The liberal man who admitting killing Republican teenager Cayler Ellingson with his vehicle has been sentenced but will only go to prison for five years.
As LifeNews reported, 41-year-old Shannon Brandt ran over Cayler Ellingson with his car following a political dispute in their small North Dakota town. Brandt admitted that he killed Ellingson because of his conservative views.
The killing prompted national outrage as conservative Americans blamed Joe Biden for his recent fiery speech, where he called conservative Americans “MAGA extremists.” Brandt was charged with murder in the death of the 18-year-old and the charge has been updated to reflect the fact that he purposefully ran over Ellingson as opposed to merely hitting him accidentally with his vehicle.
However, Brandt was sentenced to just five years in prison.
“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,” The Daily Wire reported.
The basis for this claim was Brandt’s own words in a 911 call. During that call, he attempted to explain his actions that eventually resulted in Ellingson’s death.
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“He was threatening me with something to have to do with — something with an extremist Republican group,” Brandt said:
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.
Brandt plead guilty to manslaughter.
As Daily Wire reported, “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.”
Durince the sentencing, Brandt apologized to Ellingson’s family.
“I’m here to take responsibility for the role I played in this tragedy,” he 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,” Brandt added. “I am truly devastated by the impact this has had on the entire community.”
Ellingson’s mother, Sheri, was disappointed by the ruling. She wanted Judge Bradley Cruff to give Brandt 10 years in prison, the maximum sentence, but that was declined.
“Shannon, you took a piece of our family that’s not replaceable,” she said. “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.”
The sentencing seems totally incongruous given the sentencing of four pro-life advocates to over a decade in prison for protesting abortion.
Over 100 people attended the funeral for Cayler. Ellingson’s family said that the teenager will “forever be on our minds” and they said he was a “Kind, smart, and big-hearted person.”
According to police, Ellingson called his mom to come help him as Brandt, who was reportedly drunk at the time, followed him with his vehicle after a street dance ended. But by the time she arrived on the scene, he was dead. Brandt called police on himself after the incident and reported that he had killed Ellingson. Court papers indicate that Brandt thought Ellingson was calling for backup to go after him rather than ask to be rescued.
Brandt called 911 around 2:30 a.m. and told the 911 dispatcher that he just hit Ellingson, claiming the teen was part of a Republican extremist group and was calling people to come get Brandt after a political argument.
In the aftermath of the killing, Brandt asked for no bail, saying he has family and a job in town and is not a flight risk.
“I have a job, a life and a house and things I don’t want to see go by the wayside — family that are very important to me,” Brandt told the judge, according to InForum.
The homicide comes as pro-life groups, pregnancy centers and churches have been subject to a rash of pro-abortion violence.
