USA Today wrote in a tweet, “Police on Monday afternoon said that the shooter was a transgender man. Officials had initially misidentified the gender of the shooter.”
USA Today accused the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department of misgendering the woman who shot and killed six, including three children, at the Covenant private school on Monday.
The individual, who was identified by police as Audrey Hale, was a biological female whose social media accounts indicate that she preferred to be addressed by "he/him" pronouns.
Police said that Hale was a woman throughout their reports, but said during the press conference on Monday afternoon that she identified as trans.
USA Today wrote in a tweet, "Police on Monday afternoon said that the shooter was a transgender man. Officials had initially misidentified the gender of the shooter." This tweet lead to some criticism,
Filmmaker Robby Starbuck responded to the tweet, saying "Hey @USATODAY, none of us in Tennessee could give a damn if the mass child killer got misgendered. Police did a great job today and they didn’t misgender HER. She was born a girl and she died an evil, mentally ill woman. You should be ashamed doing this as families grieve."
Another user said, "I don’t give a sh*t about your pronouns if you shoot up a school. You’re a psychopath if you hurt people. Full stop."
"It's not the children killed that triggered USA Today," said Libby Emmons, "it's that the suspect's delusion was not upheld by police."
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