Shockingly, ABC made no effort to contact the group before airing their claims.

The Colorado Tea Party Patriots released this statement in response to the mind-boggling irresponsible claim by ABC News’ Brian Ross that linked the Aurora shootings to one of their members:

The Colorado Tea Party Patriots and the Tea Party Patriots are saddened to hear of the death and wounding of theater goers in Aurora, Colorado. The member of the Colorado Tea Party Patriots, Jim Holmes, age 52 is not the same person who has been identified as the shooter.

The attempts of some media organizations to characterize the shooter as a Tea Party member without having made any effort to contact our organization are shameless and reprehensible.