Two Minnesota Democrat Lawmakers and Families Targeted in Shootings (Update – Suspect Identified)
Former Speaker of the Minnesota House, Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed. Police reportedly have identified a suspect, but there is no official confirmation yet as to his identity or motive.
In what authorities are calling a “politically motivated assassination,” two Minnesota Democratic lawmakers and their families were targeted in coordinated home invasions early Saturday morning, leaving two dead and two others hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
BREAKING: MN Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and Democratic House Rep Melissa Hortman & their spouses have been shot overnight by someone impersonating a police officer, sources confirm to @FOX9. A search now ongoing for the suspect in the Brooklyn Park area. https://t.co/O4UZ3kauOz
— Chenue Her (@ChenueHer) June 14, 2025
According to law enforcement, the attacks occurred just hours apart in neighboring Twin Cities suburbs. In both cases, the suspect was dressed as a police officer and appeared to be using a fake squad car, raising fears of a calculated plot targeting elected officials.
Former Speaker of the Minnesota House, Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed in their Brooklyn Park home. Gov. Tim Walz confirmed the deaths in a press conference Saturday morning and called the incident a politically driven act of violence:
Democratic House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed Saturday morning at their home in Brooklyn Park in what Gov. Tim Walz called a “politically motivated assassination.”
During a news conference Saturday morning, the governor also confirmed that DFL State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot multiple times at their home in Champlin. A nephew of the couple said on social media that they were each shot five or six times.
…
“Our state lost a great leader, and I lost the dearest of friends. Speaker Hortman was someone who served the state of Minnesota with grace, compassion, humor and a sense of service,” Walz said. “She was a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota. She woke up every day determined to make this state a better place. She is irreplaceable and will be missed by so many.”
A timeline released by police reveals that the shootings occurred in quick succession and are connected:
“Law enforcement responded to a shooting at Hoffman’s home in Champlin at 2 a.m. where he and his wife had been shot multiple times.
Officers then conducted a welfare check at Speaker Hortman’s residence in Brooklyn Park at around 3:35 a.m. and saw what appeared to be a police officer and a squad car outside. When they confronted the person, the suspect opened fire on them and police returned fire before the suspect fled the scene.”
Listen to how the police chief describes the exchange at the representative’s house:
Listen to the police chief describe how they confronted Rep. Melissa Hortman’s killer at her home.
The killer was in police uniform and had what looked exactly like a police vehicle. pic.twitter.com/HkNEvEBsMK
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) June 14, 2025
Police reportedly have identified a suspect, but there is no official confirmation yet as to his identity or motive. This is a continually updating story.
UPDATE:
The suspect has reportedly been identified as s 57-year-old Vance Boelter.
KSTP has more:
Authorities say the suspect sought in connection with the shootings of state lawmakers Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman is 57-year-old Vance Boelter, sources confirmed to the Associated Press.
Documents obtained by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS show Boelter, whose current address is listed in Green Isle, Minnesota, was twice appointed to the nonpartisan Governor’s Workforce Development Council in 2016 under former Gov. Mark Dayton and again in 2019 under Gov. Tim Walz. His most recent term expired in January 2023.
UPDATE:
According to released photos, the suspect was wearing a latex mask:
Authorities have released screenshots from security camera footage revealing that the suspect in the Minnesota assassination and assassination attempts, Vance Boelter, was wearing a latex mask when he approached the homes of the elected officials. pic.twitter.com/mmlGhlS9xY
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) June 14, 2025
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Comments
Perhaps now Walz will choose his words more carefully. Along with other democrats. Or not.
Not!
Tim should have researched the Continuing Education requirement better before enrolling in clown college. It’s brutal.
updated at 1.27 cst
shooter identified as vance luther boelter who was appointed by Gov dayton and later by Walz to the workforce development board in 2019
his manafesto listed state congressmen on both sides of the aisle.
Dozens of Minnesota Democrats were on a target list written by the gunman, according to law enforcement sources.
Those on the list included Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and state Attorney General Keith Ellison, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the matter.
So he wasn’t a Democrat.
He’s a knucklehead.
Nope, he’s too stupid for that.
Politically motivated shootings alright. They were shot for opposing free health care to illegal aliens.
They voted with the Republicans against their fellow Democrats when the bill came up. I’m sure Democrats were upset with them.
Maybe Omar’s people?
