Latest news with #JohnAHoffman
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
LIVE: 'This remains a very active investigation,' Minnesota BCA says
Jun. 15—BLAINE, Minn. — Officials with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety are set to provide an update on the search for Vance Boelter, the 57-year-old suspect in the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, June 15. Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed early Saturday morning, June 14, in the second of two reported shootings of state lawmakers, Gov. Tim Walz said at a Saturday morning briefing. Hortman died at her home Saturday morning, while her husband died at a nearby hospital, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office reported. Also shot Saturday were Sen. John A. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Officials said Hoffman and his wife underwent surgery for their injuries and are recovering. Walz said he is "optimistic they will survive this assassination attempt."
New York Times
7 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Many Lawmakers Share Their Home Addresses. Political Violence Is Changing That.
When an assassin visited the homes of two Minnesota lawmakers on Saturday, it exposed the longstanding tension between a public official's accessibility and their security. Both State Representative Melissa Hortman, who along with her husband Mark was killed, and State Senator John A. Hoffman, who along with his wife Yvette was wounded, readily shared their home addresses with constituents. Ms. Hortman's address was listed on her campaign website, and Mr. Hoffman's address had been listed on his official legislative webpage, a common practice in many states. But in the hours after the shootings, while police officers were still searching for the assassin, lawmakers across the country began to rethink their approach to privacy and safety. The Michigan State Police held security briefings for legislators. The police in Fairfax County, Va., increased patrols around lawmakers' homes. And in North Dakota, officials decided by midday Saturday to scrub home addresses from legislator biography pages. 'In light of the tragedy in Minnesota, we quickly decided to remove all addresses until our leaders have time to assess the proper balance between transparency and safety of our elected officials,' John D. Bjornson, the director of the North Dakota Legislative Council, said in an email. In interviews with lawmakers across the country, some said sharing their home address helped reassure constituents that they were part of the community and could be easily reached. But unlike governors and presidents, most state lawmakers have no special security protection when they are away from work. The country's coarsening public discourse has left them to weigh difficult trade-offs. 'Part of the reason why my address is easily found is to make it clear that I actually live in my district,' said Stephanie Sawyer Clayton, a Democratic state representative in Kansas. 'If you have a P.O. box, you don't look authentic, right?' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Amy Klobuchar Says ‘Politically Motivated' Minnesota Shootings Have a ‘Throughline to Abortion'
The Minnesota shootings that left State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark dead and Sen. John A. Hoffman and his wife Yvonne injured were 'politically motivated' and 'there clearly was some throughline [to] abortion,' Sen. Amy Klobuchar said on 'Meet the Press' Sunday. Klobuchar described the shooter as 'a murderous, murderous man' and said that a manifesto that included lists of organizations he might target. 'Clearly, this is politically motivated. Our delegation in Minnesota, from the most conservative Republican to the most liberal Democrat, we all joined together, Senator Emmer and I, and others, and said we condemn this political violence. It was politically motivated, and there clearly was some throughline [to] abortion because of the groups that were on the list, and other things that I've heard were in this manifesto. So that was one of his motivations,' she explained. But authorities are also investigating other aspects of the shooting, she added. 'And I think for us right now, allowing law enforcement to do their jobs instead of speculating on every angle of where he might have gone,' Klobuchar continued. 'They obviously have information we don't have, and so what we've been trying to do as political leaders is make really clear we will have plenty of time to analyze what happened here, but right now it is trying to report any sighting of this person, and to be very careful, and to listen to what law enforcement says.' The Senator also emphasized that though Hoffman is stable, he and his wife endured 'multiple, multiple gun wounds.' Hortman, who was also a mother to two children, was 'loved by Democrats and Republicans,' Klobuchar added. 'We started out together in politics, moms with young kids. And somehow she was able to balance getting to know every door knock, every house in her district while raising two children. Girl Scout leader. She taught Sunday School. And maybe all that juggling made it easier for her as she worked her way up in the legislature and became this extraordinary Speaker of the House, ushering in everything from preschool lunch to working with the governor and other leaders to do some landmark legislation on paid family leave,' she explained. 'That's Melissa Hortman, my friend. And when you think about political violence and the statistics of political violence, you've got to realize the people who are behind it, and a true public servant that we lost.' Watch the interview with Sen. Klobuchar in the video above. The post Amy Klobuchar Says 'Politically Motivated' Minnesota Shootings Have a 'Throughline to Abortion' | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
