(Originally published on American Thinker.)
It has taken about seven months, but we now know what was going through the head of the Audrey “Aiden” Hale, the Covenant School mass murderer.
No thanks to politicians, though. They have been delaying the release of the handwritten “manifesto” for months. While it was expected to show that Hale had mental health issues (as it can be argued any mass murderer does), it was speculated that the reason for not releasing the document was because it would have shown the trans-man was targeting the school staff and students because of their Christian beliefs.
It was also thought the shooting was part of a “Trans Day of Vengeance” event at Washington, D.C. Although this event was canceled in the wake of the shooting, trans activists did occupy several state capitol buildings to protest proposed legislation restricting the transitioning of children.
Commentator Steven Crowder received photos of the manifesto from “source near law enforcement.” He read the documents on his show, and they showed some things that were expected and some surprises.
The expected things were Hale’s anger, hatred, and mental instability. Hale was also excited about preparing to commit the mass murder of children, writing that he was ready, but “I hope my victims aren’t.” He claimed he wanted a high death count, and he was ready to die.
All this was expected. Similar things are said and written by most mass murderers.
The surprise was that this wasn’t the motive of the shooting, nor was anti-trans feelings. The motive was racism and classism. Why this was a surprise was Hale was White and an alumni of the school, which she targeted because the students who attended were rich in her mind. She called the students “crackers” and railed against “white privilege.”
So why have politicians sought to hide this manifesto? Is it because it shows that Hale was mentally unstable and a leftist? Virtually all mass shooters show the same traits. You could have guessed that.
The only real difference is that Hale was transgender, although right now, it seems that wasn’t a motive, or at least a major one, in the shooting.
In fact, the cover-up probably did more harm to the trans community than releasing the manifesto would have done. This is because it caused the trans activists to show their true colors by occupying state capitals. They made transgenderism part of the motive through their actions, tying their cause to a mass shooting.
The cover-up tends to be worse than what is being hidden because it compounds the original problem.
As long as the authorities continue to hide the manifesto, the worse it continues to look for them. In taking extraordinary measures to hide it, they tied their own reputations to a mass shooting. They aided and abetted the crime.
Michael A. Letts is the CEO and Founder of In-VestUSA, a national grassroots non-profit organization helping hundreds of communities provide thousands of bulletproof vests for their police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs.
