Accused Minnesota killer targeted lawmakers in other states, officials say
Accused Minnesota killer targeted lawmakers in other states, officials say
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Suspect charged in 'targeted' shootings of Minnesota lawmakers
Vance Boelter faces six charges, including murder and stalking, after he allegedly "targeted" two Minnesota lawmakers at their homes.
The man accused of murdering a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband did not limit his intended victims to the state, including among his targets prominent elected officials from elsewhere in the Midwest.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan were also on the list of accused killer Vance Boelter, along with at least two other House members from Michigan, three from Ohio and one from Wisconsin, according to media reports and statements issued by the legislators and their offices. All the lawmakers are Democrats.
A federal affidavit detailing Boelter's alleged crime spree in the early morning of June 14 says he meant to 'kill, injure, harass and intimidate'' more than 45 Minnesota state and federal officials whose names and addresses he had researched. But he appeared intent on going well beyond that.
Michigan Rep. Hillary Scholten, among those who have acknowledged appearing on the list, postponed a town hall in response and said on the X platform, "I have never been more resolved to continue this work of protecting and preserving this beautiful country for us ALL. Stay safe!''
Fellow targets from Michigan included Reps. Dingell and Shri Thanedar, while known ones from Ohio are Reps. Greg Landsman, Marcy Kaptur and Joyce Beatty, Axios reported. The outlet said Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas were also on the list.
Dingell attended a scheduled town hall Monday under heavy security, according to Detroit's WXYZ-TV, an ABC affiliate that said U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson were also among Boelter's targets.
'Some people wanted me to cancel tonight and I was not going to cancel tonight,' Dingell said at the event. 'I've got a great chief, and the sheriff from here said to me, 'You just got to be a little more careful.'''
Under fire: Sen. Mike Lee faces backlash after controversial posts on assassination of Minnesota lawmaker
Prosecutors said Boelter's killings amount to a "political assassination" and he could face the death penalty if he's convicted on federal charges for shootings that unfolded over 90 minutes early Saturday in the Minneapolis suburbs.
Boelter, 57, was arrested Sunday night after an intense manhunt and faces both state and federal murder charges, including multiple counts of murder and stalking. While Minnesota abolished the death penalty over a century ago, the federal murder charges carry a maximum penalty of the capital punishment.
Early Saturday, Boelter went to the home of Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman, shooting him and his wife, Yvette, disguised as a law enforcement officer and wearing body armor and a silicone mask covering his head and face, prosecutors said. He then traveled to two other unnamed lawmakers' homes. Finally, he entered the home of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and killed her and her husband, Mark, a federal affidavit said.
Authorities said Boelter used the law enforcement ruse to manipulate his way into the homes and had a list of dozens of Minnesota lawmakers and federal officials and their addresses, "mostly or all Democrats," according to the affidavit.
"Boelter's unthinkable actions ended the life of someone who shaped the core of who we are as a state," Gov. Tim Walz said. "We must now move forward in Melissa's honor with understanding, service, and above all, a sense of one another's humanity."
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he doesn't plan to call Walz, who was the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, in the wake of the shootings of the two lawmakers and their spouses.
"I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I'm not calling him. Why would I call him?" Trump told reporters on Tuesday on Air Force One, returning from a meeting of G7 leaders.
"The guy doesn't have a clue. He's a mess. So I could be nice and call him, but why waste time?"
Trump has previously commented on the shootings, calling them "absolutely terrible." In a statement on Saturday, he said the acts of violence "will not be tolerated in the United States of America."
"God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!" Trump said.
'It would waste time': Trump says he won't call Minnesota gov. after lawmaker shootings
The shootings unfolded in the early morning hours of Saturday. At about 2:06 a.m. local time, authorities were alerted to a shooting at the Hoffman home in Champlin when the couple's adult daughter called 911 to report that her parents had been shot, FBI Special Agent Terry Getsch wrote in the federal affidavit.
