthia Peak.
