News outlet waiting to learn Nashville school shooter's preferred first name before publishing it

We’re still marveling at how the media is actually trying to protect a woman who shot and killed six people at a private Christian school in Nashville. Adding to the chorus is the “independent, nonprofit newsroom” The 19th and its trans reporter Orion Rummler (he/him). Rummler reports that far-right media figures are focusing on the school shooter’s “reported” trans identity to shift the conversation away from gun control when the shooter’s gender identity isn’t even clear right now. Actually, it’s President Joe Biden and the Democrats who are desperately trying to shift the conversation to gun control and away from the shooter. Karine Jean-Pierre couldn’t even rule out that Biden is looking into gun confiscation at Wednesday’s press briefing.

Several conservative and far-right media figures are using the Nashville shooter’s reported transgender identity to shift the conversation away from gun control.

Key to note: The shooter's gender identity is not clear right now. Read more on @19thnews https://t.co/rAOlg3gNP6

— Orion Rummler (@i_oriion) March 28, 2023

Although details of the shooter's gender identity aren't clear, what we do know: it's rare for anyone who's not a cisgender man to enact a mass shooting.

This shooting also occurred in a state with "extremely weak" gun laws, per Giffords Law Center. We detail that in this story

— Orion Rummler (@i_oriion) March 28, 2023

Good they got in touch with Giffords for an unbiased take. Oh, and Media Matters too.

Rummer writes:

In a country known for frequent shootings in school halls, the violence enacted at a Nashville private school on Monday stood out because it was carried out by someone who is not a cisgender man — the demographic that perpetuates the vast majority of shootings in the United States.

…

Law enforcement officials in Nashville released the identity of the shooter, whose last name was Hale. Chief John Drake of the Nashville Police said the authorities currently believe that the shooter is transgender. However, local authorities and news media reports have varied on how they refer to Hale’s gender identity, as well as what pronouns they have used. The 19th is waiting on further information related to Hale’s identity before publishing a first name.

…

Amid the confusion, several conservative and far-right media personalities have used the reported identity of the shooter as an opportunity to shift the conversation away from gun control and onto restricting gender-affirming care for transgender people, or simply to focus on anti-trans rhetoric. Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shared a tweet in a similar vein — saying that “everyone can stop blaming guns now” and speculating on whether the shooter was taking hormone replacement therapy.

Ari Drennen, LGBTQ+ program director for Media Matters, a progressive nonprofit and media watchdog, responded to the tweet: “The Republican party will blame anything and everything before they do a thing about guns. And so this will just keep happening,” she said.