Just two months after an armed attacker fatally shot three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, a lack of information about the motive has led to a fierce legal battle over whether magazines and handwritten articles were found during a search of the shooter’s home. and the car should be released to the public.
Caught between the constitutional right to access to public records and the political controversy over gun control laws are parents from about 100 families at Covenant School, who have made it clear that they wanted to keep this document private, at least until the surviving classmates finished the school year.
Eric G. Osborne, an attorney for the families, said at Monday’s hearing: “It’s a huge burden on them to put themselves back in the middle of all this when they’re just trying to mend. heart wound. “Obviously they wouldn’t have done this if they didn’t really believe that publishing these articles would have a very negative impact on them.”
Journalists, a gun rights group and others sued to force publication of the articles. But much of the hearing was devoted to whether Tennessee law allows parents, the school itself and the accompanying church on campus to have a legal say in the dispute, a question the judge said. She will respond by the end of Wednesday.
The judge, Chancellor I’Ashea L. Myles of the Court of Chancery in Davidson County, said: “I believe it is a good thing to get the necessary information,” who acknowledged that the case represents “the constable.” uncharted territory” and asks for sensitivity as it goes on.
Even if the court rules in favor of the parents, the tougher question of how much to reveal about the shooter’s motives and final thoughts will still remain. Officials have said that they will most likely redact some of the documents if a court orders its release, as they consider First Amendment protections and the need for public interpretation. in the face of concerns about provoking more violence and increasing violence. an infectious disease of mass murders.
Articles can also help build a growing body of research to look at patterns among similar attacks and track the spread of bigotry.
Adam Lankford, a professor at the University of Alabama, said: “One of the reasons we know as much as we know about mass shooters today – things we didn’t know in the past – is because what perpetrators do and say. studied mass shootings. But beyond listening to survivors, he added, “the best argument for not publishing it is just to say, ‘We don’t want to give these perpetrators what they want.'”
After a deadly massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999, pictures and motives of the two gunmen were featured on cable news and front pages for weeks. Their sinister scandal Have recoil in a number of mass shootings in what is now known as Columbine effectbecause isolated and troubled young people used that murder as a route to achieving disgrace through violence in their own communities.
Nashville attacker “considered actions of other serial killers,” police said at the beginning of aprilalthough they noted that at the time the motive was still unknown.
In the decades since Columbine, news organizations, including New York TimesHave honing a set of instructions on coverage of mass shootings: Strictly avoid repeated use of the shooter’s name and image, and focus on victims and survivors.
But publishing attackers’ articles and how to share them is more complicated, and courts, news organizations and law enforcement have struggled with it before.
Nearly 1,000 pages of documents related to the Columbine shooting released in 2006 by order of the Colorado Supreme Court. Hartford Courant won a court battle that lasted five years to view documents from the gunman responsible for the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
In a way, social media has denied the need for court intervention, as some mass shooters have intentionally left traces of hateful and malicious thoughts online. , including in attack in Buffalo And El Paso, Texas. But it also allows articles and graphics to easily circulate, which experts say can increase risks and outweigh the research and investigative value of publishing some articles.
“There are millions of people, all of them commenting and commenting on the news,” said James Meindl, a professor of applied behavior analysis at the University of Memphis who studies mass shooter behavior and the way the news news works. comments and speculation, and that’s where it gets really tough. stores can responsibly report them.
The fact that the Nashville shooter had no clear motive or important social media posts has sparked widespread speculation. After police officials said the shooter was identified as transgender, right-wing activists stepped up attacks on transgender people, claiming there was a link between the shooting and gender identity. of the attacker without any evidence, while also speculating about a plot to cover up the details of a murder at a Christian school.
Pressure to act on gun legislation has also prompted Republican lawmakers to push for the publication of the articles, after a tumultuous period in which two Black lawmakers were expelled — and later reinstated — for leading gun control protests in the House but no action has been taken on any measures to deal with access to weapons.
Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, has called for a special session in August to consider what he describes as public safety legislation, presenting a draft proposal that could allows judges to take guns from people deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. Citing upcoming legislative work, Republicans have requested the documents as a way of fully informing any possible policy changes.
“If we are to hope to pass legislation that is meant to effectively stop this type of targeted attack, we must have all the facts to make an informed decision,” more than 60 House Republicans wrote in a letter to the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department this month.
A Republican state senator, Todd Gardenhire, is also among those who have sued for the records to be released, citing “research” in “writing new school safety legislation.”
Some Democrats and gun control advocates fear that Republicans will focus on the specific content of the articles as a way to avoid addressing what they see as the larger issue of gun control. gun access.
Many news outlets, including The Tennessean, have argued that documents are required to be released under state public records laws and warned against violating First Amendment protections. .
The Tennessee Firearms Association and James Hammond, a former Tennessee county sheriff, were among outside conservative and law enforcement groups that also cite a violation of state public records law in suing for the release of the records, repeated the argument that it was important to know more about the motives before the special legislative session.
On Monday, their attorney argued that Covenant School, as a private school, cannot claim an exemption for school safety under public records laws. They also questioned whether the parent group had the legal status to intervene in the case or enjoy the protections afforded to victims of crime.
Most of the parents have yet to publicly identify themselves as part of the lawsuit, and their attorneys pointed out that some want to remain anonymous if the case goes ahead.
Nashville law enforcement officials have argued that publishing the articles early would affect the ongoing investigation; until now they believe the shooter, killed by police at the school, acted alone. The Nashville Metropolitan Police Department, in a separate court filing, did not object to the release of a redacted set of articles by the shooter, although Davidson County Premier Myles is set to do so. Consider what a city attorney describes as a “massive” trove of evidence. .
Lieutenant Brent Gibson, the officer overseeing the investigation, estimated in a court filing that the Sheriff’s Department would take a year to finish its job, warning that “the release of any pieces of the puzzle will take time.” Anything too quickly could jeopardize putting this complex piece together. He added that the agency needs to subpoena many records, such as messaging data and internet search history, and wrap up its interviews.
Prime Minister Myles will continue to review documents and evidence in possession of the police, as well as previous cases in Tennessee, before making her decision on whether parents have a legal right to intervene. Are not.
“My goal is to make sure that anything that needs to be made public can be made public in a way that protects everyone involved, but also allows open access,” she said.
