Image courtesy CNN
The nation reels in the wake of a deadly school shooting in Nashville, TN that left 3 children and 3 adults dead as well as the shooter themselves, who was killed by police.
Globally, the terms “Nashville shooting” or “shooter” were mentioned 1.2 million times in the first 24 hours after the incident, with over 469 thousand of those mentions coming from within the United States. As usual in the aftermath of a mass shooting, the conversation on social media centered in part around the need for reform in gun ownership laws.
As you process the devastating news that another tragic school shooting took the lives of three innocent children in Nashville, Tennessee, today…
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) March 27, 2023
Remember the school shooter didn't act alone.
He was assisted by 222 House members, 49 Senators, and the NRA.
Comparisons between the incident in Nashville and previous school shootings constituted another large portion of the conversation, with Uvalde ranking as Tuesday’s number one trending topic on Twitter. Other trending topics on Tuesday included AR-15 (number 3) and Columbine (number 26).
Nationally, many conservative figureheads honed in on the identity of the shooter: Audrey Hale, a 28 year old former student, who identified as transgender and used he/him pronouns on social media. Conservatives were quick to connect the shooting to Hale’s gender identity in Tweets that many considered offensive and worrying for others in the trans community. As usual, Marjorie Taylor Greene helped lead the charge.
How much hormones like testosterone and medications for mental illness was the transgender Nashville school shooter taking?
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) March 27, 2023
Everyone can stop blaming guns now.
Scapegoating Trans identity is certainly a choice considering when it’s a cis straight white boy, it’s because they were “bullied.” When it’s a racist with clear motivations they were “mentally unstable.” When it’s a cop doing it to an unarmed Black person it’s “fear for my life” https://t.co/gBJko00mOF
— HB•RAINEY™️ (@RaineyOvalle) March 28, 2023
More locally, many users in Tennessee called the attack a hate crime against Christians due to the fact that the shooting took place at the Covenant School, a private elementary school on the grounds of Covenant Presbyterian Church. This effect was compounded after it was revealed that one of the lives lost was that of 9 year old Hallie Scruggs, daughter of a local pastor.
The media stopped caring about the shooting in Nashville when they found out it was a target on Christians. A 9 year old girl was killed by a transgender that was dissatisfied with the politics in Nashville.
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) March 28, 2023
I’m a Tennessean I will make sure we never forget Hallie Scruggs. We… pic.twitter.com/nSp5XFgUDl
Other users in Tennessee challenged this narrative, instead arguing that gun culture and congressional impotence were to blame for the violence.
LEFT: A child crying on a school bus in Nashville today after a school shooting
— Brad Batt for TN State Sanity ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾 (@bradbatt) March 27, 2023
RIGHT: A “Christmas card” posted by the congressman who represents that child’s district pic.twitter.com/ZL7BLLBmMr
As police released more information about the shooter, the term ‘manifesto’ began to occupy space in the Twitter conversation, with over 10 thousand users asserting that the FBI should make the shooter’s writings public. Some insist on conspiracy, alleging that the FBI is covering up the shooter’s manifesto to avoid perception of the shooting as a hate crime. Most of these Tweets attached a video of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, whose influence on social media, while regrettable, remains considerable:
TUCKER: FBI in full-coverup of Nashville church shooter's manifesto
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 30, 2023
"Monday's victims were murdered because they were Christians. It's that simple."
pic.twitter.com/NhMr7NLcvA
Those murdered in the tragedy were Evelyn Dieckhaus, age 9; Mike Hill, age 61; Katherine Koonce, age 60; Cynthia Peak, age 61; Hallie Scruggs, age 9; and William Kinney, age 9. The SMLC and the rest of the nation mourn their senseless deaths.
By Molly Riddell
