Falsely ID'd Jim Holmes of Colo. Tea Party disconnected his phone.

[alp227]

I found this exclusive interview with James Michael Holmes on Breitbart.com via the Wikipedia entry about ABC investigative journalist Brian Ross.

"It was freaky," said Holmes, describing his reaction when ABC News speculated that he was the culprit who entered a crowded theater and opened fire on dozens of innocent men, women, and children. He disconnected his telephone and says that he is worried about members of his family who might be contacted by the media.

ABC News has since corrected its initial report, but tried to share the blame with "social media" and "members of the public" at first:

An earlier ABC News broadcast report suggested that a Jim Holmes of a Colorado Tea Party organization might be the suspect, but that report was incorrect. Several other local residents with similar names were also contacted via social media by members of the public who mistook them for the suspect.

Now the correction has been updated, with ABC News and Brian Ross taking full responsibility, and apologizing:

An earlier ABC News broadcast report suggested that a Jim Holmes of a Colorado Tea Party organization might be the suspect, but that report was incorrect. ABC News and Brian Ross apologize for the mistake, and for disseminating that information before it was properly vetted.

Holmes also opened up about his political views and dissatisfaction with the Republican Party.

Way to go, Brian Ross. He majorly screwed up an innocent man's life...oh and Holmes might become more famous too. Expect a libel lawsuit.

[snappyturtle]

1. .......

[RebelOne]

2. I hope Holmes sues Brian Ross and ABC News.

I know I would for slander and defamation of character.

[cherokeeprogressive]

3. +++++++++

[GarroHorus]

4. Ross and ABC News deserve to be sued. n/t

[Renew Deal]

5. This Holmes should end up with a nice settlement.

[denverbill]

6. I question the 'majorly screwed up' part.

Everybody knew the perp was in custody by the time most people woke up.

Sounds like yet another Tea Partying itching to file a frivilous lawsuit over a minor problem.

Seriously why would anyone try to call the 'perps' house when he was in jail?

[apocalypsehow]

14. Oh, good grief. I care nothing for the "Tea Party," but innocent people should not

have their reputations smeared by a major news organization regardless of their political affiliations.

And your rhetoric about "a frivilous lawsuit" is a common right-wing meme in any event. Why are you employing it?

Hmmmm....

One other thing: being falsely identified by a major news organization as a person who may have shot dozens of people is scarcely a "minor problem." That is simply an unbelievable statement.

[denverbill]

15. How was his reputation 'smeared'?

The police reported James Holmes as the perp and the news reported there was a James Holmes tea party member. Maybe for a few minutes people who know Tea Party James may have thought he was the perp, but who else would have given a rat's ass? Did they publish his photo and call him the killer? No. They simply said there was a teabagger and maybe they were the same person.

The reason I employed 'frivilous lawsuit' is because any good right-wing teabagger, like the horribly affronted James Holmes, would invariably choose that language when referring to virtually any lawsuit. They are the first to call any lawsuit frivilous, and the first to run to courts to seek a fortune.

What irreparable harm has Tea Party James suffered? Jesus, if DenverBill was identified as a suspect wrongly and I got phone calls, I'd taking my damn phone off the hook for a few hours.

[apocalypsehow]

16. He was "smeared" by having his name FALSELY linked with the actions of mass murderer.

Publicly, and by a major news organization. If you can't grasp how he was smeared, then I can't help you.

Further, I'm not interested in your motives for posting that right-wing meme about "frivolous lawsuits": that's irrelevant. Only that you did. And that I find that, well, interesting...

All the rest of that jazz is just hand-waving excuse-making, and doesn't interest or impress me, nor, I doubt does it do much for anyone looking on.

[AngryOldDem]

7. I was afraid of something like this happening.

ABC and Brian Ross owe this man more than an apology.

Ross, quite frankly, should be fired. (Like that will happen.) It was obvious what he did. He googled the name, a Tea Party site came up, and ergo: That was the shooter. There was no way that Ross could have sussed everything out in the short time frame that he was reporting in.

[alp227]

10. This is what happens with media prioritizing RATINGS over integrity.

ABC wanted eyeballs, so Ross felt compelled to get the info out as quickly as he could before vetting. Yet another "breaking news" blunder this summer after CNN and Fox News falsely reported that the Supreme Court overturned health care reform. No wonder I quit watching corporate TV news. Rather PBS NewsHour, some MSNBC shows, Current TV, Democracy Now, and Thom Hartmann.

[AngryOldDem]

13. Exactly.

Don't let the truth get in the way of a good scoop.

The 24/7 newschannel era has completely corrupted journalism -- I come from that background and what I see anymore makes my skin crawl. (I must be showing my age.)

[krispos42]

8. Now Mister James Holmes of the Colorado Tea Party knows how Dr. Tiller felt.

Of course, Tiller was harrassed for years, and Holmes for about 14 hours max.

[nc4bo]

9. Since when did a major network news organization scour various messageboards, blogs, etc.

for information and worse, report this information as fact.

- their job is to report factual news, not troll the internet for information!!!!

The state of the media is FUBAR. Who needs them (besides republicans)?

[alp227]

11. See my reply 10. The news has become too PROFIT driven.

I'm sure both liberals and conservatives can agree that ABC was rushing the info just to keep people glued to the TV regardless of how true the info was.

[HooptieWagon]

12. Even though he's a teabagger, I feel sorry for the guy.

ABC was incredibly sloppy and irresponsible in reporting that.

[4th law of robotics]

17. Possible slander charge?

Not a legal expert. But it seems like this may qualify.

[boxman15]

18. What shitty journalism.

I don't give a shit what his political leanings are, Brian Ross and ABC News fucked up big time and I hope Holmes sues. He did nothing wrong, but he's suffering due to poor journalistic standards.

ABC News was in such a rush to be first and to create a political controversy out of a terrible tragedy that they forgot to do things that journalists are supposed to do like check facts and get the people right.