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Merrick Garland Refuses to Investigate Nashville Shooting as Hate Crime

On Tuesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland refused to commit to using federal resources to investigate Monday’s shooting in Nashville as a hate crime, despite the perpetrator’s clear motivations against the Christian victims.

The Daily Caller reports that the Nashville Police Department discovered “writings” in Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s home after the shooting, which suggested a “calculated and planned” attack. Addressing these reports, Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) noted during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that the 28-year-old Hale “could have had collaborators.”

Kennedy then asked Garland if he planned on letting the FBI launch a hate crime investigation, as Hale’s identity as a “transgender man” clearly played a role in her decision to target the Presbyterian school where she used to be a student.

“As of now motive hasn’t been identified,” Garland said in response, while claiming that the FBI and ATF were working with local police. “We are certainly working full-time with them to try to determine what the motive is, and of course motive is what determines if it is a hate crime or not.”

Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has denounced the shooting as a hate crime “that according to Nashville police, specifically targeted… the members of this Christian community, community, the members of this religious institution, its students, its educators, [and] its employees.”

A Nashville PD spokesman has said that they will not be releasing Hale’s manifesto while the investigation is ongoing. Far-left pro-LGBTQ groups have actively demanded that the manifesto not be released, as its release could allegedly cause backlash against the “transgender community” in Nashville.

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About Eric Lendrum

Eric Lendrum graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was the Secretary of the College Republicans and the founding chairman of the school’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter. He has interned for Young America’s Foundation, the Heritage Foundation, and the White House, and has worked for numerous campaigns including the 2018 re-election of Congressman Devin Nunes (CA-22). He is currently a co-host of The Right Take podcast.

Photo: WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 12: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department to announce the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate the discovery of classified documents held by President Joe Biden at an office and his home on January 12, 2023 in Washington, DC. Garland announce that former U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert Hur was appointed as Special Counsel for the investigation. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)