Hawley Calls for FBI, DHS to Investigate Nashville Shooting as a Hate Crime
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is urging federal law enforcement officials to open a hate crime investigation into the shooting at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and…
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is urging federal law enforcement officials to open a hate crime investigation into the shooting at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee.
In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Hawley wrote, “Yesterday the nation witnessed the vicious murder of small schoolchildren in Nashville, Tennessee.”
After noting the shooting took place at a Christian school, the senator argued it is “false” to label the incident an act of “senseless violence.”
He pointed out law enforcement called the shooting “targeted.”
“Targeted, that is, against Christians,” Hawley added.
His letter went on:
“Federal law explicitly criminalizes acts of violence against individuals based on religious affiliation as hate crimes. To be exact, the hate crime statute… bars ‘willfully caus bodily injury to any person… because of the actual or perceived, race, color, religion, or national origin of any person.'”
Check out the letter below:
Hawley noted Nashville police chief John Drake said law enforcement found a “manifesto” and “some writings” that “pertain to this date, the actual incident.”