Man cites Minnesota lawmaker shootings in emails threatening federal officials, charges state
Minnesotans come together at State Capitol to honor the Hortmans, and more headlines
Minnesotans come together at State Capitol to honor the Hortmans, and more headlines
A North Dakota man faces criminal charges for allegedly sending threatening emails to federal officials, citing the politically motivated shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses.
According to the complaint filed on Tuesday, the suspect is charged with making interstate threats and threats against a federal official.
"Help me before this gets very ugly and personal"
An affidavit, written by FBI Special Agent Christopher Potts, states the suspect was upset about a lien placed on his home in St. Thomas, located about 60 miles northwest of Grand Forks, in the summer of 2023.
Court records show the suspect had apparently sold his property to a Texas company specializing in "buying homes from homeowners who desire to quickly sell their homes" because he found a new job and needed to move.
The suspect claimed he reached a sales agreement with the company, which then turned around and changed the terms and eventually put a lien on the home.
He claims he was then fired from the new job, and his attorney bungled subsequent attempts to fight the company before demanding more money and suddenly quitting.
In a February 2024 email sent to the U.S. Attorney's Office in North Dakota, the suspect — writing under a pseudonym — allegedly made vaguely violent threats to federal officials while seeking help with his financial crisis, closing the email with this line: "HELP ME BEFORE THIS GETS VERY UGLY AND PERSONAL."
The FBI gets involved as legal, financial woes mount
Hours later, an agent and officer with the FBI visited the suspect's home to discuss the email, which he denied writing. Court documents state he told law enforcement he wouldn't announce threats ahead of time if he was actually going to follow through, and maintained he had no access to firearms. The FBI decided not to pursue any action at that time
The suspect then continued his legal journey, without proper counsel, to fight the lien and collect damages. In September 2024, he filed a lawsuit over the lien issue, but the case was thrown out two months later.
He appealed, but focused his claims against the judge who dismissed the case, according to the complaint. North Dakota's Supreme Court eventually dismissed the appeal, citing multiple examples of the suspect's lack of compliance with court rules. In the end, the suspect was only rewarded $1,000 in damages.
"I don't want this situation to end up like Minnesota"
On Sunday, the suspect allegedly sent more emails to the U.S. Attorney's Office, referencing the murders of House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, on Saturday inside their home in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota — as well as the shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their Champlin home.
"Just sitting here wondering what a law maker and a representative were shot and one dead over in Minnesota and one thing comes to mind, something like that doesn't fall out of the sky now does it," the suspect allegedly wrote. "I'm most certainly not making threats but when law makers make laws and the state doesn't follow the laws they? It would probably piss some people off right."
The suspect also reiterated that his pleas for help with his lien situation were ignored, claiming police want to "silence him so public officials could engage in corruption" by withholding the damages he believes are due to him.
"Now I'm going to be honest with you I don't want this situation to end up like Minnesota over the weekend, do you," one of the emails read. "I don't know the specifics in this Minnesota case but a representative and a lawmaker were shot and one of them is dead and all of you mentioned above are basically avoiding your responsibility and that is creating some bad situations. I'm not impressed with this corrupt behavior and I'm not going to tolerate it."
The man accused in the Minnesota lawmaker shootings, 57-year-old Vance Boelter, is currently in custody and faces multiple federal and state murder charges.
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