‘My first thought’: Pastor worries Nashville shooter’s identity will be used to ‘abuse’ trans people

A Nashville pastor told his congregation this past weekend that his “first thought” after learning school shooter Audrey Hale’s transgender identity was how it would be used to attack his “trans siblings,” according to a recording of the sermon.

Josh Scott, the lead pastor at GracePointe Church in Nashville, Tennessee, called for gun reform and worried about the transgender community following a shooting at Covenant School on March 27, according to the recording. Before the sermon began, Scott, with pictures of the three children and three staff members killed in the shooting, expressed his concern about the “hate” and “abuse” that would be directed at the trans community in the wake of the attack on the Christian school.

“When the news came out that the shooter at the Covenant School was trans, my first thought was ‘my God, this is going to be used to further abuse, hate harm and seek to eradicate our trans siblings,” Scott said. “So what I want to say from our community at GracePointe, if you are one of our trans siblings in the world, we love you, we see you, we support you, we will march with you, we will walk hand in hand with you, you are not alone, we have your backs and we love you.”

He also apologized to the trans community, saying he was “so sorry the world is so screwed up.”

Scott also accused America of having an “addiction to violence and guns,” and encouraged his church to support efforts to implement red flag laws in the state, giving out a phone number to call and inform Republican Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee that they wanted to see gun reform, according to the recording.

On March 27, 28-year-old Audrey Hale began shooting inside the Christian elementary school before being taken down by two Metro Nashville police officers. Hale’s official motive has not been made public but law enforcement has said that Hale’s writings indicated that it was a “targeted attack.”

Scott did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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