Tennessee Republicans are increasing their efforts to gain access to the alleged manifesto of the transgender shooter who killed three adults and three children at the Covenant School in March. But the efforts to make the manifesto public are not being favorably received by Democrats.
Republican representatives in the Tennessee House wrote a letter to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Monday, asking them to release the shooter’s “writings as well as relevant medical records and toxicology reports.”
This move comes in advance of a special session requested by Gov. Bill Lee that is slated to happen August 21 and will focus on gun safety legislation.
Lawmakers and concerned citizens have been seeking the release of the writings that were reportedly discovered by the police in the shooter’s home. Judicial Watch recently filed a public records lawsuit against the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, pursuing access to the writings.
In the months since the discovery of the documents, authorities have downplayed their importance.
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The documents allegedly include a detailed plan with a map of the school, as well as the alleged manifesto. David Rausch, the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said that the writings are more “journal type rantings” and that calling them a “manifesto” is a “mischaracterization.”
Democrat members of Tennessee legislature are complaining that Republicans are hindering legislation by asking for the release of the records. House Democratic Chairman John Ray Clemmons said the GOP is “holding the state government hostage” and “[threatening] the public safety of every child and Tennessee family” by continuing to seek the reasoning behind the shooting.
Republicans asserted in the letter that having access to the writings “is critical to the General Assembly’s ability to construct effective solutions that can prevent future acts of violence.”
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