Sen. Booker was asked about Democrats' credibility. Hear his response
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a few seconds ago
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Man charged with killing a top Minnesota House Democrat pleads not guilty
The man charged with killing the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court. Vance Boelter, 58, of Green Isle, Minnesota, was indicted July 15 on six counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations. The murder charges could carry the federal death penalty, though prosecutors say that decision is several months away. One of Boelter's attorneys entered the plea on Boelter's behalf during Thursday's arraignment. Boelter was in the courtroom and wore an orange sweatshirt and yellow pants. He spoke briefly to affirm that he understood the charges and thanked the judge. When prosecutors announced the indictment, they released a rambling handwritten letter they say Boelter wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel in which he confessed to the June 14 shootings of Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. However, the letter doesn't make clear why he targeted the Hortmans or Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who survived. Boelter's federal defender, Manny Atwal, said at the time that the weighty charges did not come as a surprise, but she has not commented on the substance of the allegations or any defense strategies. Thursday's hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster also served as a case management conference. She plans to issue a revised schedule with deadlines afterward, potentially including a trial date. Prosecutors have moved to designate the proceedings as a 'complex case' so that standard speedy trial requirements won't apply, saying both sides will need plenty of time to review the voluminous evidence. 'The investigation of this case arose out of the largest manhunt in Minnesota's history,' they wrote. 'Accordingly, the discovery to be produced by the government will include a substantial amount of investigative material and reports from more than a dozen different law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels.' They said the evidence will include potentially thousands of hours of video footage, tens of thousands of pages of responses to dozens of grand jury subpoenas, and data from numerous electronic devices seized during the investigation. Boelter's motivations remain murky. Friends have described him as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views who had been struggling to find work. Authorities said Boelter made long lists of politicians in Minnesota and other states — all or mostly Democrats. In a series of cryptic notes to The New York Times through his jail's electronic messaging service, Boelter suggested his actions were partly rooted in the Christian commandment to love one's neighbor. 'Because I love my neighbors prior to June 14th I conducted a 2 year long undercover investigation,' he wrote. In messages published earlier by the New York Post, Boelter insisted the shootings had nothing to do with his opposition to abortion or his support for President Donald Trump, but he declined to elaborate. 'There is little evidence showing why he turned to political violence and extremism,' the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Joe Thompson, told reporters last month. He also reiterated that prosecutors consider Hortman's killing a 'political assassination.' Prosecutors say Boelter was disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car early June 14 when he went to the Hoffmans' home in the Minneapolis suburb of Champlin. He shot the senator nine times, and his wife eight times, officials said. Boelter later went to the Hortmans' home in nearby Brooklyn Park and killed both of them, authorities said. Their dog was so gravely injured that he had to be euthanized. Boelter surrendered the next night.