No, the other Dems weren’t upset. Their votes were purely a political deal made between the parties, in which the Democrats promised to supply enough votes to pass that bill, in return for the Republicans doing the same on a different bill. Those two were simply the designated “aye” votes, and if they had refused the Dems would have had to supply other ones instead. As the leaders, they volunteered, that’s all. So there was no disloyalty, and the entire Democrat caucus understood this perfectly.
Interesting — link for that? I’m a bit surprised as health care for illegal aliens is a shibboleth for the progressives. I’m a bit hard-pressed to believe that any statehouse Dem would vote to shut that down, no matter what the deal was supposed to be.
It was posted right here on LI, just a few days ago:
And from the article cited in that LI post:
That may well be true – I honestly don’t know – and certainly sounds plausible to me.
However, while Democrat politicians may understand it, some political nutjob may not.
Minnesota Democrat Melissa Hortman was on the verge of tears after casting a controversial vote that broke with her party, just five days before she was shot dead.
The slain State Representative cast the lone Democratic vote on Tuesday in favor of repealing eligibility for undocumented adults to access MinnesotaCare, the state’s subsidized health insurance program.
The vote passed 68–65, according to the Minnesota Legislature.
No wonder she was crying.
She knew that she had drawn short straw for the Party suicide mission.
The vote was not controversial and did not break with the party. On the contrary, she was doing her duty to the party. She was crying because she was forced to vote against her conscience, for the sake of the party. As leader she had agreed to pass this Rep bill in exchange for the Reps passing the bills the Dems wanted; so she had to keep her promise.
Well SC judges will not be voting the constitution now
Only a few do
Well, thankfully he wasn’t a radical right-winger like Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) who perpetrated the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995., The bombing itself killed 167 people (including 19 children), and injured 684 people, This Republican is a piker.
Shut up, retard. Your copy-paste garbage is irrelevant.
You had to go back 30 years to find one right=wing terrorist.
Thanks for saving us the effort of shooting your weak-ass argument down.
Dozens of Minnesota Democrats were on a target list written by the gunman, according to law enforcement sources.
Those on the list included Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and state Attorney General Keith Ellison, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the matter.
He was not a Democrat.
“He was not a Democrat.”
You already posted this BS once, dingus.
The truth is that you have absolutely no idea what he was.
If he was a Republican, I guarantee you the manifesto would already have been published.
Get the hell out of here.
“Democratic lawmaker and her Democrat husband shot dead by Democratic voter,”
Meh,
“Our Democracy!”
He is named at Gateway Pundit and apparently has roots with Walz. Take it for what it’s worth.
Maybe this will get the haters to stop, for a few days at least, especially if they understand the damage they cause to everyone.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/06/breaking-suspect-lawmaker-assassination-was-tim-walz-appointee/
Narrator: It will not.
According to Breitbart the shooter is Vance Luther Boelter. He was appointed to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board by Walz.
One of the problems with being the organized political voice of the criminal element is that your complaint line escalates a lot faster.
Listen to Hortman’s statement after she voted down healthcare for illegals. She breaks down crying. She knew what would happen.
Tim “friends with school shooters” Walz better hope these rumors remain rumors. I don’t think America’s ready for part 2 of that conversation
I’m not saying it’s impossible for someone with conservative beliefs to go postal, but history does not reflect it or support it.
Usually it’s a OKC type (ie- not conservative) when it’s not an unhinged leftist or the Jihad Brigade at Club Islam.
Would it be too crass or too soon to say – your chickens are coming home to roost? Perhaps only to say- conservative lawmakers should double down on their security- the leftists truly are unhinged at this point.
I think what you’re saying is demonstrably correct. I also agree that McVeigh wasn’t really any kind of ‘conservative.’ Libertarian maybe, but definitely not conservative. He was an avowed atheist and spoke and wrote contemptuously of religion. Political violence – true political violence – has been almost an exclusive tool of the left for a very long time…and it seems to be on the rise in a way we haven’t seen since the 1960s.
No, she did not know what would happen. She wasn’t crying because her conscience had made her betray her fellow Democrats. On the contrary, she was crying because a political deal between the parties had forced her to vote against her conscience. She hated the bill but had to vote for it because the party had promised to supply the one vote that it needed, and as leader it was her job to make good on that promise.
She was asked to sully herself “for the party”… She did what the Party wanted…. in lesser times she would have been a woman of the night…which being a Democrat.. is redundant.
My analogy would have come from elsewhere.
She was asked to take one for the team, and strapped on a suicide bomb.
No, that is not “sullying herself”, or “being a woman of the night”, it is simply how legislatures work, and have always worked. It’s called logrolling. If you want a bill passed, you have to make deals to obtain the necessary votes. Sometimes that means voting for a bill you don’t like, so others will vote for your bill.
