They also received numerous threatening letters, said Ms. Brandt-Duda. One was written in the margin of an article about the incident in The New York Post, he said. The newspaper covered the case extensively and also published one opinion column arguing that the “President of the United States, backed by a fan-girl media, spews irresponsible rhetoric that led to Ellingson’s death.”
“Everything blew up,” Ms. Brandt-Duda said.
The county courthouse and sheriff’s offices also received numerous threats, according to several local officials. On Sept. 29, 11 days after Mr. Ellingson’s death, County Attorney Kara Brinster dropped the initial charge of vehicular homicide, which is used for fatal drunken driving accidents. for a new one: intentional homicide, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison.
Ms Brinster did not respond to requests for comment on the decision.
Then, just as quickly as it rose, the media frenzy subsided. Fox Digital, the network’s online arm, continued to publish articles acknowledging the more complicated story that was emerging from officials. But the Fox News hosts did not mention the case on air again after September 30.
When asked for comment, a Fox spokeswoman, Jessica Ketner, pointed to the company’s online articles but would not comment on the network’s television coverage.
Gateway Pundit also stopped publishing stories about the case. Politicians who had spoken out quickly seemed to lose interest. Mr. Trump, Mrs. Greene, Mr. Jordan and Mr. Wrigley, the North Dakota attorney general, did not respond to requests for comment.
