The murderer* who attacked a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado has been found guilty, and is currently in the sentencing phase of his trial, which will determine if he spends the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, or if he will face the death penalty for killing 12 and injuring more than 70 others.

Jessica Ghawi, age 24, was one of the 12 victims who was slain in the attack.

Unfortunately, the Brady Campaign convinced Jessica Ghawi’s  mother Sandy Phillips and her stepfather Lonnie Phillips to file a vengeful nuisance lawsuit against an online ammunition company who lawfully sold the killer some of the ammunition he used in his crimes.

A judge angrily dismissed the frivolous lawsuit in June:

A federal judge has ordered that the plaintiffs in a lawsuit targeting an online ammunition dealer over the Aurora movie theater shooting pay the legal fees of the companies they sued.

The order, which was issued last week, comes after Judge Richard P. Matsch dismissed the gun control group’s suit that sought to hold Lucky Gunner legally responsible for the 2012 shooting. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence—which supported the plaintiffs, Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, whose daughter was killed in the Aurora shooting—had argued that the way Lucky Gunner sells ammunition is “unreasonably dangerous and create a public nuisance.”

“A crazed, homicidal killer should not be able to amass a military arsenal, without showing his face or answering a single question, with the simple click of a mouse,” Brady Center’s Legal Action Project Director Jonathan Lowy said at the time. “If businesses choose to sell military-grade equipment online, they must screen purchasers to prevent arming people like James Holmes.”

Judge Matsch disagreed with the Brady Center’s argument. He said the suit was filed for propaganda purposes. “It is apparent that this case was filed to pursue the political purposes of the Brady Center and, given the failure to present any cognizable legal claim, bringing these defendants into the Colorado court where the prosecution of James Holmes was proceeding appears to be more of an opportunity to propagandize the public and stigmatize the defendants than to obtain a court order,” he said in his order.

The Brady bunch put the Phillips up to the lawsuit, but now it appears that the spiteful gun control group will be leaving the Phillips family high and dry, facing bankruptcy, over the frivolous lawsuit that they apparently encouraged.

I feel a great deal of sympathy for the Phillips family, which is so obviously in anguish over the loss of a beloved child. I can easily turn the other cheek as an angry and exhausted Lonnie Phillips improperly and incorrectly blames the NRA and it’s members for the judge’s decision to dismiss this frivolous lawsuit.

Sadly, the Brady Center was well aware of the applicable federal and state laws, as they’ve practiced repeatedly “lawfare” in the past. Brady’s lawyers knew that the Phillips lawsuit didn’t have a legal leg to stand on, was composed of self-contradicting claims, and that it was a propaganda stunt.

It’s painful to watch the video above. Sandy and Lonnie Phillips clearly want a measure of retribution for the loss of their child, and empathetic people can understand their thirst for justice, and even revenge and retribution.

But the ghouls at the Brady Center abused the Phillips family’s pain.

They convinced the Phillips family that a company lawfully providing a legal produce should be the target of their ire, and encouraged them to file an unwinnable lawsuit for propaganda purposes.

Brady Center egged the Phillips family into filing the suit, but appears as if they will brutally victimize the family second time, leaving them responsible for the costs of the frivolous lawsuit

Now the Phillips family may face bankruptcy proceedings.

I’ve long held a dim view of the “lawfare” tactics of the Brady Campaign. They seem to have a track record of identifying and exploiting the grieving families of murder victims to push their gun control agenda, a vile practice I encountered as I investigated the death of Deputy Mark Tucker and blew holes in that Brady suit, leading to the dismissal there as well (and praise from Deputy Tucker’s brother).

If the lawyers and officers of the Brady Center have any compassion and human decency at all, they should step forward and pay the sort costs incurred by the anguished Phillips family, whom they encouraged and abused.

Sadly, I’ve seen no evidence at any point in the Brady Center’s history that they are “decent people.”

* Bearing Arms does not publish the names of mass or spree shooters