Some left-leaning news outlets just couldn’t help themselves.
They had to include former President Donald Trump in their coverage of a shooting incident that took place in downtown Denver during the very early morning hours Tuesday in the building that houses the Colorado Supreme Court.
That was the court that ruled two weeks ago that the state must remove Trump’s name from the 2024 presidential ballot.
The two things must be connected, right?
The only problem is that the Colorado State Patrol “confirmed a high probability” that the shooting had nothing to do with the ruling, CNN reported.
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The facts already made public certainly support that conclusion.
First, the incident took place at around 1:15 a.m. Tuesday morning, not a time one is likely to find any justices in the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, home to the Supreme Court among other agencies.
Second, the suspect, Brandon Olsen, 44, had allegedly fled the scene of a two-vehicle crash in front of the Judicial Center after reportedly pointing his gun at the other driver.
He then reportedly used his gun to shoot out a window to enter the Judicial Center.
Will the media try to minimize this story now that it’s not anti-Trump?
“The suspect encountered an unarmed security guard, held the guard at gunpoint and took the guard’s keys before going to other parts of the building, including the seventh floor, where he fired more shots,” CNN reported based on a release from the Colorado State Patrol.
Third, The Denver Post reported the Judicial Center houses not only the Colorado Supreme Court, but also the Colorado Court of Appeals and several other state agencies.
Fourth, Olsen was accused of starting a fire on the seventh floor of the building, causing the sprinklers to go off. The center now will be closed for several days to address the water damage.
To summarize: The incident took place in the middle of the night after armed man fled the scene of an accident. He then broke into a building that is the home to multiple government agencies.
Next, Olsen set a fire to the building resulting in it being shut down for some unknown period of time.
So it is understandable, based on these facts alone, the Colorado State Patrol could confirm with a “high probability” that the break-in and the state Supreme Court ruling against Trump are unrelated.
That didn’t stop multiple outlets from making the GOP front-runner a significant part of the story about the break-in.
The New York Times mentioned Trump no less than four times in reporting the incident.
“The incident, coming two weeks after the court voted to bar former President Donald J. Trump from Colorado’s 2024 presidential primary ballot, comes as tensions have risen across the country over legal challenges to Mr. Trump’s eligibility to run for president,” the second paragraph in the Times’ coverage said.
The story closed mentioning the Maine secretary of state had also ruled to take Trump off the ballot.
CNN had three references to Trump in its story.
CBS News only made one reference to the former president at the end of its piece, which mentioned that the state Supreme Court had ruled against him.
The news outlet noted Trump has appealed that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Many sounded off on X that there had to be a connection between the shooting and the ruling — despite the facts to the contrary.
Trying to understand why Colorado Police say the shooting at CO State Supreme Court Bldg isn’t linked to Trump’s ballot exclusion. Why now, if not for that?@tribelaw @neal_katyal @RepJeffries @AOC @Ilhan @RepJasmine @RepRashida @rulajebreal @lbarronlopez @Lawrence @cenkuygur
— MyPolitician (@MyPoliApp) January 2, 2024
One went so far as to label Republicans “unhinged terrorists” based on the incident.
Facts are stubborn things, and in this instance they appear to dictate that there is no connection to an early morning shooting incident and a Colorado Supreme Court ruling against Trump.