CNN
a minute ago
- CNN
Hostage families sail toward Gaza calling for Israel to end the war
Families of some of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza have sailed towards the Palestinian enclave on Thursday, in a desperate attempt to put pressure on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as it contemplates expanding the war in Gaza. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, as well as the opposition and a large part of the Israeli public, are strongly against the expansion of the operation, arguing it would put their loved ones at even more risk. As the flotilla set off from the port of Ashkelon in southern Israel, Lior Horev from the hostage families forum told CNN the sailing was 'an SOS call.' 'Unfortunately, we cannot enter Gaza and get our loved ones back home, but…this is a mayday call to the Israeli government,' he said. Israel's security cabinet is convening on Thursday to vote on a full reoccupation of Gaza, a move that would mark a major escalation of the conflict after nearly two years of war in the territory. At least 61,158 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war started after the Hamas-led October 7 terror attacks, the Ministry of Health there reported on Wednesday. The humanitarian situation has now become catastrophic, with at least 193 people having starved to death, including 96 children, according to the ministry. Earlier this week, Israeli media reported that Netanyahu had decided on a 'full conquest' of Gaza. 'The decision of the cabinet to prolong the war will be a death sentence to those alive and will make it impossible to return those who have been murdered by Hamas and still are held in Gaza,' Horev said. As the boats, adorned with Israeli flags and yellow ribbons and balloons symbolizing the efforts to save the hostages, sailed towards Gaza, some of those aboard used loudspeakers to deliver their message. 'We are closest to the hostages, at the maritime border with Gaza, so that they too can hear us and know that we are fighting with all our strength and will not give up until they return,' they said, according to a statement from the forum. Hamas and its allies still hold 50 hostages in Gaza. The Israeli government believes at least 20 are alive, while 28 have been declared deceased. Gaza has been completely cut off from the outside world both on land and at sea, with the Israeli military restricting traffic within miles of the perimeter, so the flotilla was not able to get anywhere close to the shore. Standing on the deck of one of the boats, Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod Cohen has been held in captivity for 22 months, told CNN he also believes that continuing the war is 'directly endangering'the hostages. 'We want it all to stop. We want the world to help us make Netanyahu stop it. We want to end the war and get a hostage deal,' Cohen told CNN.
CNN
a minute ago
- CNN
Man charged with killing a top Minnesota House Democrat pleads not guilty
Crime Congressional newsFacebookTweetLink Follow The man charged with killing the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court. Vance Boelter, 58, of Green Isle, Minnesota, was indicted July 15 on six counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations. The murder charges could carry the federal death penalty, though prosecutors say that decision is several months away. One of Boelter's attorneys entered the plea on Boelter's behalf during Thursday's arraignment. Boelter was in the courtroom and wore an orange sweatshirt and yellow pants. He spoke briefly to affirm that he understood the charges and thanked the judge. When prosecutors announced the indictment, they released a rambling handwritten letter they say Boelter wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel in which he confessed to the June 14 shootings of Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. However, the letter doesn't make clear why he targeted the Hortmans or Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who survived. Boelter's federal defender, Manny Atwal, said at the time that the weighty charges did not come as a surprise, but she has not commented on the substance of the allegations or any defense strategies. Thursday's hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster also served as a case management conference. She plans to issue a revised schedule with deadlines afterward, potentially including a trial date. Prosecutors have moved to designate the proceedings as a 'complex case' so that standard speedy trial requirements won't apply, saying both sides will need plenty of time to review the voluminous evidence. 'The investigation of this case arose out of the largest manhunt in Minnesota's history,' they wrote. 'Accordingly, the discovery to be produced by the government will include a substantial amount of investigative material and reports from more than a dozen different law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels.' They said the evidence will include potentially thousands of hours of video footage, tens of thousands of pages of responses to dozens of grand jury subpoenas, and data from numerous electronic devices seized during the investigation. Boelter's motivations remain murky. Friends have described him as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views who had been struggling to find work. Authorities said Boelter made long lists of politicians in Minnesota and other states — all or mostly Democrats. In a series of cryptic notes to The New York Times through his jail's electronic messaging service, Boelter suggested his actions were partly rooted in the Christian commandment to love one's neighbor. 'Because I love my neighbors prior to June 14th I conducted a 2 year long undercover investigation,' he wrote. In messages published earlier by the New York Post, Boelter insisted the shootings had nothing to do with his opposition to abortion or his support for President Donald Trump, but he declined to elaborate. 'There is little evidence showing why he turned to political violence and extremism,' the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Joe Thompson, told reporters last month. He also reiterated that prosecutors consider Hortman's killing a 'political assassination.' Prosecutors say Boelter was disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car early June 14 when he went to the Hoffmans' home in the Minneapolis suburb of Champlin. He shot the senator nine times, and his wife eight times, officials said. Boelter later went to the Hortmans' home in nearby Brooklyn Park and killed both of them, authorities said. Their dog was so gravely injured that he had to be euthanized. Boelter surrendered the next night.