This behavior by MN’s DFL, democrats they are, shows how far our state and much of our nation has descended into irresponsible anarchy. There has been no “reaching across the aisle” in MN for some time. And the “reaching across the aisle, more often than not was Rs caving when standing firm was worthwhile, needed, right, etc. The MN democratic party no longer even fakes talking about working together.
Solution: Remove deceased from voter roles; require years of proven residency to gain citizenship; shorten mail in voting significantly; vote out MN DFLers in office.
We’ve lived with this rot for far too long.
That is not true. There has been a lot of reaching across the aisle lately, because both parties find it necessary in order to get anything done. With the house tied, nothing can pass without a deal, so of necessity they are making deals.
“The No Kings protests in the state have been cancelled.”
I wish they had told us earlier that this was all it took to make that happen.
Keith Ellison couldn’t stay away. Here’s a screenshot of him speaking at one of the rallies at this very hour…
https://x.com/DataRepublican/status/1933958151331787256
As I understand it, “THIS” was the murder of politicians who voted against open borders welfare. I’m not making that trade.
Again, they only voted for the bill because it was their duty to the Democrat Party. They did not support it.
So, Republicans killing Democrats is an easy way to stop the No King protests? You approve of this? You are one sick puppy.
You really are a retard.
Democrats making useful idiots cannon fodder.
Powerline (a Minnesota blog) is reporting that he is a registered Republican.
Zat why Timmy Walz named him to patronage positions?
Don’t pee down my back and then try to tell me it’s raining.
No it isn’t. On the contrary, it refuted that rumor, pointing out that “Minnesota does not have partisan registration”.
Not that party registration, in those states that have it, means anything. Many people are registered with the opposite party to their true affiliation, since the only purpose of such registration is to be able to vote in that party’s primary.
“Powerline (a Minnesota blog) is reporting that he is a registered Republican.”
You’re an absolute moron. That’s not at all what they said.
Unlike you, I’ll provide proof.
“One last thing–I have seen reports that Boelter is a registered Republican, but Minnesota does not have partisan registration.”
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/06/legislators-shot-in-minnesota.php
It’s Black Humor… you racist.
To be honest, when I first heard of this I figured that it was Dezhinformatsia by the Left to try to blame the Right for the violence, in conjunction with the ongoing insurrection.
By the way, I have also heard that some of the NOKING demonstrators have broken into the US Capitol. If true, you can bet that they will not be treated the way that the J6 demonstrators were. Which I regret, because they made the new rules we live under.
Subotai Bahadur
I suspect you could be right in Democrat controlled shit holes.
Now, now. You know the new rules aren’t for everyone.
No, they didn’t break into the Capitol. They merely broke through some police barriers, and were promptly arrested.
Heartbreaking that two kids (I presume they’re reasonably young) lost both parents in their own home at the hands of a madman. It’s going to a LONG struggle to get over that, if they can.
What limited information is available on the shooter doesn’t point to anything like this being possible much less likely. No criminal history. He worked most of his life in ‘food services’ for companies like Nestle and 7/11 (in management) and then began working on an NGO in Congo that focused on Congo’s food supply problems. Ok, kinda weird. Then, he starts a ‘security consulting and protection services company.’ Wut? That’s a weird career change. He was appointed to at least one ‘board’ by two Dem MN governors, Waltz and Dayton. It appears his wife may have been a staffer (or intern) for Waltz when Waltz was in Congress. All very strange.
Oh, social media information also indicates that he’s most recently been in the mortuary business (the NGO he worked for may have gone belly-up). There’s a contemporary video available online that was posted as an introduction to some kind of ‘mortuary’ classes he was taking. Guy in his late 50s experiences profound professional difficulties and change..and then snaps?. In the the video seems…reasonable, perfectly sane.
Yeah. This one is very murky, reported to be a lot threads back to d/prog despite the early attempts to blame MAGA. His ‘manifesto’ will offer some clarity but it seems possible at least in part, that what you suggested in your second post… a dude that had a series of setbacks/failures in life, something was the ‘last straw’ and he snapped.
Here’s that video.
https://x.com/behkeem/status/1933943221702348992
Watching it again, it does seem a bit sad…or, maybe I’m projecting. He’s definitely a late, middle-age guy in the middle of a ‘career-change.’ Whatever the case, he seemed to spend most of his adult life as a man of ‘the left.’ That manifesto will be interesting to read….if it ever surfaces. FB pulled down his profile almost immediately.
