One man, aged 41-year-old, who allegedly admitted to murdering a Republican teenager due to politics near the start of the week stated this week in court that he did not wish to lose all of his possessions and other parts of his life because of bond related to the charges.
The man in question, Shannon Brandt, was slammed with a charge of vehicular homicide and fleeing the scene of a crash resulting in a death in the wake of his alleged hit and run which killed Cayler Ellingson this past Sunday in the town of McHenry, a small town roughly two hours away from Fargo, North Dakota. He officially posted his bond this past Tuesday.
Brandt claimed that he heavily objected t the massive $50,000 bond that was slammed against him because he was not in his words a flight risk.
He claimed, “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.”
Brandt had a tough time understanding the charges against him in the killing of 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson.
"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 a judge at his first court hearing. pic.twitter.com/UG9vc9PvTV
— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) September 21, 2022
Highlighting a series of court papers, WDAY issued a report that Brandt stated to police that the death was the result of an argument that stemmed from politics.
“He was the one who called 911 to report the crash,” explained North Dakota Highway Patrol Capt. Bryan Niewind.
Brandt phoned 911 at roughly 2:30 in the early morning on Sunday and stated to the dispatcher that he had run over Ellingson, read a report from the site, pointing out a criminal complaint. Brandt, who police officials state was drunk at the time, made the claim that Ellingson was a member of a “Republican extremist group” and was calling for a group of others to go after and attack Brandt due to a political disagreement.
“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,” read the released court documents. “Brandt admitted to leaving the scene of the incident and returning shortly after where he called 911.”
The prosecution alleges that Ellingson made a call to his mother just before he was killed to state that Brandt, who she was familiar with, was chasing him down after what he labeled as a street dance. By the time the mother got to the scene, her son was already dead and left in an alleyway. The mother expressed to the police forces that she does not think that her son knew the man that killed him.
“We are still trying to determine what, exactly, transpired at the time of the crash and prior to that as well,” stated Niewind. “We do not know of any witnesses. We are still making attempts to interview potential witnesses from the street dance, people that were present prior to the crash happening.”
This savage attack takes place just a scant few weeks in the wake of Old Uncle Joe declaring that “MAGA Republicans,” or the people who express support for former President Donald Trump, were just “an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
