Judge orders FBI to provide Covenant shooter's manifesto to news outlet

A federal judge ordered the FBI to provide Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale's manifesto and other documents for a private review as part of a lawsuit from Star News Digital Media Inc., the parent company of The Tennessee Star.

"The court's order today is a significant victory for the public’s right to know about the motives of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who murdered six innocent Nashvillians at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023," Tennessee Star Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy said.

Star News sued the FBI in May 2023, claiming the bureau had violated the First Amendment by rejecting multiple Freedom of Information Act requests for the manifesto. Hale's March 2023 massacre targeted the Covenant School and resulted in the deaths of three students and three faculty members.

"The court also finds that the significant public interest in both the requested materials and the law enforcement objectives asserted by the FBI support in camera review and that no showing has been made that the requested materials will be so voluminous that they would pose a significant danger to judicial economy," wrote U.S. District Court Judge Aleta A. Trauger in the Friday order.

In November of last year, conservative commentator Steven Crowder published leaked pages of the manifesto that included a number of anti-white writings. Hale was a biological female that signed the journal entries under the name "Aiden."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.