Less than two weeks after 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon murdered five of his coworkers in a shooting at a bank in Louisville, the killer’s so-called “manifesto” has been released by police, outlining his political and personal motives.
The Louisville killer’s 13-page manifesto revealed three primary motives for his crime, according to the Daily Mail.
First, Sturgeon wanted to demonstrate how “easy” it was to purchase a firearm under Kentucky state law. Next, he wanted to “highlight the country’s mental health crisis.” Finally, he wanted to die at the hands of the police.
Sturgeon had a documented history of supporting Democratic politicians and espousing left-leaning political views on social media, including posts that were overtly critical of the National Rifle Association and former President Donald Trump.
The killer’s family has since revealed he suffered from numerous mental health issues and was on medication. They also claimed that he may have suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, from injuries sustained during middle school basketball games.
These claims prompted Kentucky authorities to examine his brain during autopsy for signs of the concussive illness.
Despite his alleged mental health struggles, nothing precluded him from purchasing the semiautomatic rifle used in the killings six days earlier.
The release of key details of Sturgeon’s manifesto stands in stark contrast to the refusal to release any meaningful information from the manifesto written by the suspect who killed six, including three children, at a Nashville Christian school nearly a month ago.
After Audrey Hale’s alleged mass killing at The Covenant School, authorities announced that the suspect had left behind numerous writings, including a “manifesto.” Hale was a biological female who reportedly identified as male.
Yet as of now, nothing has been publicly released. Numerous elected officials have called on state and federal authorities to release Hale’s manifesto, but thus far, they have been met with silence.
Meanwhile, PFLAG, the nation’s “first and largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ+ people,” said that “the contents don’t change the outcome of the tragedy.”
Others, such as Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN), have expressed disappointment with the stonewalling. The manifesto “could maybe tell us a little bit about what’s going on inside of her head. I think that would answer a lot of questions,” said Burchett, per the New York Post.
Nashville Council Member Courtney Johnston has said that the FBI has “already ruled the manifesto would not be released in its entirety” from her conversations with them.
Claiming that the complete document “in the wrong person’s hands would be astronomically dangerous,” Johnston said the FBI described Hale’s manifesto as a “blueprint on total destruction,” the New York Post reported.
“I personally don’t want to know the depths to which her psychosis reached. … When I’m told by a [Metropolitan Nashville Police Department] high-ranking official that it keeps him up at night, I’m going to defer to that person in that agency that I don’t need to read that,” Johnston concluded, per the New York Post.
However, polling suggests the public overwhelmingly disagrees. A recent Rasmussen Reports poll indicated that 68% of American voters say they want Hale’s manifesto released publicly. Only 17% of those surveyed responded “no,” with another 15% registering as “unsure.”
When asked by Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) if he would investigate Hale’s shooting at a Christian school as a potential federal hate crime, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Hale’s motive “remains unclear” despite authorities being in possession of the yet-unreleased manifesto, as Newsweek reported.
