According to the Associated Press, though authorities say Shannon Brandt, 41, told a dispatcher that Ellingson was a Republican extremist and after a political argument struck his SUV into Ellingson, they also say the interviews of the witnesses do not support Brandt’s claim that there was a political argument before the killing. The Associated Press also reported a family friend of Ellingson said he was not politically active.
Rick Becker, Bismarck, Independent candidate for U.S Senate, said Monday the killing could still be politically motivated, even if there was no reason for that motivation.
“There’s a nuance to it, but it’s a clear-cut nuance, and that is it doesn’t matter whether Cayler was or wasn’t, but in Brandt’s mind Cayler was a Republican extremist,” said Becker. “Therefore the killing was politically motivated. To say that Cayler was not political does not mean the murderer was not politically motivated. What do we have except the murderer in his own state of mind at that time said that his action was politically motivated.”
