A man in North Dakota who ran over a conservative teen last year has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, days after the state’s district attorney downgraded his charges from murder to manslaughter.
42-year-old Shannon Brandt is now facing a maximum 10-year prison term for the death of 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson on September 18, 2022.
Brandt’s murder charge was then reduced to manslaughter after a plea agreement with the Foster County State’s Attorney was approved by Southeast Judicial District Judge Bradley Cruff.
UPDATE: North Dakota DA gives plea deal to man who ran over conservative teen, Cayler Ellingson, allows him to plead to manslaughter charge https://t.co/xkhLLJhH8i
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 19, 2023
“A couple weeks ago, the prosecution amended the charge from homicide to manslaughter,” Brandt’s attorney, Mark Friese said. “We didn’t know that was going to happen. And then, last week, there were depositions of a number of the prosecution witnesses that had been disclosed to the prosecutor.”
Friese said that he believes that this provided a much clearer picture for the prosecution of the full scope of the events that had taken place.
“The truth of all of this is this was a tragic accident,” he added. “The State Medical Examiner’s Office has concluded it was an accident. Mr. Brandt from the very beginning, and consistently, has said that he was simply trying to avoid the confrontation, and in the process of trying to get away, the accident happened.”
According to an affidavit, Brandt was reportedly “threatening” Ellingson and believed the teenager was part of a “Republican extremist group.”
“Brandt stated that the pedestrian called some people and Brandt was afraid they were coming to get him,” the affidavit read. “Brandt admitted to State Radio that he hit the pedestrian and that the pedestrian was part of a Republican extremist group.”
Former President Trump, at the time, condemned major news outlets for the sparse attention Ellington’s death has received, despite an increase in stories about rising political violence across the U.S.
“Just recently, a young 18-year-old man from North Dakota … was targeted and killed, run down in cold blood with an SUV by a radical left maniac,” Trump said at a rally in North Carolina in September. “This guy ran him down and not one mainstream media network has even mentioned this horrible crime. Think of it now. Think of it the other way. Think of it the other way. Supposing a mad person ran down somebody on the other side, it would be the biggest story you’ve ever seen. It’s a disgrace.”
