‘We Can Handle the Truth’: Vivek Ramsawamy Calls for Release of Nashville Shooter’s Manifesto

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority conference at Hilton in Washington on June 23, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

Republican Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy visited Nashville on Wednesday to call for the release of the writings and manifesto left behind by the March 27 transgender shooter at the city’s Covenant School.

“We’re sitting here in August with nothing other than stonewalled silence from our government,” the GOP 2024 candidate said at a press conference. “That is wrong. That does not build public trust; that erodes public trust.”

He was joined by Nashville resident and political commentator Candace Owens and Tennessee faith leaders.

Mr. Ramaswamy, who thanked the heroic police officers who responded and honored the victims with a moment of silence, called on the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), Republican Gov. Bill Lee, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to release the manifesto.

Mr. Ramaswamy and Ms. Owens were joined by Aaron Spradlin, chairman of the Board of Faith and Freedom Coalition in Tennessee; and Aaron Gulbransen, a security consulting firm owner and director of the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition, each of whom spoke to the importance of transparency and the need to learn from the tragedy.

The speakers acknowledged existing concerns about potential copycat incidents if the writings are released but argued that redacting specific details while revealing the psychological state of mind and the killer’s motives would strike the right balance.

They also emphasized the need to address the mental health epidemic in the United States and to use the information to enhance security measures in schools.

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Criticism of Governor

Mr. Ramaswamy criticized Mr. Lee over his call for a special session later this month, set to focus on school and public safety, saying the session is based on false premises in order to pass reactionary anti-gun measures.

“The same governor who pledged to release that manifesto, only to renege on that pledge—not to have released it [and] now hiding it to date—is convening a special session of the legislature of Tennessee later this month … to call for specific legal anti-gun measures to be passed and signed into law in this state.”

He said the right answer may well be to “remove psychiatrically ill people from their communities than it is to remove guns from law abiding citizens,” and it may be to “put armed security guards in schools, both public schools and private schools.”

“But we’re not going to get to the right answer unless we get to the truth,” Mr. Ramaswamy added, noting he believes the government assumes citizens can’t handle the truth on things such as COVID vaccines, Ukraine, and government censorship.

“Today, that same government assumes that we can’t handle the truth about what happened here on March 27. I am here to say that We the People in the United States of America, we can handle the truth.”

He said prior to the special session, he fully expects the governor to “have the spine” to make the right decision.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks in the East Room of the White House on April 30, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

“I reject that siren song saying that we the people no matter how ugly the truth is, we can handle the truth,” he said. “[Lee] happens to be a governor from my same political party. I don’t care about partisanship. I expect Gov. Lee to step up to be a leader to actually have the spine and courage to confront the truth rather than convening a special session based on false premises. And I have every expectation that in the next 18 days, he’s going to step up and do it.”

Truth Needed for Decision Making

“We have to deeply understand it if we are to address it. History teaches us that we make our worst policy decisions as a nation when we suppress the truth on the back of a tragedy,” Mr. Ramaswamy emphasized.

“Regardless of what the actual facts are, we the people deserve to at least know them, to reckon with them.”

He said there is obviously fair concerns from those in the community who have asked for the documents to not be released, but the “sad truth is this is a tragedy” for the entire nation.

He also spoke on why it appears the precedent of releasing the manifestos of previous mass shooters has been broken in Nashville.

“I have no preconceived notions about what this will say,” he said. “It was initially my conviction and it still remains my feeling that—if this had not been a transgender shooter, had this been a shooter of any kind like we’ve had from Buffalo to Allen to the range of other cities across this country—we would have stuck to the long standing practice in our country of being transparent within 48 hours. I believe that is the truth.”

Owens Speaks as Nashville Mother

“I don’t want to speak to you as somebody who is a political commentator today,” Ms. Owens said. “I really want to speak to you guys as somebody who is an expecting mother and a mother to two young children … about what I think we all felt in this community on that morning. I can’t even fathom it happened really right in my backyard.”

Ms. Owens, who said she is in the process of looking for Christian schools in Nashville to enroll her own children, emphasized the importance of facing evil and understanding its motivations.

Candace Owens speaks at the Young Women’s Leadership Summit at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, on June 10, 2023. (Bobby Sanchez/The Epoch Times)

“I understand being fearful of wanting, not wanting to look evil in the eye,” she said. “It’s a scary thing to look at monsters in the eye. We’re scared of that when we’re children, and we’re scared of that when we are adults. It’s one of the reasons that I watched that clip of those police officers over and over again, just thinking my goodness, my goodness, what must have been going through their minds. And they just executed, they went right in there.”

