The legacy media have a pre-set narrative machine when it comes to mass shootings. That narrative machine takes into account the identities of the shooter and the victims, and then churns out an explanation for the shooting. White shooter, black victims: systemic racism. Black shooter, white victims: alienation caused by systemic racism. Muslim shooter, gay victims: Christian homophobia.  

On Monday, a self-identified 28-year-old trans man shot up a Christian school in Nashville, killing three children and three adults. The shooter left a manifesto, which police said reeked of “resentment.” And so this week, we are learning what pops up in the narrative machine when the inputs are “trans man” and “Christian schoolchildren.”

And here’s what pops up: America is systemically cruel to trans-identifying people, who apparently cannot be blamed for losing control and targeting small children at Christian schools. A hate crime by a trans-identifying person against a religious group is immediately transmuted into a generalized societal crime against the mass shooter herself. Thus, NBC contributor Benjamin Ryan tweeted, “NBC has ID’d the Nashville school shooter…Nashville is home to the Daily Wire, a hub of anti-trans activity by @MattWalshBlog, @BenShapiro and @MichaelJKnowles.” Newsweek tweeted a story titled, “Tennessee Republicans’ ban on drag shows criticized after mass shooting.” ABC News correspondent Terry Moran stated that the shooter “identified herself as a transgender person. The State of Tennessee earlier this month passed and the governor signed a bill that banned transgender medical care for minors…”

In the perverse world of leftist victimology, this makes sense: if you are a member of a supposedly victimized group, you cannot be the victimizer; there must be another victimizer who has victimized you, turning you back into a victim.

But if we truly wish to prevent future acts of violence by unhinged lunatics, we ought to utilize a lens other than the lie of victimhood. Instead, we ought to consider the possibility that it is dangerous to promote the idea that mentally ill people ought to be celebrated as political groundbreakers by the legacy media for their symptoms, and simultaneously told that their suicidal ideations are caused by the intolerance of a broader society. According to a recent 2022 study, “Transgender and gender-diverse youth emerge as the group at the highest risk of support for violent radicalization.” Teaching trans-identifying people that their suffering is caused by a cruelly religious and patriarchal world, explaining that these forces put their very lives in danger — that, indeed, they are victims of a potential “genocide” — creates an incredibly dangerous ideological predicate for violent action.

But the legacy media, by and large, support that narrative. To admit the obvious — that men cannot be women and vice versa; that believing you were born “in the wrong body” is a mental disorder, not a weapon to be used in tearing down an unjust society; that high rates of depression and suicidal ideation among those who identify as transgender is not caused predominantly by societal intolerance but by the disorder itself — undermines the new civil rights crusade the Left has built, directed against traditional roles and institutions.

And so the new narrative must be maintained. A woman who shot to death six people including three children in cold blood must be recast as a victim of society. We must respect “his” pronouns even as we report “his” murders. We must blame those who truly cause pain in the world: those who disagree with the thoughtleaders in our legacy media, who know better than all the common sense, biology, and tradition in the world.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee addressed the state on Tuesday evening after six individuals were killed in the massacre at The Covenant School in Nashville.

A 28-year-old woman who identified as a man killed three 9-year-old children and three adults at the elementary school, a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, on Monday morning. Police officers revealed that the shooter, whom The Daily Wire will not name in accordance with company policy, executed a “targeted attack” on the school and had written a “manifesto.”

Lee said in a video address posted to social media that the state is grieving along with the parents and family members of the victims. “Some parents woke up without children,” he said. “Children woke up without parents, without teachers. Spouses woke up without their loved ones.”

Lee revealed that his own wife, Maria, was scheduled to have dinner on Monday evening with one of the victims, Cynthia Peak, who had worked at The Covenant School as a substitute teacher and was a lifelong friend of the first lady.

“Six innocent lives. Three of them were children. We’re enduring a very difficult moment. I understand there is pain, I understand the desperation to have answers, to place blame, to argue about a solution that could prevent this horrible tragedy,” Lee continued. “But this is not a time for hate or rage. That will not resolve or heal.”

Lee also praised the efforts of Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo, officers with the Metro Nashville Police Department who fired the fatal shots on the school shooter, and said he had the opportunity to speak with them. “While we saw the worst of humanity, we also saw the best of humanity: in the police officers who ran into danger directly toward a killer with no regard for their own lives,” he remarked. “Gratitude does not begin to cover it, for the utter selflessness of putting their lives between the killer and the innocent.”

The three students killed in the shooting were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney, and Hallie Scruggs, the daughter of Covenant Presbyterian Church senior minister Chad Scruggs. In addition to Cynthia Peak, Dr. Katherine Koonce, the school’s 60-year-old principal, was also killed, as was 61-year-old school custodian Mike Hill.

Lee called on the state to pray for the families of the victims and for Covenant Presbyterian Church, as well as the officers and the family of the shooter. “Prayer is the first thing we should do, but it is not the only thing,” the official said. “There will be a time to talk about the legislation and budget proposals we have brought forward this year. And clearly, there is more work to do.”

“There is hope in the midst of great tragedy because God is a Redeemer. What is meant for evil can be turned for good. May we grieve in the days ahead, but not without hope. May we also act with wisdom, discernment, and grace. And may we love, especially those who have lost.”

The Covenant School said on its website that it exists to help children “become who God intends them to be” and learn “timeless Truth” throughout their educational experience. “Our graduates attend the finest schools in the Nashville area, where they not only excel academically, but also act with character that comes from authentic faith in Jesus.”