abc says possible tea party affiliation with CO GUNMAN

[link to www.politico.com]
has suggested that James Holmes -- the suspect in today's shooting in Aurora, Colorado -- may have a connection to the Tea Party.

ABC's Brian Ross reported this morning that there is "a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado, page on the Colorado Tea party site... talking about him joining the Tea Party last year."

"Now, we don't know if this is the same Jim Holmes," Ross cautioned "but it's Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado."

ABC News is the only network or cable news channel to suggest a possible Tea Party connection, according to a survey of the TV Eyes database at 9:30 a.m. ET, though they did not verify that the two individuals were one and the same.

The report has already set off alarm bells on the right. At Brietbart.com, the conservative news site, Joel Pollak has accused ABC News of "scapegoating."

"How interesting that Ross and ABC News should think to look to the Tea Party website first--and to broadcast politically volatile information without verifying if that 'Jim Holmes' is the same as the suspect," Pollak writes. "Look for more scapegoating from the mainstream media and the Democrats in the hours and days to follow."

I have reached out to ABC News for comment on its report, and will update here if and when I hear back.

Developing...

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39 Comments

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Robert Schiele Seems more than a bit pointless to me. I detest the Tea Party and its followers, but even if this shooter… See More 29 minutes ago

19 people

Scott Frederick Exactly/ If he was a member of Blockbuster does that mean all video renters are evil. I can't stand the '… See More 20 minutes ago

Patrick Gallagher Who said that the murders prove anything about the Tea Party? This is the only internet presence ABC… See More 17 minutes ago

View more replies…

Garret Walter Can we just stop this. We don't have to turn this into a right vs left fight. This affects all of us as Americans. 26 minutes ago

15 people

Bret Alan But I keep hearing about how the Tea Party isn't for the right or the left... 7 minutes ago

Patrick Gallagher I'm really sure they thought to look at the Tea Party website 'first'. As opposed, to say, Googling the… See More 28 minutes ago

7 people

Kerry Barletta Exactly. News organizations have the ability to do background checks and find out information about… See More 19 minutes ago

Louis DiSarno Given how many incidents in the past three years were initially - and incorrectly -blamed on the Tea… See More 14 minutes ago

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Ed Orlet That didn't take long. 32 minutes ago

5 people

Ross Nowels Don’t you realize mayhem is the true aim of the TEA Party? 11 minutes ago

Travis Alderman Replace tea party in your sentence with Occupy Wall Street and you would be factually correct. 2 minutes ago

Louis DiSarno What's next, is ABC going to accuse the shooter of being motivated by Rush Limbaugh's Bane/Bain… See More 25 minutes ago

3 people

Douglas Terry ~...this "specul;ation" and the political gamesmanship it fostered is almost as disgusting as the violence they are leveraging for their own purposes. 25 minutes ago

3 people

John Pinckney Far right and far left is now waking up this morning looking for political angles. Oh boy, what would… See More 24 minutes ago

3 people

Melissa Jenkins We would go online and see what the regular people are saying! 5 minutes ago

Caley Bovee It’s the very first thing that crossed my mind after I saw the news this morning.

Rush Limbaugh, Glenn… See More 24 minutes ago

2 people

Michelle Henry I don't like the Tea Party but I don't think that the Tea Party should be condemned because just one… See More 24 minutes ago

2 people

Dangles Di Giuseppe Yes it does matter in the sense that this person is mentally unstable and I have yet to read it anywhere,… See More 7 minutes ago

1 person

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Comments (53) Tweet 161 27