She said that without the truth and transparency from the government and police, she is “fearful” an individual that has “not even been examined” could carry out similar attacks.

“I’m fearful that an individual that’s not even being examined, an individual that can do something this horrific, that we don’t even explore the reasons,” she said. “We don’t even explore what ideas, what situation, what upbringing perhaps could have led to this moment. I’m fearful that again, us being too scared to examine what led to that moment will only create the moment again.”

Faith Leaders Call for Transparency

Mr. Gulbransen expressed strong support for releasing the manifesto, calling it crucial for understanding the motivations behind the tragedy.

He said while the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition does not “endorse individuals in presidential primaries,” they do “endorse truth and endorse freedom.”

“[The manifesto] is very important, especially when you’re talking about an issue that involves public policy,” he said. “We all know of the tragedy that occurred, but we must know the motivations behind it before you ask anybody to make public policy decisions. It must be released. That is position at the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition.”

Mr. Spradlin brought attention to the security perspective, highlighting the importance of understanding the enemy.

“We get resolve from tragedy,” he said. “When Columbine happened, it revolutionized the way we secured schools throughout the states, all across the country because it was such a shock that that could happen, the way it happened. It changed the security protocols.”

He said the moment has arisen again for a new resolve to prepare in the event of future events.

“This manifesto is an education for future events to be prevented,” he explained. “If we knew or finally get to know what the thought process was, what the planning was, who was involved, and everything—that makes you stronger … It needs to be released. Our law enforcement, our agencies, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, so they’ve seen it. But the SROs in the schools and the people that stand there to protect your children need to know what the enemy looks like. They need to know what the enemy is thinking.”

What Preceded Ramaswamy’s Call

As the state grappled with grief and sought to understand the motivations behind the horrific incident, MNPD announced the recovery of documents including a manifesto, maps, memoirs, journals, and a suicide note from the shooter.

MNPD had denied requests to various media outlets including The Epoch Times to view the materials, citing an ongoing investigation exemption under Tennessee law.

In May, the MNPD reversed its previous statement to The Epoch Times and claimed the lawsuits as the new reason for withholding documents.

Attorneys in court have hinted at the content of the writings, suggesting they contain information known to parents and others.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has halted the trial court proceedings to allow an expedited hearing for those appealing the lower court’s decision to allow the Covenant School parents, church, and school to enter the lawsuit as third-party interveners.

The appellate court ruling to accept the appeal in the middle of the trial aims to protect the rights of all parties involved and acknowledge the uniqueness of the legal matters in this case.

A Brief Heckle

A male heckler waited until after opening comments from the speakers to move in front of them and air his concerns.

The man, who appeared to be holding a bible, spoke about some of his Christian beliefs briefly as security moved in closer to Mr. Ramaswamy and his guests.

“We don’t need the manifesto,” he said. “This happened at a Christian school, after Tennessee had the largest effort against the satanic, child mutilation campaign ... It happened at a Christian, presbyterian school. We had Christian activists from October thru March who first drew national attention to the campaign to save the next generation from satan.”

He added, “That individual, who we know just so happens to be a part of that collective of people who experience that kind of darkness, invaded a Christian school. You can see through it, you don’t need the manifesto, you don’t need to hear her mind.”

Mr. Ramaswamy then attempted to speak with the man and thanked him for his views. However, the man replied he believed the presidential hopeful was “out of character for coming to our city and doing this.”

“We don’t need to listen to an outsider trying to influence local events on such a volatile issue,” he said. “You are out of character for coming to our school and doing this. We don’t know you. If we knew you, we wouldn’t trust you. If you knew him, you wouldn’t trust him.”

Mr. Ramaswamy let the man finish speaking before answering questions from the media, speaking of how much he appreciated the freedom everyone enjoys in America to voice their opinions.

“This is the beauty of this country,” he said. “We each have the opportunity to express our views in the open, and that is the path to truth. We get to the truth through hearing multiple views.”

He added, “This is a painful issue. I understand that this is an issue of deep pain in this community and for those parents and those [families] ... I cannot imagine. And I hope that no parent ever has to go through that again. But it is my conviction that no matter how ugly the truth, no matter how difficult the truth may be, no matter how much the truth may be even different than what we imagined it to be, we have to see it.”