A statement circulated around the internet on Monday which appeared to blame conservatives for the death of Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old female who identified as transgender and used “he/him” pronouns.
In a document circulating online, the an entity called the Trans Resistance Network claimed the horrific event in Nashville was actually two separate tragedies: a shooting of innocent people and a trans person who mentally unraveled due to societal hate. The page-long statement claimed that Hale “felt he had no other effective way to be seen than to lash out by taking the lives of others, and by consequence, himself,” and blamed conservative pundits and politicians driving Hale to that desperate state. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ‘Uncomfortable’: Students Slam School That Threatened To Punish Those Who Protest Trans Kids In Bathrooms)
The Trans Resistance Network notably only has 29 followers on its Facebook page as of this writing and has only updated its website 3 times over the past year, according to the Wayback Machine. The Daily Caller attempted to confirm that this is a legitimate transgender advocacy organization, but did not receive a response by the time of this article’s publication.
“We do know that life for transgender people is very difficult, and made more difficult in preceding months by a virtual avalanche of anti-trans legislation, and public callouts by Right Wing personalities and political figures for nothing less than the genocidal eradication of trans people from society,” the statement reads.
We are quickly moving from:
“We will kill ourselves if you don’t use our pronouns”
To
“We will kill you if you ban sex changes for minors.” pic.twitter.com/PW4ej56ny4
— Terry Schilling 🇺🇸 (@Schilling1776) March 28, 2023
The statement goes on to say that transgender people suffer from an array of mental health issues, such as PTSD and depression, due to the “near-constant drumbeat” of anti-trans legislation, unaccepting family members and trans-skeptical religious institutions. The group appeared to excuse criminal acts committed by the transgender population, stating that “hate has consequences.”
The statement ends by asking news outlets to respect the suspect’s preferred “he/him” pronouns.
Conservatives were quick to criticize the statement online.
The Florida chapter of Gays Against Groomers expressed shock that the Trans Resistance Network would “openly sympathize with the terrorist that murdered the children yesterday.”
“Un-friggen-believable. Trans Resistance Network is concerned about news agencies using the correct pronouns when referring to the killer,” tweeted author Juanita Broaddrick.
“Can you believe this statement by the Trans Resistance Network making Hale a victim as well?” asked conservative social media pundit Sheila G. “It doesn’t matter how she identified.”