NASHVILLE, Tenn. (NewsNation) — Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, the political newcomer pulling ahead of established Republicans in many national polls, plans to call on the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department to release the Covenant School shooter’s manifesto on Monday.
In March, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who identified as transgender and had no criminal record, shot and killed three children and three adults at the Catholic elementary school. Early on, police announced they had recovered writings they described as a manifesto.
Now, Ramaswamy is joining the debate on whether that manifesto should be released to the public. Expected to host a press conference in Tennessee on Monday, the presidential hopeful will demand law enforcement release the shooter’s writings.
“No lies are noble, especially when they come from our government. That’s why one of the lies that I want to get to the bottom of is what’s really going on with the Nashville shooter manifesto?” Ramaswamy said.
However, some parents have been fighting to keep those writings from being released to the public.
There’s been intense debate over this manifesto and why the police haven’t released it, including whether it has to do with the fact that the shooter identified as transgender.
Early on, police said they wouldn’t be releasing the writings. Then they pivoted, saying they’re not releasing them pending an ongoing investigation.
The FBI had reviewed the writings and a number of lawsuits were filed to force the police to release the documents.
Back in May, 66 Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the chief of the Nashville Metro Police requesting “the release of the perpetrator’s writings as well as relevant medical records and toxicology reports.”
The presidential hopeful is demanding answers on the motives behind the shooting. He was supposed to be joined by two leading conservative voices — Candace Owens and Shawn Ryan — on Monday for the press conference, but Ryan dropped out, citing concerns from local community members about the dangers of releasing the manifesto.
“After the initial acceptance to attend and support the release of the manifesto, several family and community members directly connected with the Covenant School reached out to Shawn Ryan to express their desire to keep the manifesto concealed for various reasons,” Ryan’s team told NewsNation in a statement.
In a tweet, Ramaswamy called the shooter a “trans psychopath,” saying it’s been four months and Americans still don’t have answers about the shooter’s motives.
But critics of Ramaswamy’s pressure to release the manifesto say the move could inspire copycat shootings.
“One thing law enforcement cares about is really making sure we don’t have copycat findings. And the problem with releasing motivation is we don’t ever want to sensationalize slaughter. We don’t want to glorify grievance,” legal analyst Wendy Patrick said.
Regardless, Ramaswamy is moving forward with the press conference despite the pushback.
“The bottom line is, we the people deserve a government that speaks the truth, that stands for the truth, and if the government won’t do it, then we the people will stand for the truth. We will not back down from the truth,” Ramaswamy said.
The press conference is scheduled to take place Monday at the Davidson County Courthouse at 1 p.m. CT in Nashville.