Posted on 09/11/2023 10:55:55 AM PDT by Red Badger
Foster County Sheriff Authorities sentenced a North Dakota man to 5 years in state prison on Friday after he fatally hit an 18-year-old with his car — following his expression of concern about the teenager’s alleged connection to a “Republican extremist” group.
Shannon Brandt of Glenfield, North Dakota, pled guilty to manslaughter in May after fatally running over Cayler Ellingson with his 2003 Ford Explorer on September 18, 2022, in McHenry, North Dakota.
A state district court judge reportedly gave Brandt the sentencing with nearly a year of credit for time served under house arrest, including three years’ supervised probation and a yearlong suspension of his driver’s license. The maximum penalty for such charges is 10 years in prison, a $20,000 fine, or both, according to The Associated Press.
Ellingson’s mother, Sheri, reportedly requested the judge hand down the maximum sentence for Brandt.
“Shannon, you took a piece of our family that’s not replaceable,” she said, according to Fox News. “When you chose to take Cayler’s life and happiness, you took ours too. You have caused our family endless pain, heartache, sleepless nights.
“Our days, months, and years will never be the same because of your selfishness,” Ellingson added.
The case quickly became controversial after an affidavit from police suggested that Brandt had run down Ellingson following a political disagreement, a claim investigators backtracked later after little evidence supported the assertion.
Foster County State Attorney Kara Brinster said Brandt had been drinking and arguing with Ellingson before the incident.
Brandt claimed in a 911 call that he had felt threatened by Ellingson over the teen’s alleged connection to a “Republican extremist group” and was urging others to attack Brandt after a political argument, according to the call.
“He was threatening me with something to have to do with — something with an extremist Republican group. And then he made a phone call. He made a phone call saying, ‘I thought he was Republican (background noise) or something. You’re going have to come here and handle him.’ I got scared to death. I didn’t know what to do,” a transcript of Brandt’s 911 call says.
Brandt said that he accidentally hit the teen while trying to get away from him during a crowded event in McHenry.
An autopsy report said that Ellingson’s fatal “injuries weren’t caused from being struck by Shannon Brandt’s vehicle and were caused by being run over” once he was on the ground.
Authorities initially charged Brandt with criminal vehicular homicide, but Forster County State’s Attorney Kara Brinster later upgraded those charges to murder, according to Fox News. The charges were later reduced to manslaughter, to which Brandt pleaded guilty on May 18.
Before the judge sentenced Brandt, he addressed the court and apologized to everyone impacted by his actions.
“I’m here to take responsibility for the role I played in this tragedy,” Brandt said. “I’m very sorry to the Ellingson family, my family, and anybody else that has been affected by my actions. I have always enjoyed seeing the Ellingsons and would never have intentionally caused harm to any of them.”
“I am truly devastated by the impact this has had on the entire community,” Brandt added.
Defense attorney Mark Friese told The Associated Press that Brandt “is relieved to have finally been able to offer his apology and to allow the Ellingson family to move forward. It’s been a very difficult year for everyone involved.”
“It got exacerbated by false information making it into the media and people using this tragedy to advance their political platforms,” Friese said.
Brandt reportedly was diagnosed with autism, which Foster County Judge Bradley Cruff mentioned during the sentencing.
“You didn’t intentionally run him over,” Cruff said. “I acknowledge that. I understand what the experts in this case are saying about how your mind works. And you didn’t intentionally kill Cayler.”
“But he did die,” Cruff added. “And that’s a result of your alcohol consumption. You recklessly pushed Cayler to the ground with your SUV, you recklessly ran him over, and you recklessly killed him.”
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.
That is always the final stage of leftist totalitarianism. The longer those on our side sit on their hands because they’re afraid to risk losing something, the more certain it becomes that they will lose everything, including perhaps their lives.
I don’t know what it’s going to take to wake people up to the fact that the left is going to stop at nothing, including killing their opponents, to achieve their delusional utopian vision. Their all-consuming push for tyranny will not just go away if we ignore it. You can try to protect your comfortable life by “not rocking the boat”, but that only makes it more certain that the left will take everything you have, if they don’t also throw you in prison, or worse. I am firmly convinced that nothing short of a full-bore 1776-level “reset” back to constitutional principles and a civilized culture will save this nation at this point. You simply can’t coexist with evil; you have to defeat it.
What an ignorant, servile, shitbag, When the revolution comes I want this judge to be the first with their back against the wall of sandbags.
Five years = out in two.
That was part of his defense. I say it's BS. The idiot judge even worked into his sentencing, saying “You didn’t intentionally run him over, I acknowledge that..." The judge felt sorry for the killer, and gave him just 1 year in prison. That is not justice.
I have always subscribed to the "guilty AND insane", as insanity should not mitigate or excuse a murder. It seems to me the justice system went out of its way to let this guy off easy.
Whouda thunk ND state judges were as corrupt as those in any rat city?
5 years for a brutal premeditated murder of a teenager who had done nothing to contribute to his murder?
In what world does anybody consider this just?
All Republicans should carry where permitted.
The legal system has become a farce. People depend on it to enforce their rights, and it’s failing.
If that victim was your relative... would you set an alarm for 5 years from now and wait patiently?
“Blue Ruin” had this premise as a plot.
How long are some of the J6 folks in jail for?
And this guy gest 5 years for MURDER?
This Country is f*cked.
This effing country had better experience a massive revival or it’s going down. They are sending prolifers to prison for 10 years for trying to save the lives of the unborn and this monstrosity gets 5 effing years for murdering a wonderful young man. This shit will end, one way or the other. I can only pray that there is real justice to this animal behind bars.
This effing country had better experience a massive revival or it’s going down. They are sending prolifers to prison for 10 years for trying to save the lives of the unborn and this monstrosity gets 5 effing years for murdering a wonderful young man. This shit will end, one way or the other. I can only pray that there is real justice to this animal behind bars.
You are correct. I have tried to get people to see, but theyvare blinded by something.
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