On Monday (Nov. 6), Brent Leatherwood, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), addressed the news media from inside Woodmont Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, regarding the images of three pages of the alleged manifesto penned by The Covenant School shooter.
Leatherwood has three children who attend The Covenant School and survived the shooting that took place on March 27. During the attack, an assailant armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun entered The Covenant School, located at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville, and killed three students and three adults.
The shooter was able to fire off 152 rounds inside the Christian elementary school before being killed by officers from the Metro Nashville Police Department.
The shooter was a 28-year-old female who, according to police, “identified as transgender” and was a former student at the school.
In June, Leatherwood joined other family members of victims and survivors of the shooting in filing declarations not to have the shooter’s manifesto publicly released in an attempt to protect their children from further trauma the writings might cause.
Speaking on behalf of The Covenant School families Monday, Leatherwood blasted the “online shock jock” who released the images of the shooter’s writings to social media.
“I would challenge him and anyone who amplifies them online: Just be a human for once,” Leatherwood said. Leatherwood further urged anyone sharing the images to “quit seeking clicks, retweets, and platform building.”
The ERLC president believes that any revenue the leaked images create “should go directly to the six families or to The Covenant School to help pay for the security that at the school each and every day are trying to make sure our kids are safe.”
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Leatherwood fears that if the shooter’s manifesto were to be released, it could inspire others to copy the attack. Leatherwood noted that this sort of thing has already happened in Allen, Texas, when a mass shooter referenced The Covenant School shooter.
“How many more people have to be killed in a senseless way so that you can get clicks?” Leatherwood added.
