Alleged Armed Intruder Arrested at Colorado Supreme Court

(USNewsBreak.com) – The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in December that former President Donald Trump could not appear on the presidential ballot after finding he violated Section Three of the 14th Amendment. The ruling sparked a lot of backlash, including from Trump’s campaign, which immediately said it would appeal the decision to the nation’s highest court. Now, Colorado’s Supreme Court is back in the news after an armed intruder wreaked havoc.

Early Tuesday, January 2, authorities arrested 44-year-old Brandon Olsen for breaching the state’s high court and holding a security guard at gunpoint. Just after midnight, two cars crashed outside the judicial center, home to Colorado’s Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. From there, one of the people involved in the accident, believed to be Olsen, ran from the scene with a gun in hand. He later shot out a window on the building’s east wall and illegally entered the building.

Gunman arrested after breaching Colorado Supreme Court, holding guard at gunpoint: cops https://t.co/7v7n2FlXSy

— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 3, 2024

Olsen allegedly encountered an unarmed security guard and demanded his keys. He reportedly caused a lot of damage by starting a fire in a stairwell and shooting several times on the judicial center’s seventh floor. Olsen surrendered to authorities around 3 a.m.

While the justices have received threats following the ruling barring Trump from running for president in the state, prosecutors don’t believe Olsen’s rampage had any connection to that decision. Denver police are holding him on preliminary charges, including aggravated robbery, first-degree arson, and second-degree burglary, though prosecutors haven’t officially charged him as of the time of writing.

Olsen appeared in court on Wednesday, January 3, where the magistrate of the case, Arnie Beckman, said the allegations against the suspect are “extremely aggravating,” according to CNN.

Officials say nobody received any injuries during the incident, but investigators needed to close the building on Tuesday, and inspectors determined it had sustained “significant and extensive damage.” Only two people were inside at the time of the break-in.