Three Pages of Nashville Shooter’s Writing Leaked by Steven Crowder

The leaked writings contained a gay slur and a dismissive slang term for white people as well as a timeline.

by Evan Urquhart

Three pages of handwritten writing produced by school shooter Aiden Hale before he murdered three adults and three children at a private school in Nashville, TN were shared on Twitter yesterday by the far-right commentator Steven Crowder. Hale’s transgender identity was immediately seized on by the right in the aftermath of the murders, and has been the focus of intense speculation as well as conspiracy theories. None of the material released by Crowder mentioned gender or trans issues.

The writing instead contained a timeline for the planned shooting, as well as dehumanizing language toward Hale’s intended victims. This including calling the victims “crackers” and a reference to white privilege, which has been made much of by Crowder and the parts of right including the New York Post, which included it in their headline, and two uses of the slur “faggot.”

screenshot from the New York Post

Soon after the shooting it became widely-believed conventional wisdom on the right that Hale had left behind a “manifesto.” Although there was no evidence to suggest this, conspiracy theorists believed this manifesto would connect Hale’s trans identity to his motive for the shooting, and that Hale had intentionally targeted Christians. When authorities said they had found no clear motive, and that the many pieces of writing Hale left behind weren’t a manifesto, conspiracists accused them of hiding the evidence, supposedly doing so to protect the trans community.

There has never been any reason to believe Hale’s transmasculinity was a motive for the shooting, nor that authorities have hidden this fact from the public. A lengthy lawsuit has been playing out over the Hale’s writings, the release of which is being fought in court by the families of Hale’s victims who feel their children might be further traumatized by the material.

In the absence of any material suggesting gender identity or religion played a role in Hale’s motivation, some on the right, including the Daily Caller, are suggesting that Hale calling his intended victims “crackers” in the leaked pages is evidence he was targeting white students specifically and motivated by anti-white bias. Hale was himself white.

screenshot from the Daily Caller

None of these outlets have suggested that Hale’s use of the slur “faggots” is evidence Hale was targeting gay students or motivated by anti-gay bias. There is nothing to suggest that Hale, who attended Covenant School as a child, was targeting any particular religious, ethnic, or identity group.