Sen. Josh Hawley told Fox News on Tuesday that the Nashville school shooting should be investigated as a hate crime since the shooter deliberately targeted Christians.
The Trans Resistance Network, a trans activist group, said: Transgender shooter He felt there was “no other effective way of showing up” than to kill six people at a private Presbyterian school. Some believe the shooter was feeling “resentful about having to go to that school,” John Drake, the Nashville Metropolitan Police Chief, said Monday night.
“What the police in Nashville have told us is that this targeted this Christian school and Christian students and Christian staff and that they believe it was definitely premeditated and there was a deliberate attempt to target the school,” Hawley told Fox News in New York. as it is–down interview. “We need to be clear that when you target believers, it’s a hate crime.”
Audrey Elizabeth Hill, a 28-year-old Nashville resident, shot W Three students and three faculty members were killed members of Covenant School, according to local police. Enterprise is Private Christian school For students from preschool to sixth grade.
Sen. Josh Hawley told Fox News that the transgender shooter deliberately targeted Christian students. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“We’ve seen a lot of language directed at the Christian community regarding trans issues in particular, calling it hateful,” Hawley told Fox News. “This kind of rhetoric is dangerous, and we are seeing its effects now.”
“This is part of the investigation and discussion that we need,” said the Missouri Republican.
Nashville School Shoots “Targeted” Christians, en. Hawley says:
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Christians were sometimes Accused of being transphobic To believe that there are only two genders, and to advocate against gender reassignment surgeries and restricting children’s education about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. On Monday, for example, It has been reported One Michigan teacher said, “The killing of a racist, homophobic, or transphobic speaker is more impressive than their yelling.”
Drake told reporters it Hale targeted the school But not specific individuals, though the motive remains unknown. He also said that Hale, a former Covenant student, may have been ready to fire with maps drawn of the school. she also wrote a statementhe said, though the police do not plan to release him.
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A police officer comforts a mourner outside Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. On Monday, six people — three adults and three children — were killed inside the school in a mass shooting. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
Hawley told Fox News the statement is important to the investigation and to prosecutors’ potential hate crime case.
“We must be clear about what happened in Nashville. Police say the shooting was ‘targeted,'” Hawley wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. That makes it a federal hate crime – against Christian children and educators.”
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Hawley, the former Missouri attorney general, also sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging them to open a federal hate crime investigation.
“Hate that leads to violence must be condemned,” Hawley wrote. Hate crimes must be prosecuted.”
Police have identified the victims as Evelyn Dechhaus, Haley Scruggs and William Kenny – all aged nine – as well as Cynthia Beck, 61, Kathryn Consey, 60, and Mike Hill, 61. Konsi was the principal of the school.
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“Thank you to those law enforcement that got in there, got right into the fire and put that shooter out, took that shooter out and saved all those kids,” Hawley told Fox News. “To save hundreds in addition to teachers is extraordinary.”
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD, did not immediately return a request for comment.
To see the full interview with Hawley, click here. click here.
Ramiro Vargas contributed to the production of this video.