Tennessee judge set to decide whether a Nashville school shooter's journals are public records

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Some of the writings of a former student who fatally shot three 9-year-old children and three adult staff members at a private Christian elementary school last year can be released to the public without compromising the investigation, a lawyer for police said in court Tuesday.

The comments by attorney Lora Fox came on day one of a two-day hearing over whether records collected by police investigating the March 27, 2023, shooting at the Covenant School can be made public.

Metro Nashville Police have said that an exception to the Tennessee Public Records Act allows them to keep the records private until their investigation is complete. On Tuesday, Fox maintained that position but said a subset of the records — the writings found in the shooter's car — “Metro believes can be released."

However, an attorney representing the Covenant School argued that a different law forbidding the release of information, records, or plans related to school security should prevail. Construed broadly, the school safety exception could apply to all of the shooter's writings, Peter Klett argued, because releasing them could inspire copycats.

“You do have individuals who could take the writings of the shooter and commit violence against the Covenant School or some other school. As a result, your honor, we believe that that presents a serious security threat to the Covenant School and other schools in this community and elsewhere," he said.

Those seeking the immediate release of the records include news outlets, a gun rights group, a law enforcement nonprofit and Tennessee State Sen. Todd Gardenhire. They argue there is no meaningful criminal investigation underway since the shooter is dead, killed by police. It does not matter that the investigation is officially still open.

“If there is an open investigation but not a contemplated criminal action, the records need to come out,” said attorney Nicholas Berry, who represents Star News Digital Media. “A theoretically possible criminal proceeding is not sufficient.”

The shooter left behind at least 20 journals, a suicide note and a memoir, according to court filings. A few pages of one journal were leaked to a conservative commentator who posted them to social media in November. Part of the interest in the records stems from the fact that the shooter, who police say was “assigned female at birth,” may have identified as a transgender man.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, of Missouri, is among those who have promoted a theory that the shooting was a hate crime against Christians. The delay in releasing the writings has fueled speculation — particularly in conservative circles — regarding what they might contain and conspiracy theories about why police won’t release them.

Further complicating the issue, a group of Covenant School parents last week gained ownership rights to the shooter's writings. They have threatened in court filings to copyright them and sue anyone who publishes them. Further testimony about the copyright claims is expected to take place on Wednesday, when the hearing continues.

Peter Klett, attorney for The Covenant School, left, and Rocky King, attorney for the The for Covenant Presbyterian Church, right, confer during a hearing to decide whether the journals of a Nashville school shooter can be released to the public Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Attorney Russell Nobile, representing the Tenn. Firearms Association, listens during a hearing to decide whether the journals of the Covenant School shooter can be released to the public Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Attorney Eric Osborne, who represents The Covenant School parents, listens during a hearing to decide whether the journals of the Covenant School shooter can be released to the public Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Attorney Richard Harlow, who represents The Tennessean, presents arguments to release the journals and documents related to the Covenant School shooter case to the public Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Attorney Richard Harlow, who represents The Tennessean, presents arguments to release the journals and documents related to the Covenant School shooter case to the public Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Nashville Law Department Associate Director attorney Lora Barkenbus Fox, right, confers with a colleague during a hearing to decide whether the journals of the Covenant School shooter can be released to the public Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Attorney Douglas Pierce argues for the release of the Covenant School shooter's journals of during a hearing to decide whether the documents can be released to the public Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Covenant School parent Brent Leatherwood attends a hearing to decide whether the journals of a Nashville school shooter can be released to the public Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

CORRECTS LAST NAME TO LEATHERWOOD, NOT LEATHER - Covenant School parent Brent Leatherwood, right, hugs attorney Eric Osborne, left, before a hearing to decide whether the journals of a Nashville school shooter can be released to the public, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Chancellor I'Ashea L. Myles presides over a hearing to decide whether the journals of the Covenant School shooter can be released to the public, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

FILE - A roadside memorial is stands near the Covenant School on the one-year anniversary of a mass shooting, March 27, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. Whether the journals of a Nashville school shooter can be released to the public will go before a Tennessee judge on Tuesday, April 16, after nearly a year of legal wrangling over who gets to participate in the case. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)

DALLAS (AP) — Former President Donald Trump urged gun owners to vote in the 2024 election as he addressed thousands of members of the National Rifle Association, which officially endorsed him just before Trump took the stage at their annual meeting in Texas on Saturday.

