Why you may never get to read transgender Nashville shooter Audrey Hale's murderous manifesto

Nine days after Audrey 'Aiden' Hale shot and killed six children and adults at her former Nashville elementary school, calls for police to publish the collection of documents she left behind are growing louder.

Politicians and pundits, mostly on the right, have urged Metro Nashville Police Department to release writings that could shed light on a new potential domestic terror threat: violent radical transgender extremism.

But experts say Hale is not like other recent ideologically-driven mass shooters, who typically self-publish their manifestos online. She did not, and her writings are more likely about her personal grievances than any political motivations for the attack.

Jason Silva, an expert on manifestos from William Paterson University's Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, said police could well keep Hale's screed under wraps indefinitely, rather than feed the dead killer's lust for infamy.

'The purpose of a manifesto is to spread one's beliefs to the public,' Silva told DailyMail.com.

Hale 'did not spread the manifesto online. Which leaves me, as a mass shooting researcher, wondering: Is it an example of what we traditionally conceive of as a manifesto?' 

Audrey Hale, 28, had detailed writings plotting her sick attack months before she butchered three kids and three adults at The Covenant School last week

Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian who killed at least 93 people in a bomb and gun attack in 2011. Hale appears to differ from other mass shooters, like Breivik, who published his 1,500-page manifesto. Her writings were left in her car and her bedroom.

Hale, 28, heavily armed and wearing combat gear, blasted in to The Covenant School on the morning of March 27 and killed six people, including three nine-year-old children, before being shot dead by police, officials have said.

Officers have since retrieved a 'manifesto', hand-drawn maps, a suicide note, 20 journals, a half-dozen school yearbooks, laptops, phones, and several writings, from her home and the Honda Fit she left in the school parking lot.

They have been shared with the FBI's behavioral analysis unit in Quantico, Virginia, and detail Hale's 'planning over a period of months to commit mass murder' at the school, police said in a statement on Monday.

'The writings remain under careful review,' and a 'motive for Hale's actions has not been established,' the department said, adding that she was being treated for an emotional disorder.

Hale was born female but used the names Audrey and Aiden, together with he/him pronouns. There is a debate over how to correctly refer to her in media reports. She's been described as having 'high-functioning autism.'

For some, Hale's decision to target the Christian elementary school she once attended, together with her changing gender identify, suggest the attack was a manifestation of violent transgender activism.

Members of America's roughly 1.6-million strong trans community often complain of discrimination, abuse, and even of being victims of 'genocide' at the hands of a straight, or 'cisgender,' majority.

Caitlyn Jenner (left), a transgender conservative former athlete, and Vernon Jones, a veteran Georgia Republican politician, are among the pundits and politicians who want Hale's manifesto to be released

Payton Gendron killed 10 black people and wounded three others in a hate-fueled mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, last year.

Gendron is among a number of ideologically driven mass killers who posted a manifesto online, detailing the white supremacist and antisemitic views that gave rise to his hateful attack

Some trans activists pose with weapons in online videos and issue calls to 'resist' and even attack perceived opponents.

Jack Posobiec, a hard-right commentator and activist, called Hale's attack a 'textbook act of domestic terrorism' aimed at non-trans America, saying: 'You mess with our kids, we kill your kids.'

Others have urged Nashville police and the FBI to release Hale's writings.

'I want the manifesto!' tweeted Caitlyn Jenner, a transgender conservative former athlete, saying it will shed light on the 'Radical Rainbow Mafia' that's 'becoming more militant by the day.'

Likewise, Vernon Jones, a veteran Georgia Republican politician, complained how Hale's manifesto was being kept 'AIR-TIGHT' and could well get a 'scrub' before the Department of Justice makes it public.

But Silva and other experts on mass shooters said Hale's writings may not be the 'manifesto' of radical trans militancy that's expected, and more likely reflect her grievances, inner turmoil and relationship woes.

Hale's writings do not appear to be akin to the lengthy manifestos left behind by other mass killers, typically right-wing, white nationalist, anti-immigrant types, such as Buffalo supermarket shooter Payton Gendron.

Gendron published his screed via Google Docs ahead of his attack, which left 10 people dead in May 2022. Likewise, Patrick Wood Crusius, who allegedly killed 23 shoppers in a Walmart in an El Paso, Texas, in 2019, reportedly released his manifesto via 8chan.

Audrey Hale, 28, has been described as an intelligent, awkward loner who was struggling with emotional problems after disagreeing with her conservative, Christian parents, who did not accept her being gay or trans  

A police warrant describes the writings and items that were seized during a raid on Hale's home   

Those writings, and those of other mass shooters, can run into thousands of pages of esoteric theorizing about everything from eco-fascism to racial hierarchies, while often featuring narcissism, paranoia, fame-seeking, suicide ideation, and revenge.

According to police, Hale had 'considered the actions of other mass murderers' in recent history. Still, she didn't emulate them by self-publishing her writings online. Instead, they were left in her car and in her bedroom at her parents' home.

'This 'manifesto' may just be a collection of their thoughts, grievances, and suicidal ideation during this mental health crisis, which is not what we would consider a manifesto in the traditional sense,' Silva said in an email.

Reporters have revealed that Hale's conservative, Christian parents could not accept she was gay or trans, which may amount to personal motivations for the attack. She was also grieving the recent death of a friend in a vehicle accident.

Dr Robin Kowalski, a Clemson University psychology professor, said Hale's writings would likely reveal her 'true motivation,' but focus more on 'depression, suicidal ideation, paranoia' or other mental health issues than anything overtly political.

'There will likely be information about how she felt bullied and perhaps persecuted by others, likely from the time she was young,' Dr Kowalski told DailyMail.com.

Before traveling to the school, the killer sent a haunting final message to Averianna Patton on Instagram

Patton immediately called the cops to report the messages but it was already too late. By the time she called, Audrey had begun shooting children at the small, church school

It may 'disclose more about her trans identity, and how that played into her victimization,' she added.

Dr Kowalski said there was no established timeline for cops to release a killer's manifesto. Silva said officers would be loath to release files that stoke the 'fame-seeking' drive that fuels others to commit mass murders.

'This falls in line with the 'no notoriety' idea of avoiding giving shooters a platform and attention,' said Silva.

'They may choose not to release it because they do not want other potential mass shooters to glorify and idealize this shooter, and copy their actions and behaviors.'

During the attack, Hale fired 152 rounds from two assault rifles and a handgun, murdering Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Evelyn Dieckhaus, all nine, and headmistress Dr. Katherine Koonce, 60, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, and chef Mike Hill, 61.

An example of Hale's writing is already public. Before bursting into the school, the killer sent a haunting final message to Averianna Patton on Instagram. The two played basketball together in middle school.

At 9.57am, 16 minutes before cops were first notified about the shooting, Audrey wrote: 'So basically that post I made on here about you, that was basically a suicide note.

'I'm planning to die today. THIS IS NOT A JOKE!!! You'll probably hear about me on the news after I die.

'This is my last goodbye. I love you. 'See you again in another life.'

'Audrey (Aiden)'.

Patton immediately called the cops to report the messages, but it was already too late.