Some conservatives are using a mass shooting this weekend in Florida to renew their calls for the release of the manifesto written by the transgender shooter who killed three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville in March, despite opposition from families at the school.
The calls on social media come in the wake of the Jacksonville Dollar General shooting, in which three Black people were killed. The shooter used a swastika-emblazoned assault rifle and left behind racist writings.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters described the white supremacist writings as “the diary of a mad man,” and said it mentioned specific extremist groups.
“They are very foul … filled with a lot of hate-filled language towards many different races of people, but primarily against Blacks,” Waters told CNN.
While Waters has offered insight into the contents of the manifesto, the writings themselves have not been released.
Despite this, some right-wing internet personalities are pushing for the release of the manifesto from the Nashville shooting because of the details already known about the Jacksonville writing. They’re also falsely claiming that the manifesto in Jacksonville has already been released
“Anyone else notice how we got the Jacksonville shooter’s manifesto within hours of the ‘racially motivated’ incident, but we still don’t have the Nashville Trans Terrorist’s manifesto 5 months after they murdered Christian schoolchildren?” wrote one right-wing poster. “It’s a simple explanation: One boosts the regime’s racially divisive narrative The other doesn’t.”
Libs of TikTok similarly noted the manifesto from Nashville hasn’t been released and added: “The terrorist in FL who killed 3 in a racially motivated attack had details of his manifesto released a few hours after the shooting. Why?”
Again, details of the manifesto have been publicized but the manifesto itself has not been released.
Additionally, there is a clear explanation as to why the manifesto from the Nashville school shooting has yet to be released—it’s currently tied up in legal proceedings led by Covenant school parents who don’t want the writings published.
Attorney Eric Osborne said in May that he represented 100 of the 112 families at the school who were worried releasing the shooter’s writings could lead to more violence.
“Writings like this tend to inspire additional school shootings,” Osborne said.
One social media user noted the “context on the ‘what about the Nashville shooter’s manifesto’ fake controversy,” and added that he doesn’t think either manifesto should be released.
Another user concurred: “they don’t need to be released to learn anything, they all say the same things.”
