Ross: If popularity creates immunity, maybe the ‘Belltown Hellcat Bandit’ should run for president
Jun 3, 2024, 7:30 AM | Updated: 7:33 am

Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends UFC 302 at Prudential Center on June 01, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo: Luke Hales, Getty Images)
(Photo: Luke Hales, Getty Images)
Everybody鈥檚 got their opinion about the Trump conviction, but I see a new day dawning in America. A new feeling in the land that the law shouldn鈥檛 stifle your dreams.
Trump鈥檚 jury came back with a unanimous guilty verdict the day after getting the case 鈥 which means it wasn鈥檛 even close. And yet a considerable part of the American electorate 鈥 including Mitt Romney, a traditional non-Trump Republican 鈥 is convinced that the case shouldn鈥檛 even have been prosecuted.
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A lot of completely normal Americans believe a guilty man should have gone free, and he probably will because of his popularity.
As for what happens when you鈥檙e unpopular 鈥 well, look at Hunter Biden. He鈥檚 about to go on trial for lying about his drug use when he filled out the to buy his handgun. How many “Leave Hunter Alone” rallies do you think we鈥檒l see? How many gun owners see him as a martyr for the Second Amendment? How many people are asking: “What鈥檚 the big deal? It鈥檚 just lying on a piece of paper.” The cheering section is very quiet.
Which, believe it or not, brings me to the case of Seattle鈥檚 own Belltown Hellcat. He鈥檚 the guy who goes tearing through Downtown Seattle at night in his unmuffled souped-up Dodge Charger at 107 miles an hour.
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And as he explained to one cop who stopped him, he鈥檚 gotta keep doing it because he鈥檚 got 757,000 Instagram followers! That generates enough money to pay for his car and his downtown apartment! In the bodycam video, the cop couldn鈥檛 have been more polite.
“I’m an ASE Certified Master Technician as well as a cop, believe it or not,” the responding officer said when pulling over the Belltown Hellcat driver. “I have a car that would smoke yours. You just got to keep [the muffler] on. Why don’t you go to Pacific Raceways?”
Get yourself on the ballot, Hellcat. Run on a platform of cheap gas, and tell 鈥檈m you鈥檙e making downtown fun again. I believe the time is ripe.
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