New York Times
19 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Live Updates: Manhunt for Minnesota Assassin Enters 2nd Day as State Mourns Victims
The police have said that the suspect in Saturday's attacks, Vance Boelter, 57, disguised himself as a police officer before going to the homes of two state lawmakers in the Minneapolis suburbs. The man suspected of shooting two Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota early on Saturday had served on a state board with one of the victims, records show. The suspect identified by the authorities, Vance Boelter, 57, was appointed several times by Minnesota governors to the Workforce Development Board, where he served with State Senator John A. Hoffman, who was shot and survived. Mr. Boelter and Senator Hoffman attended a virtual meeting together in 2022 for a discussion about the job market in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, minutes from the meeting show. Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said investigators did not yet know how well the two knew each other, if at all. Mr. Boelter was appointed to the board in 2016 by Mark Dayton, a Democrat who was then the governor. More recently, he was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz, also a Democrat. The board has 41 members who are appointed by the governor, and its goal is to improve business development in the state. A state report in 2016 listed Mr. Boelter's political affiliation as 'none or other,' and another report in 2020 listed him as having 'no party preference.' Voters do not declare political affiliation when they register in Minnesota. The police have said that the suspect in the attacks disguised himself as a police officer and went to the homes of two state lawmakers in the Minneapolis suburbs. He shot and wounded Senator Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, and fatally shot State Representative Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark. He remains on the run. U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Democrat of Minnesota, said in an interview that the gunman had a list that included her name and the names of other lawmakers, all of whom were Democrats. The list included about 70 potential targets, a federal law enforcement official said, including doctors, community and business leaders, and locations for Planned Parenthood and other health care centers. Some of the targets were in neighboring states. Image A State Patrol helicopter flies near a home where a search warrant was executed in Minneapolis on Saturday. Credit... Tim Gruber for The New York Times David Carlson lives at an address in Minneapolis where the police executed a search warrant for Mr. Boelter and said he has been one of his best friends since fourth grade. Mr. Boelter's listed address is in Green Isle, Minn., about an hour's drive away. Mr. Carlson said that Mr. Boelter also rented a room in the same home as him, and stayed there several days a week. Mr. Boelter worked at a funeral home, owned guns and had voted for President Trump last year, he said. Mr. Carlson read a text message that he had received from Mr. Boelter early on Saturday morning, in which he wrote that he might be dead soon. The message did not describe any details of the attacks, Mr. Carlson said. On Friday, Mr. Boelter had given Mr. Carlson four months' worth of advance rent payments — which was about $220 a month — for a small room in the shared house. He had said he needed some rest and so Mr. Carlson left him alone. Mr. Carlson said Mr. Boelter is a Christian who strongly opposed abortion. He had never mentioned either of the lawmakers who were shot, Mr. Carlson said, and had generally avoided talking about politics. He said Mr. Boelter had been experiencing financial and mental health challenges. Mr. Boelter and his wife run a private security company in Minnesota, according to its website. The company, Praetorian Guard Security Services, lists Mr. Boelter as the director of security patrols and his wife as the president. The firm's website describes using Ford Explorer S.U.V.s, 'the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use.' On Saturday afternoon, the police towed a Ford Explorer from outside Representative Hortman's home. The firm says it offers only armed security. 'If you are looking for unarmed guards, please work with another service to meet your needs better,' the website says. Image The police towing a Ford Explorer that they said the suspect used from near Representative Melissa Hortman's home in Brooklyn Park, Minn., on Saturday. Credit... Tim Gruber for The New York Times Mr. Boelter's public professional history is varied. State reports and his LinkedIn profile indicate that he was recently a general manager of a 7-Eleven in Minneapolis and, before that, had worked as the general manager of a gas station in St. Paul. A report in 2017 listed him as an executive at an energy company. More recently, he had said on LinkedIn that he was the chief executive of a company called Red Lion Group, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, dedicated to creating 'good jobs for local people,' according to its website. Mr. Boelter has delivered several sermons at a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a video of one that was posted online, he appeared to criticize gay and transgender people. 