
A North Dakota man actually KILLED a teenager with his car, but he doesn’t think it should affect his life. I mean, who cares if the world loses another conservative?
At least, that’s how Shannon Brandt’s comments come off to me. Brandt, 41, used his vehicle to settle a political fight with a teenage pedestrian and then stated that he didn’t “understand” the charges against him. Hmmm, last I checked, it was illegal to run over someone with your car. Even if you are a leftist.
Fox news elaborates:
[Brandt spent] just days in a Stutsman County Jail on criminal charges related to the death of 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson before he posted his $50,000 bond and was released, according to county jail records.
He is charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident.
Brandt objected to the bail amount, saying he was not a flight risk.
“I have a job, a life and a house and things that I don’t exactly want to see go by the wayside — family that are very important to me,” he said.
Of course, 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson had a life, too. He had friends and family. And his life wasn’t just disrupted– it is OVER. There’s no “probation” for Ellingson.
Excuses, excuses…
Brandt’s excuse is that he felt threatened by the kid.
Fox continues:
Brandt was arrested Sunday morning after telling first responders that he struck the teen because the pedestrian was threatening him,” according to a probable-cause affidavit provided to Fox News Digital on Wednesday morning.
He “stated that the pedestrian called some people and Brandt was afraid they were coming to get him,” the document continues. “Brandt admitted to State Radio that he hit the pedestrian and that the pedestrian was part of a Republican extremist group.”
I don’t know if Cayler was an “extremist;” however, let’s apply a little logic here. Ellingson was walking. Brandt was behind the wheels of a car. So, wouldn’t it beg to reason that Brandt could’ve just driven away? Was Cayler the world’s fastest runner, able to catch a car in under five seconds? I highly doubt it.
This is the same backwards logic leftists continue to apply to the BLM riots around the country. It’s ok for people to die, property to be damaged, and police attacked, if it’s in the name of leftism. Yet, Jan. 6th is condemned as an insurrection organized by President Trump.
The hypocrisy never ends.
While Brandt paints himself as the victim, there is one more mother absolutely broken by the political divide.
North Dakota Highway Patrol on Sunday reported that there was a “street dance” on Jones Street near Hohneck Street in McHenry when Brandt struck Ellingson and then fled the scene.
Ellingson was rushed to a local hospital with serious injuries where he died. Brandt’s and Ellingson’s families both showed up at the scene shortly after police arrived, court records show.
Ellingson’s parents said they knew Brandt but didn’t believe the teen did. His mother described how she was on her way to pick up her son from McHenry when he called her and said “that ‘he’ or ‘they’ were chasing him.” She could no longer reach him after that.
“Brandt admitted to striking the pedestrian with his car because he had a political argument with the pedestrian and believed the pedestrian was calling people to come get him,” the court document continues. “Brandt admitted to leaving the scene of the incident and returning shortly after where he called 911.”
This kid wasn’t calling people to hurt Brandt. He was calling his mom to come get him! It’s hard to fathom the lack of character it takes to run over a child, kill him, flee the scene, and then act as though the consequences are an inconvenience.
I’m reminded of an old saying I used to tell my kids.
“Watch your thoughts, they become words;
watch your words, they become actions;
watch your actions, they become habits;
watch your habits, they become character;
watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”