Tennessee Star editor headed to court after publishing school shooter’s journal writings

The editor-in-chief of nan Tennessee Star has been ordered to look Monday earlier nan judge overseeing nan Nashville Covenant School wide shooting lawsuit aft nan Star published a bid of stories detailing writings from nan shooter’s journals.

Law enforcement has resisted the Star’s efforts done a suit to merchandise nan diary publicly, including those writings identified by Metro Nashville Police arsenic a manifesto.

Tennessee Chancery Court Judge l’Ashea Myles ordered Michael Patrick Leahy, who besides serves arsenic CEO of Star News Digital Media, patient of The Tennessee Star and different news sites crossed nan U.S., to look for a show origin proceeding Monday to find whether The Star violated immoderate tribunal orders related to publishing news stories connected nan shooter’s writings. 

Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a biologic female who identified arsenic a male, shot and killed three children and 3 schoolhouse unit successful March 2023, anterior to being changeable and killed by responding constabulary officers.

“Yes, I intend to look successful tribunal connected Monday astatine 11 am, on pinch my attorneys, Nick Barry pinch America First Legal and Daniel Horwitz, a nationally recognized First Amendment lawyer based present successful Nashville,” Leahy told The Center Square Sunday.

Leahy says he faces contempt charges and imaginable jailhouse clip for publishing a series of stories detailing Hale’s writings aft exclusively obtaining astir 80 pages of nan documents from a source. Leahy and The Tennessee Star person pursued nationalist merchandise of nan documents to, astatine this point, nary avail.

Among different specifications connected nan writings, The Star reported that Hale felt socially isolated and incapable to unrecorded independently. 

“In this densely written, undated introduction dispersed complete 2 pages, Hale wrote astir intelligence wellness issues pinch her ‘brain,’ which she elsewhere connected to her purported autism test and determination to place arsenic a transgender man contempt being a biologic female,” The Star reported.

Former acting U.S. Assistant Attorney General Jeff Clark wrote on X, aft Leahy was ordered to look successful court, that nan news outlet had a First Amendment correct to people nan stories.

“This is what nan free property is for,” Clark wrote. “It’s not designed to coddle the trans activity aliases support secrets that could get group killed done ignorance. … (What’s) going connected successful America? It’s for illustration a portion of nan authorities judiciary crossed aggregate States has mislaid its corporate mind.”