Josh Hawley Calls For Federal Hate Crime Investigation Into Shooting At Nashville Christian School

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) urged FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to start a federal hate crime investigation into the Nashville, Tennessee shooting at a Christian elementary school. The shooting committed by a 28-year-old woman who identified as a transgender man left behind a “manifesto” and resulted in the deaths of three adults and three children. The attacker targeted The Covenant School, affiliated with conservative evangelical Covenant Presbyterian Church. Hawley believes that the targeted attack against Christians might be classified as a specific desire to harm Christians. Hawley further added that federal law makes violent acts based on “religion” whether actual or perceived a criminal act. Detective reports suggest that the shooter had resentment for attending that school.

Senator Hawley added that the investigation should be conducted as a federal hate crime investigation to determine how the crime occurred and who influenced the shooter. Hawley concluded that the full resources of the government should be used to condemn hate leading to violence and prosecute hate crimes.

Messages from the suspected shooter to her former middle school basketball teammate moments before the attack revealed her suicidal intent; she stated she was “planning on dying today.” The suspected shooter was killed on the scene by two Metro Nashville Police Department officers. Authorities discovered the “manifesto,” and detailed maps of the school in the suspect’s home. Although the police chief disclosed that they had a theory about the motive, information on this theory is yet to be made public.

The students that died in the shooting were named as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9 years old. The school’s 60-year-old principal, Dr. Katherine Koonce, and staff members 61-year-old Cynthia Peak and Mike Hill were also killed. Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, the senior minister at Covenant Presbyterian Church.

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