A judge in Tennessee has ruled that the writings of the Covenant School shooter—a transgender individual who shot and killed three adults and three nine-year-old children in his March 7, 2023 rampage through a Christian school in Nashville—can remain private because they are the copyrighted property of the victims’ families.
Last year, the family of Aiden Hale, a former student of the school, transferred ownership of Hale’s multitude of writings—including a manifesto and 20 journals—to the victims’ families. The novel approach helped keep the material private.
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Several organizations, including news outlets, sued to make Hale’s former property public, but Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles recently ruled that the families’ copyright claim was valid.
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Referring to the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA), Myles found that the arrangement to copyright the work was unique but agreed with the victims’ parents, finding that “the original writings, journals, art, photos and videos created by Hale are subject to an exception to the TPRA created by the federal Copyright Act,” the Associated Press reported.
The ruling last week came more than a year after the public records request to release the materials.
Those killed in the mass shooting were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9 years old, and adults Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61.
The victims’ families praised Judge Myles’ ruling.
“The last year and a half without Cindy has been difficult,” said the family of Cindy Peak, a substitute teacher at the school. “But today brings a measure of relief in our family. Denying the shooter some of the notoriety she sought by releasing her vile and unfiltered thoughts on the world is a result everyone should be thankful for.”
The effort to keep Hale’s property private hasn’t stopped leaks of the material, much of which was documented by police shortly after the massacre.
In excerpts of the manifesto written by Hale, who identified as male and used he/him pronouns, the shooter was disparaging of the LGBTQ+ community and associated “white privilege” with anti-gay bias.
“Kill those kids!!!” Hale wrote. “Those crackers going to private fancy schools with those fancy khakis + sports backpacks w/ thier [sic] daddies mustangs + convertables. F**k you little s**ts. I wish to shoot you weak**s d**ks w/ your mop yellow hair. Wanna kill all you little crackers!!! Bunch of little fa***ts w/ your white privlages. f**k you fa***ts.”
Two other pages shared online by rightwing podcaster Steve Crowder—an anti-LGBTQ+ pundit accused of abusing his wife and exposing genitals to coworkers—revealed Hale’s schedule for the day leading up to the shooting as well as a page where Hale called March 27 “Death Day.” Hale wrote that he felt “a little nervous, but excited too” to kill people.
Right-wingers have increasingly blamed public shootings on the “mentally ill” trans identities of the shooters. However, the vast majority of mass shooters in the U.S. are cisgender males. The right-wing focus on gun-toting queers and shooters’ “mental illness” is merely a way to stigmatize queer people while also drawing attention away from gun control regulations that could help stop mass shootings before they occur.
