Roger Simon, the co-founder of PJ Media and current columnist for The Epoch Times, and Ben Cunningham, founder of the Nashville Tea Party, discussed the ongoing legal battle over the release of the Covenant School shooter’s manifesto, agreeing that the “lives of others” are at stake as long as the manifesto’s contents are kept under wraps.
The school killer, 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as transgender, allegedly visited the school multiple times before shooting and killing three adults and three students on March 27, 2023.
Hale left behind a manifesto, the three pages of which have since been leaked. Those three pages are filled with hateful and violent rhetoric, specifically towards white children.
Simon and Cunningham discussed Tuesday’s legal battle over the manifesto as a hearing occurred in Davidson County Chancery Court, where petitioners argued that the shooter’s full manifesto should be released to the public.
Michael Patrick Leahy, the editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, and the publication’s parent company The Star News Digital Media Inc., are among the plaintiffs suing to compel the manifesto’s release.
Simon, during Tuesday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, said the public “absolutely has the right to know” what was in the shooter’s manifesto, adding that the “lives of others” are at stake.
Cunningham agreed, noting that the local police have a “mentality” of being “very proprietary and possessive” of the manifesto, “as if they own it.”
“Hell no, they don’t own it. They hold it in trust for us and they damn well better be ready to let it go and let citizens see it,” Cunningham said.
Simon added, “There’s one word for that. Stalinism.”
In regards to the deceased shooter, Simon said the “real issue” relating to the incident is “scientific,” specifically regarding what kind of drugs Hale was on at the time of the shooting and how they may have had an effect on her carrying out the horrendous act.
It has since been revealed that there was a “massive failure of the mental health system” in regards to Hale being under doctor’s care for an emotional disorder at the time of the shooting – specifically concerning an alleged failure to report a threat made by the shooter before carrying out the shooting.
“I think the real issue here is scientific and here’s what I mean: A lot of research is being done now on what drugs do to people, and particularly people who are changing sex. The human body, I think, has 30 trillion cells in it. Every one of those cells dictates your sex…and if you monkey with that, strange things happen. There has been a lot of research being done on the number of transgender people involved in violent acts. It’s quite real, and it’s not just hormone treatments, it is also things like Prozac, which tend to reverse on them,” Simon explained.
“It’s like a pinball machine on tilt. There are certain things you can do to yourself that will screw you up in such a way. And this is not anti-gay. In fact, a lot of gays hate this because it just throws everything up in the air into biological madness,” Simon added.
Learning that the autopsy of the shooter did not test for testosterone, Simon said it was “criminal negligence” not to expose what kinds of drugs and how much testosterone Hale was on at the time of the shooting.
“It’s criminal. It’s either criminal or unbelievably dumb,” Simon said.
“How much testosterone was she taking to go male? What would the testosterone do to her body? There’s a lot of literature out there and more people are doing research. I think it’s actually criminal negligence not to expose this because you’re going to be saving lives,” Simon added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
