On Tuesday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) called for a federal investigation of the hate crime mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee by radical transgender activist Audrey Hale.
Sen. Hawley pointed out that the shooter had a manifesto and police officials believed it was a targeted attack.
Hawley said, “We should be clear about what happened in Nashville. Police say the shooting was ‘targeted.’ That makes it a federal hate crime – against Christian children and teachers. Targeting victims on the basis of religious affiliation is a hate crime. It should be investigated as such.”
“All federal resources necessary should be brought to bear. And those individuals or groups who have spread a message of hate against the Christian community – which resulted here in horrific violence – should be held to account,” he finished.
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Hate crimes fall under federal jurisdiction, and the federal government may provide additional resources and support to local law enforcement agencies in the investigation. This can have implications for how the shooting is investigated and prosecuted.
It has been reported that Hale previously attended the Christian school. The police chief gave an update saying that Hale had a manifesto, and the shooting was a direct targeted attack.
When asked by a reporter if a motive was determined, the chief said, “We have a manifesto. We have some writing we’re going over that pertain to this date, the actual incident. We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place. There’s right now a theory that we may be able to talk about later, but it’s not confirmed.”
A reporter asked, “And Chief, is there any reason to believe that how she identifies has any motive for targeting the school?
“We can give you that at a later time. There is some theory to that…” the Chief said.
Another reporter asked, “So was this a targeted attack?”
“It was,” he said.
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