‘Was Audrey Hale born male or female’ trends after Marjorie Taylor Greene tweets about Nashville shooting suspect’s gender identity

Following the death of 6 people, including 3 children in a mass shooting that took place in Covenant School, Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, many lawmakers have reacted, including GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Greene’s tweet went viral after she appeared to be questioning the gender identity of Aubrey Hale, the 28-year-old who was confirmed by the police to be the shooter and was killed at the scene of the crime. It was revealed that Hale was a transgender who went by he/him pronouns on their LinkedIn page.

Also Read | How Audrey Hale executed the shooting at Covenant School in Nashville: What we know so far

On March 28, MTG took to her official Twitter account and urged people to stop blaming guns for mass shootings. Instead, she went on to target the killer’s gender identity. “How much hormones like testosterone and medications for mental illness was the transgender Nashville school shooter taking? Everyone can stop blaming guns now,” she wrote.

On her personal Twitter account, she continued posting transphobic tweets, writing, “The female Nashville shooter identifies as a man. So shouldn’t we just blame white men again?”

After receiving backlash for her comments on social media, she defended her tweets in a statement to The Independent. “It’s not about their identity. It’s the questions or this is what kind of hormones are they on? What kind of medications are they taking for mental illness? What is causing this aggression in this biological female who identifies as a male for them to go in and murder children?” she asked.

Also Read | Audrey Hale video: Footage shows Covenant School, Nashville shooting suspect drive his Honda Fit car

Soon after her explanation, people on the internet started searching for the question ‘Was Audrey Hale born male or female?’

According to Sky News, Audrey Hale was born female but identified as a transgender male. Hale went by the pronouns he/him according to the now-defunct LinkedIn page. During a press conference, Nashville Police Chief John Drake addressed Hale’s gender identity, “She does identify as transgender, yes,” he said.

When he was asked whether Hale’s gender identity motivated them to carry out the mass shooting, Drake stated that they could give information on the same “at a later time. There is some theory to that. We’re investigating all the leads.”