'Everything exploded' in North Dakota town after Fox News pushed false story of politically-motivated murder



This past fall, a police report in Foster County, North Dakota claimed that a 42-year-old man named Shannon Brandt had run over 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson after he allegedly accused the teen of being part of a "Republican extremist group."

The case drew outrage among right-wing media personalities, many of whom linked Ellingson's killing to President Joe Biden's speeches slamming "MAGA Republicans" as an inspiration.

But as the New York Times reports, this narrative around the murder has largely turned out to be untrue, as police subsequently determined that Brandt's actions were not politically motivated.

What's more, the Foster County prosecutor who brought charges against Brandt never mentioned anything about Ellingson being targeted for violence due to his political beliefs.

Nonetheless, the national attention from Fox News created a firestorm in McHenry, North Dakota, a tiny town of just 64 residents.

Or as Ashley Brandt-Duda, Brandt's sister, told the Times, "everything just exploded" thanks to Fox News' sensationalizing of the story.

"Ms. Brandt-Duda said her parents left their home in McHenry out of concern for their safety. When they returned about a week later, they found more than 50 threatening messages on their answering machine," reports the Times. "The county court and sheriff’s offices also received numerous threats, according to multiple local officials."

The report concludes by noting that coverage of Ellingson's murder almost completely died on Fox News once it was determined to have not been political -- but no prime time hosts ever acknowledged that this was the case.



from Alternet.org https://ift.tt/UF6eXGp
via sinceretalk

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How misinformation could shape the Israel-Hamas war

Image
I wanted to interview Nicholas Grossman regarding the role of misinformation in the war between Israel and Hamas. In particular, I hoped to ask the professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, and senior editor of Arc Digital , about misinformation that arose from American reporting on an explosion at a hospital in Gaza. You know what? I ended up repeating a bit of misinformation! I asked him to lay out the facts about a blast that “killed hundreds, including kids,” and he said nuh-uh (not his words). In fact, Professor Grossman said, “there never were hundreds killed by an explosion at that hospital. Media reported that the hospital was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike killing 500, but that was based on something a Hamas-controlled agency said and was never supported by evidence.” Professor Grossman went on to say “what apparently did happen is something hit a nearby parking lot and caused a smaller explosion, most likely a rocket fired from Gaza towards I
Read more

PA GOP Senate candidate who says he 'started with nothing' actually grew up in a mansion

Image
David McCormick, who is Pennsylvania's presumptive Republican U.S. Senate nominee, has often suggested he grew up poor in a rural community. But a new report finds that his upbringing was far more affluent than he's suggested. The New York Times reported Friday that McCormick — a former hedge fund executive who lived in Connecticut as recently as 2022 — has been cagey with voters about his childhood. McCormick has tweeted that he was "raised in Bloomsburg working on his family's farm," said on a 2022 podcast that he " started with nothing " and told CBS News that same year that he " didn't have anything " growing up as the son of two schoolteachers. But according to the Times , McCormick's father, Dr. James H. McCormick , was appointed president of what is now Bloomsburg University by Gov. Milton Schapp (D) in 1973. He moved his family into Buckalew Place — the official mansion for presidents of the school that currently spans 5
Read more

'It is his aphrodisiac': Ex-RNC chair explains how gag order 'stimulates' Trump and his base

Image
As President Donald Trump faces gag orders in two separate cases — one from Judge Arthur Engoron presiding over his New York civil fraud trial, and the other from Judge Tanya Chutkan, who will preside of his Washington, DC January 6 trial in March — some experts expect him to violate the orders soon. With a history of threatening and verbally attacking others, MSNBC's Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday pointed to the fact the ex-president's rhetoric influenced January 6 rioters who chanted, "Hang Mike Pence!" Noting Trump "gets deeply stimulated and excited by the violence," Wallace asked analyst and ex-Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele what he thinks the MAGA hopeful's "calculation is on whether violating these gag orders lands him in jail is a good thing or bad thing for him." POLL : Should Trump be allowed to hold office again? Steele replied, "You put your finger on two very important words t
Read more