We often speak about “senseless” acts of violence, but that does not prevent us from trying to make sense out of what prompted sudden, unprovoked attacks.
Unfortunately, there is a tendency to jump to conclusions which are just extensions of already-held opinions and beliefs. The left has been doing that this week by claiming Nashville mass murderer Audrey Hale was driven to commit violence by oppressive Christian parenting and schooling.
Instead, as more facts come out from the police report, reviews of social media, and testimony from acquaintances of Hale, it appears the leftist default to an anti-Christian narrative leaves out vital information.
Reuters sent a tweet that set the leftist tone by trying to conflate Hale’s Christian background with the massacre: “Former Christian school student kills 3 children, 3 staff in Nashville shooting.”
Former Christian school student kills 3 children, 3 staff in Nashville shooting https://t.co/rQBgths2TI pic.twitter.com/6egl9SHSZM
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 28, 2023
Dana Loesch suggested a more appropriate take, “Violent trans activist kills six at Christian school ahead of ‘Day of Vengeance’ is the headline.”
Violent trans activist kills six at Christian school ahead of “Day of Vengeance” is the headline. https://t.co/GmSd4xhutC
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) March 28, 2023
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The Daily Mail reported an anonymous source that claimed Hale’s religious parents rejected her adopted trans identity. “She was Audrey at home but when she left the house she changed clothes. They did know about it, they just didn’t accept it,” the source said.
Associations and unsubstantiated innuendos like these examples feed into the narrative that Hale was the victim here, driven to become a killer due to a history of Christian repression.
*Unconfirmed* reports identify the Nashville shooter as “Audrey Hale”, a biological female that identifies as “He/Him” on their LinkedIn
Authorities believe the transgender shooter previously attended the Christian school
Instagram account “creative.aiden” has been deleted pic.twitter.com/ybdQVQsZ6H
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) March 27, 2023
It’s an effort to change the subject away from the real victims, the three children and three adults murdered in cold blood just because they happened to be at the private Christian elementary school.
That predictable leftist misdirection left out important details about Hale’s life. A death can be a crushing emotional trigger for anyone, and it appears Hale recently lost someone important to her.
In the New York Post, Hale’s former classmate Samira Hardcastle spoke of a recent traumatic event which seemed to profoundly alter Hale. Sydney Sims, another former classmate, died in a vehicle accident in August 2022.
“After Sydney’s tragic death, Audrey was really heartbroken over it … I just feel like she took it differently than some of us did. She was still posting about Sydney almost daily,” Hardcastle said.
Hardcastle believed Hale may have been “infatuated” with Sims, although she did not believe the two were ever close.
The New York Times reported Maria Colomy, who later taught Hale at the Nossi College of Art & Design in Nashville, also noted Hale’s obsession with Sims. In addition, she claimed Hale’s public trans identity did not begin until after Sim’s death, which would mean Hale had only identified as “Aiden” for a few months.
Colomy told the Times, “She had been openly grieving about that on social media, and during the grieving is when she announced that she wanted to be addressed as a male.”
CNN reported police have found no evidence Hale experienced domestic or academic troubles, further blowing the anti-Christian assumptions.
Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said, “As of right now, we don’t have any indication there was any problems at the school or at home. We can’t confirm any type of problems at this time.”
We will probably never know for sure why Hale chose to commit this atrocity, although if we ever get to see her alleged manifesto, it may give clues to her state of mind.
Reporters should speculate less, and skip the anti-Christian talking points. We all could learn more by finding others who actually knew Hale and observed her behavior, and who are willing to speak about it. Those are the kind of leads a responsible media would be pursuing.
Currently, by trying to excuse away anti-Christian behavior, media voices are potentially cultivating more senseless acts in the future.
