ABC Rushes To Judgement (Update: ABC apologizes)

ABC News still hasn't blamed Islam for the Fort Hood shooting. But ABC is blaming the Tea Party for the Colorado theater shootings.

Here is the exchange between reporter Brian Ross and host George Stephanopoulos about apparent suspect James Holmes:

Stephanolpoulos: I'm going to go to Brian Ross. You've been investigating the background of Jim Holmes here. You found something that might be significant. 

Ross: There's a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado, page on the Colorado Tea party site as well, talking about him joining the Tea Party last year. Now, we don't know if this is the same Jim Holmes. But it's Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado. 

Stephanolpoulos: Okay, we'll keep looking at that. Brian Ross, thanks very much.

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.

And, as it turns out, ABC had the wrong James Holmes. I'm sure they'll apologize. You can stop laughing now.

UPDATE: The James Holmes arrested at the Aurora theater was 24 years old and seems to be from Denver, CO, according to a Facebook profile (a similar Facebook profile linked by a local news reporter has not been confirmed as the suspect's profile, either). There are many people with the name "James Holmes" in the area, and the James Homes on the Tea Party website could match a James Homes from Aurora, CO who is in his fifties and therefore does not fit the description of the suspect. More evidence that Ross, Stephanolpoulos and ABC rushed to blame the Tea Party without confirmation that the suspect is also the Tea Party member.

SECOND UPDATE: ABC News apologizes. (It doesn't matter. They're still assholes) 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.