Video footage from the home shows that the suspect, dressed to look like a police officer and wearing the "realistic" silicone mask, knocked on the door and shouted, "This is the police. Open the door," the affidavit said. Hoffman and his wife both came to the door and Boelter told them he was responding to a shooting. After the couple realized he wasn't a real police officer, Hoffman tried to push Boelter back through the door. Boelter is accused of shooting him repeatedly before turning his gun on Yvette Hoffman, the affidavit said.
At about 2:24 a.m., Boelter arrived at an unnamed lawmaker's home in Maple Grove, about 10 miles away from the Hoffman house. He rang the doorbell and said, "This is the police. Open the door. This is the police. We have a warrant," according to the affidavit. The lawmaker was not home and Boelter left.
About 12 minutes later, police in nearby New Hope spotted an SUV that looked like a police vehicle parked down the street from another unnamed Minnesota lawmaker's home. The New Hope police were there to check on the official after learning of the Champlin shooting. A New Hope officer "believed that the SUV, which resembled a squad car and was equipped with a police-style light bar, was in fact a law enforcement officer providing protection for Public Official 2," the affidavit said.
The police officer tried to speak with the man in the SUV, now believed to be Boelter, but he did not respond. The officer drove to the lawmaker's home, saw there were "no signs of distress" and waited for other law enforcement to arrive, according to the affidavit. By the time they did, Boelter was gone.
Finally, at about 3:30 a.m., Brooklyn Park police officers went to the Hortman home to check on the representative. They saw what looked like a police SUV with lights flashing outside. They then saw Boelter in his disguise facing the front door, according to the affidavit. The suspect fired at them and they returned fire, before he entered the home, where more gunshots were heard. He is then believed to have fled on foot out a back door, officials have said. The Hortmans were found shot and their dog gravely injured. Melissa and Mark Hortman were later pronounced dead.
Authorities searched the phone of Boelter's wife and found a text at 6:18 a.m. sent by Boelter in a group chat with his wife and children.
'Dad went to war last night … I dont wanna say more because I dont wanna implicate anybody," the text read, according to the affidavit.
His wife received a separate message from Boelter: 'Words are not gonna explain how sorry I am for this situation … there's gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don't want you guys around.'
Mark and Yvette Hoffman both underwent surgery and were expected to recover, officials said after the shooting. Yvette Hoffman said in a statement shared by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat who represents Minnesota, that her family is "humbled" by the support they have received.
"John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods," Yvette Hoffman said in the statement, shared the evening of June 15.
John Hoffman was shot nine times and Yvette Hoffman was shot eight times, she said, adding that "we are both incredibly lucky to be alive."
"We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark," Yvette Hoffman said.
It's the middle of the night and someone's banging on your front door. You see a flashing police light and hear a voice saying, "This is the police. Open up!"
Do you open the door? That's what authorities say happened when Boelter attacked on Saturday.
The American Civil Liberties Union recommends talking through the door and asking for identification. If the officer says they have a warrant, you should ask to see it through a window or, if it's a paper copy, have them slip it under the door for proof, the ACLU said. You can also call 911 to verify the officer is real, experts said.
Marc Lopez, a former prosecutor who is currently a defense attorney specializing in domestic violence and drunken driving cases in Indianapolis, said there are very few circumstances in which an officer will knock on your door out of nowhere and need to get inside. Those circumstances include: pursuing a felon, hearing screaming or another sign of an emergency inside or if they have a warrant.
"Absent those emergencies they can't come into your house," he said. "I would advise anybody, do not open your door. You have no duty to respond."
Read more.
− Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY
Just as politically motivated attacks by so-called "lone actors" surge across the country, the Trump administration is dismantling the very office that oversees efforts to identify and stop such violent extremists before they strike.
In the four months since Trump took office, his administration has shrunk the Department of Homeland Security's Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, or CP3, from dozens of analysts and supervisors to fewer than 10 people, led by a 22-year-old recent graduate with no law enforcement or homeland security experience.
