Nashville school shooter’s writings reignite debate over releasing material written by mass killers

The person who killed three adults and three 9-year-old children at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville on March 27 left behind at least 20 journals, a memoir, and a note on suicide. There is no governing national standard for such writings, but they are considered public.

On the identical message board, an individual who caused the demise of 23 individuals at a Texas Walmart shared a bigoted rant. On the internet, in the year 2019, the extremist who caused the death of 51 individuals at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, uploaded his anti-immigrant manifesto, initiating an urgent effort to curtail their dissemination. Gunmen occasionally disclose their written works online, initiating an urgent effort to curtail their propagation.

NBC was criticized by the families of the victims in 2007 for directly sending documents to news outlets, publishing the videos of the Virginia Tech shooter mailing them to the network amidst his spree killing, along with other cases.

The decision regarding the release of writings seized as part of a search warrant in the Covenant School shooting case often rests with the local sheriff or chief of police, who is ultimately governed by state-specific public records laws.

In less than a month, the campus police at Michigan State University waited to release a grievance-filled note from the person who killed three students in November last year. However, in February, the police only took a few days to release a rambling note from the supervisor who fatally shot six of his co-workers at a Walmart in Virginia.

Many parents of School Covenant The want the school to keep its records private, and the church that shares its building with the school. Multiple groups, including a gun-rights organization and The Tennessean newspaper, have sued to delay the investigation and face the possibility of access. However, police in Nashville said they will release the shooter’s writings from Covenant until they close the investigation, which could take a year.

Unprecedented yet not atypical is this kind of battle. A majority of the writings, audiotapes, and videotapes belonging to the Columbine killers were ultimately made public following a comparable legal dispute in the 2000s. With the belief that these materials would reveal a concealment by the nearby sheriff, parents of Columbine victims fought to obtain access to the documents involved in that particular case.

In the Covenant shooting, it is the guardians who desire to keep the assailant’s writings undisclosed.

Erin Kinney, the mother of one of the slain children, filed a declaration with the court stating that she believes there are no answers to be found in the shooter’s writings, but she has not seen them.

Kinney states, “The dissemination of these writings will not deter the subsequent assault. There is nothing within the diaries to fulfill the longing, hyperactive intellects of the conspiracy enthusiasts.” “I am convinced that there was no incentive other than a yearning for demise, and there is nothing that could ever rationalize the dreadful act of slaying innocent children.”

The release of the police report won’t contain any information about conspiracy theories, and it might only provide what is relevant to the investigation. Speculation, particularly within conservative circles, has fueled theories regarding the motive behind the shooting. Among those promoting a theory is U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, whose writings have fueled speculation. The case of the Covenant shooting is complicated by the fact that the shooter, who police say was identified as a transgender man, was assigned female at birth.

In the legal dispute regarding the writings, both factions contend that their stance will deter future shootings.

A group of over 60 Tennessee House Republicans stated in an open letter that an August special session, called by the governor, will be crucial for their discussion on school safety legislation. The coalition seeking the writings believes that their public release will assist experts in gaining a better understanding of mass shootings and devising strategies to prevent them. The Covenant writings will play a crucial role in the debate on school safety legislation during the governor’s August special session, as stated by the group of more than 60 Tennessee House Republicans in their open letter.

However, the parents argue that publishing the writings is risky and will encourage imitators.

Whether writings of experts should be suppressed is a subject of even disagreement among some. Limiting the use of their images and names won’t be a motivating factor for future killings, so posthumous fame won’t be denied to mass killers. There is a growing movement to deny notoriety to mass killers after their deaths.

Jillian Peterson, a professor of criminology at Hamline University and the president of The Violence Project, expressed, “Offenders are seeking to gain media attention. Offenders are seeking to achieve notoriety for their actions. Therefore, when we disseminate their videos, words, pictures, and writings, as we have observed previously, it does encourage imitators.”

According to Adam Lankford, a criminology professor at the University of Alabama specializing in mass shootings, he believes that it is possible to publish a murderer’s writings without encouraging the creation of imitators. He mentioned that the primary issue lies in the fact that killers are occasionally glorified and given extensive media coverage, including their names and pictures, which exacerbates the problem.

He stated, “However, if you are already fixated on that particular individual, then, you are aware, that fixation can expand to fixating on that individual’s expressions.” “I believe that a written statement on its own is unlikely to incite an assault if you are unable to ascertain the identity of the author and begin to empathize with them.”

However, the debate over the public good does not encompass the issue of Tennessee open records law, which does not contain any specific exemption for the writings of mass shooters.

The Connecticut lawmakers successfully pushed for the release of certain audio recordings, photos, and victim information related to the Sandy Hook shooting, which happened after the parents called for the release. Todd Sen., Who represents Richard Hollow in Tennessee, stated that if the parents don’t want the records to be released, they should try to change the law.

The families are currently awaiting a decision from the Tennessee Court of Appeals on whether they can participate in the Covenant case to present their argument. The families assert a unique argument that, as victims, their rights under the Tennessee Constitution take precedence over open records law.

If the parents’ argument is successful, Deborah Fisher, the executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, stated that it would not only be applicable in this particular scenario.

She stated, “In Tennessee, individuals who have suffered harm have the privilege to infer that the court desires the extensive entitlement. That is essentially the entitlement they desire, but they are discussing this assailant, they are discussing this unlawful act. It is challenging to grant victims a constitutional entitlement to reject the disclosure of criminal proof.”