NBC reporter ripped for linking Nashville shooting to Ben Shapiro, Daily Wire
A freelancer for NBC News was blasted over a since-deleted tweet in which he appears to link the mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville with the conservative media outlet The Daily Wire and its star commentators Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh.
Benjamin Ryan, a health and science reporter whose bylines also have appeared in The New York Times, Reuters, The Washington Post, and other outlets, posted a tweet on Monday in the aftermath of the shooting that left six people dead, among them three children, at Covenant School in Nashville.
The shooter, who was identified as transgender woman Audrey Elizabeth Hale, was killed by responding officers.
Ryan appears to imply in his tweet that Hale, a Nashville resident, was motivated to carry out the mass shooting due to the fact that the city is also where The Daily Wire is headquartered.
“NBC has ID’d the Nashville school shooter as Audrey Hale, 28, who identifies as transgender and had no previous criminal record,” Ryan tweeted on Monday.
Ryan continued: “Nashville is home to the Daily Wire, a hub of anti-trans activity by @MattWalshBlog, @BenShapiro and @MichaelJKnowles.”
Ryan then deleted the tweet in response to the backlash.
One Twitter user wrote: “6 dead plus the shooter. But this is how they cover it. Their agenda is so freakin’ transparent.”
Follow The Post’s coverage of the school shooting in Nashville
Another wrote sarcastically: “@NBCNews You people only hire the best!”
One Twitter user called Ryan a “gay activist masquerading as a journalist.”
Another Twitter user denounced Ryan as an “absolute ghoul.”
The Post has reached out to NBC News and Ryan seeking comment. The Daily Wire has also been contacted for a reaction.
The Daily Wire is a conservative media company that has grown to more than 1 million subscribers since its launch in 2015.
Shapiro, host of the widely-listened-to podcast “The Ben Shapiro Show,” founded the company alongside Jeremy Boreing.
Walsh, an author, commentator, podcast host, and columnist for The Daily Wire, starred in a recent documentary titled “What Is a Woman?”, which delves into the question of gender ideology and biological sex.
In the aftermath of the film’s release, Walsh said he had received death threats.
The hot-button issue of gender identity has sparked fierce debate, particularly surrounding the question of whether to allow teens and younger children access to hormonal treatments and other procedures designed to alter their biological sex.
Investigators in Tennessee said that the shooter, Hale, was a former student of the school who had drawn a detailed map of the building, including potential entry points, and conducted surveillance of the premises before carrying out the massacre.
Authorities said Hale was armed with two “assault-style” weapons as well as a handgun.
At least two of them were believed to have been obtained legally in the Nashville area, according to the chief.
Police said a search of Hale’s home turned up a sawed-off shotgun, a second shotgun and other unspecified evidence.
With Post wires
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