Indeed, less than 24 hours before the Minnesota attacks, the CP3 office reassigned the last of its senior advisors, said Bill Braniff, who used to lead the center but quit in protest in March.
'The office is being incrementally dismantled,' said Braniff, who is now executive director of the Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University.
Read more.
− Will Carless, USA TODAY
Contributing: Christopher Cann, Melina Khan and Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY; Reuters
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In this case federal authorities essentially grabbed the lead from the state prosecutor, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. Boelter had been scheduled to make his first court appearance on state charges Monday, but instead marshals took him from the county jail to the U.S. courthouse in St. Paul, where he appeared on the more serious federal charges. Advertisement Boelter is accused of fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Before that, authorities say, he also shot and wounded another Democrat, Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, who lived a few miles away. He surrendered Sunday night after what authorities have called the largest search in Minnesota history. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The federal case Two of the six federal counts can carry the death penalty, something federal prosecutors have not sought in a Minnesota-based case since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. 'Will we seek the death penalty? It's too early to tell. That is one of the options,' Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said Monday at a news conference where he revealed new details of what he described as a meticulously planned attack. They included allegations that Boelter also stopped at the homes of two other lawmakers that night and had dozens of other Democrats as potential targets, including officials in other states. Advertisement Boelter's federal defenders have declined to comment on the case, and he has not entered a plea. On her first day in office in February, Attorney General Pam Bondi lifted a moratorium on federal executions that was imposed under the Biden administration in 2021. Only three defendants remain on federal death row after Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison. Bondi has since authorized federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in at least three cases, including against Luigi Mangione for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. In the other two cases, the Justice Department has said it is seeking the death penalty against defendants charged with killing fellow prison inmates. President Donald Trump's first administration carried out 13 federal executions, more than the administration of any other president in modern history. The state's case The federal intervention in Boelter's case appeared to irritate Moriarty, the county's former chief public defender, who was elected on a police reform and racial justice platform in 2022 after the police killing of George Floyd. At a news conference Monday to announce the state charges, Moriarty gave only vague answers in response to questions about the interplay between the federal and state investigations. But she acknowledged 'there's a tension' and said federal officials 'can speak for themselves.' Moriarty said she intends to press forward in state court regardless and to seek an indictment for first-degree murder for the killings of the Hortmans, which would carry a mandatory sentence of life without parole. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for further comment Tuesday. Advertisement As evidence of the tensions, the county attorney refused to clarify how Boelter' first hearings would play out. Court records show that Boelter was called for a first appearance in Hennepin County on Monday and that because he was not there as he was in federal custody, the judge issued a bench warrant as a formality, as requested by prosecutors. 'Usually murder cases are overwhelmingly handled in state courts,' said Mark Osler, a death penalty expert at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. 'Clearly this is something of national interest. And that seemed to play a role in the decision that the Justice Department is making here.' Osler, who formerly served as Moriarty's deputy county attorney and head of her criminal division, as well as assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit, acknowledged that there are often tensions between state and federal prosecutors. 'There's no doubt that it's complicated,' Osler said. 'And it's hard to avoid the sense of the older sibling grabbing something away from the younger sibling.' What's next If federal officials do pursue the death penalty, Osler said, they will face an unusual challenge: 'a jury pool drawn from the citizens of a state that has rejected the death penalty for over 100 years. It's not the same as choosing people in a state where there's a history of support for the death penalty, such as Texas.' After his federal court appearance, Boelter was taken to the Sherburne County Jail in suburban Elk River, where federal prisoners are often held. Advertisement Thompson told reporters that the federal case 'does not nullify the state charges. They remain in place. ... My expectation based on prior cases is the federal case, the federal charges, will be litigated first, but the state charges won't necessarily go anywhere.' Boelter's next federal court appearance is June 27. He does not have any further appearances scheduled in state court. 'There's a natural competitiveness that occurs sometimes between jurisdictions, but you have to hope that in the end, they're all facing the same way where there's something as important to public safety as this case is,' Osler said. Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed.