“We’ve got to get gun owners to vote," Trump said. “I think you’re a rebellious bunch. But let’s be rebellious and vote this time."

Trump, in his speech, said the Second Amendment “is very much on the ballot" in November, alleging that, if Democratic President Joe Biden “gets four more years they are coming for your guns, 100% certain. Crooked Joe has a 40-year-record of trying to rip firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.”

The Biden administration has taken a number of steps to try to combat gun violence, including a new rule that aims to close a loophole that has allowed tens of thousands of guns to be sold every year by unlicensed dealers who do not perform background checks.

Trump has pledged to continue to defend the Second Amendment, which he claims is “under siege," and has called himself “the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House” as the United States faces record numbers of deaths due to mass shootings. Last year ended with 42 mass killings and 217 deaths, making it one of the deadliest years on record.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has been criticized by Biden, specifically for remarks that Trump made this year after a school shooting in Iowa. Trump called the incident “very terrible” only to later say that “we have to get over it. We have to move forward.”

Trump, during his speech, also laced into independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., calling him “radical left" and “a disaster,” and noting that Kennedy had once called the NRA a ”terror group."

“Don’t think about it. Don’t waste your vote,” he said. “He calls you a terrorist group, and I call you the backbone of America.” (Kennedy later said in a Fox News interview that he didn’t remember his 2018 tweet. “I don’t consider them a terror group, and I support the Second Amendment," he said.)

Trump noted he will be speaking next week at the Libertarian Party's convention and said he will urge its members to vote for him.

“We have to join with them," he said. “We have to get that 3% because we can’t take a chance on Joe Biden winning."

Earlier Saturday, Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee announced the creation of a new “Gun Owners for Trump" coalition that includes gun rights activists and those who work in the firearms industry.

Biden has made curtailing gun violence a major part of his administration and reelection campaign, creating the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden also has urged Congress to ban so-called assault weapons — something Democrats shied from even just a few years ago.

“Tonight, Donald Trump confirmed that he will do exactly what the NRA tells him to do — even if it means more death, more shootings, and more suffering," said Biden spokesman Ammar Moussa.

When Trump was president, there were moments when he pledged to strengthen gun laws. After a high school mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people and wounded 17 others, Trump told survivors and family members that he would be “very strong on background checks.” He claimed he would stand up to the NRA but later he backpedaled, saying there was “not much political support.”

On Saturday, Trump also brought up the criminal cases against him as his hush money trial heads into the final stretch next week and accused Democrats of being behind these cases because he is Biden's opponent.

“Never forget our enemies want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom,” he said.

Trump criticized Biden's border policies, repeating his pledge that he will order the largest domestic deportation operation. He spoke about abortion and warned Republicans not to be so extreme on abortion to remain electable.

“In my opinion, Republicans have not been talking about it intelligently. They haven’t been talking about it with knowledge," he said. “Remember, speak from your heart. But you also have to get elected again.”

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report. Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

FILE - Former President Donald Trump speaks during the National Rifle Association Convention, April 14, 2023, in Indianapolis. Trump is expected to address thousands of members of the NRA in Texas Saturday, May 18, 2024, a day after campaigning in Minnesota in the midst of his hush money trial. Trump has pledged to continue to defend the Second Amendment and has called himself "the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House." (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the Minnesota Republican Lincoln Reagan Dinner Friday, May 17, 2024, at the Saint Paul RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)