'There's people, especially in America, they don't know what sex they are,' he said. 'They don't know their sexual orientation, they're confused. The enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul.' In the sermon, he said he had given his life to Jesus as a teenager and had been blessed with five children. In a video posted online, seemingly for an educational course, Mr. Boelter said he had picked up work at funeral homes to help pay his bills. It was not clear when the video was uploaded, but Mr. Boelter said he worked six days a week for two funeral homes in the Minneapolis area. At one, he said, he sometimes helped to remove bodies from crime scenes and would work with police officers and death investigators. A spokesman for Des Moines Area Community College, in Iowa, said Mr. Boelter took classes in the school's mortuary science program, an online program, in 2023 and 2024. The website for Mr. Boelter's security company makes expansive claims about his work experience, which could not immediately be verified, including that he had been 'involved with security situations' in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and that he had worked for 'the largest U.S. oil refining company, the world's largest food company based in Switzerland and the world's largest convenience retailer based in Japan.' Image Sweeping the neighborhood near the home of Ms. Hortman in Brooklyn Park, Minn., on Saturday. Credit... Tim Gruber for The New York Times I.R.S. tax forms show that Mr. Boelter and his wife once led a Christian nonprofit called Revoformation Ministries. An archived version of the group's website described Mr. Boelter as becoming an ordained minister in 1993. Mr. Boelter, the site said, had traveled previously to violent areas 'in the Gaza Strip and West Bank,' the site said, and had 'sought out militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn't the answer.' In November 2018, Mr. Boelter urged his followers on LinkedIn to vote in that year's election, saying he had been to countries where people could not elect their leaders and that were 'not places that anyone of us would want to live in.' 'I am very big on just telling people to be a part of the process and vote your values,' he wrote, 'and be part of this adventure we are all a part of living in the United States of America.' 'I think the election is going to have more of an impact on the direction of our country than probably any election we have been apart of, or will be apart of for years to come,' he continued. One of the victims on Saturday's attacks, Ms. Hortman, ran successfully for re-election that year. Julie Bosman , Kevin Draper , Adam Goldman , Bernard Mokam and Jay Senter contributed reporting. Jack Begg and Kitty Bennett contributed research.
New York Times
a day ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Minnesota, Known for Political Civility, Reels After Shooting
The assassination of an elected official is rare and shocking anywhere on American ground. Nowhere is it more jarring than in Minnesota, a state known for a singular political culture with high value placed on bipartisanship and a tradition of civic involvement that transcends ideology. 'What happened today is simply incomprehensible and unimaginable, certainly in the context of Minnesota,' Norm Coleman, a former senator from Minnesota and former mayor of St. Paul, said in an interview on Saturday. He ticked off a list of Republican and Democratic politicians who had reached across the aisle — Hubert Humphrey, Tim Pawlenty and Amy Klobuchar. 'It's a history of people who tried to find common ground.' Authorities in Minnesota were still trying to capture the 57-year-old man who has been identified as the suspect in the shootings that took place early Saturday in the quiet suburbs of the Twin Cities. But they said that it was 'politically motivated' act of violence, and that the suspect had papers in his car that indicated he may have been planning to target one of the 'No Kings' protests taking place in the state or cities across the country on Saturday. Even as the national political discourse has grown hyperpartisan in recent years, Minnesota has kept a foothold on its own traditions, formed by a long line of politicians who were known for their openness and bipartisanship approach. Some lawmakers, including State Senator John A. Hoffman, a Democrat who was shot in the attacks overnight, still posted their home addresses online. State Representative Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, was killed in the attacks, along with her husband, Mark, and Mr. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were seriously wounded. Minnesota, one of only three states with a legislature where control is split between Democrats and Republicans, consistently has higher voter turnout than any other state, with 76 percent of voting-age citizens casting ballots in the 2024 presidential election. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