If the manifesto doesn’t clearly make him on the right we will never see it.
They’re not going to release the manifesto. Res ipsa loquitur.
https://x.com/Rightanglenews/status/1933989030993310200
“Then, he starts a ‘security consulting and protection services company.’ Wut? That’s a weird career change.”
Swampese for “mercenary.”
Likely something he picked up in the Congo.
None of it adds up. He went from 7/11 manager to Nestle to some other food services company, then to ‘NGO’ work in the Congo. He then starts one, possibly two ‘security’ companies (with no law enforcement or military experience of any kind) and most recently, he’s been in the ‘mortuary’ business. Oh, and he and his wife have had a ‘faith based’ 501c. since 2008 where he’s an ‘ordained minister.” WUT? It’s the most eclectic CV I’ve seen….and I’ve seen a ton of resumes. If I was looking at it as a prospective employer, I’d have enormous skepticism about its veracity. The website for his ‘security’ company looks like a tween put it together on WIX. I wouldn’t be surprised that none of the public-facing companies he cites were actual going concerns. BUT, it’s clear he did earn some money from somewhere because the photos of his primary residence look like it’s a reasonably impressive home.
No Kings Day is Alex Soros’ last ditch effort to treat his father to a “Peoples’’ Revolution” before old Georgie croaks.
Dr. Vance Boelter E.d.D.CEO Red Lion Group
Dr. Vance Boelter E.d.D. is CEO of Red Lion Group based in The Democratic
Republic of Congo. He is also CEO of Praetorian Guard Security Services based in
Minnesota.
Dr. Boelter majored in International Relations for his Undergraduate
Degree at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. He holds his Master of Science
in Management Degree, and Doctorate in Leadership for the Advancement of
Learning and Service, from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Dr. Boelter has worked full time for some of the largest companies in their field
such as Nestle, Del Monte, Tesoro, Marathon Speedway, and 7-Eleven. He has
worked in Operations, Technical Services, Quality Services, and Continuous
Improvement. Dr. Boelter has experience in Eastern Europe, The Middle East, and
Africa.
https://www.mnafricansunited.org/notid/dr.-vance-boelter-e.d.d.
That’s one BS PhD.
Yeah, it’s not even a PhD. It’s a Doctorate of Education. Unlike most PhD programs, Ed.D. often don’t even require a full dissertation, instead opting for alternative ‘projects,’ like a applied dissertation or what’s known as a ‘capstone’ project. These programs are designed to allow very stupid public school teachers to pad their resumes and their salaries in the process. Worse yet, the school he obtained his Ed.D. from is no longer in business. I’m 90% certain that Ed. D. program was an on-line program to boot.
https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1933932043471102348
I have a feeling this one is going to fall off the airwaves very quickly.
See my comment below. He alleged prep is white. The media will not let go all that fast.
Besides, it shows how well-rounded Tim Walz is.
He’s not just friends with SCHOOL shooters.
Some of his friends are HOME shooters.
Shooters wife interned for Walz. Walz has bl**d on his hands. It makes me wonder if this is meant as intimidation to all Dems to not vote with the Republicans, or else.
No, it isn’t. It can’t be. He was part of the deal that forced those two to vote with the Republicans.
Yeah, you know that, and the people you told here know that, but maybe some mortuary mercenary with a cool homemade Batmobile didn’t get the memo.
The point is that Walz knows it, because he was part of the deal. So he can’t be behind the shooting, which is what Reader45 implied.
It doesn’t make much sense to kill these two lawmakers for the way they voted, especially when their spouses were targeted also.
I’m not buying that it was politically motivated.
I could be wrong, but there is a lot here that doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense…
When you’re dealing with a f*up that involves nothing but Democrats start to finish, that’s a pretty unreasonable expectation overall.
Noted by several comment-makers at YouTube, the media made sure to mention the suspect is white.
In fairness was this before capture while the LEO were putting out a description to apprehend him OR was it after his capture when the ‘race’ or any other physical characteristic is far less important than the motivation for his crimes? Not defending media here but it would be interesting to see the count on times race mentioned from ID to apprehended and then an equivalent amount of time from the apprehension. My money is on post apprehension being higher.
The police aren’t releasing his manifesto, but apparently he had “no kings” posters in his “cop” car.
He may not have a manifesto. Or, this or that alphabet agency planted one, to be “found” later.
He probably had those posters because he was going to target all of those Democrats who supported the “No Kings” protests.
Your algorithm needs to be changed, bot. You’re entirely too predictable.
Did he expect to lure them into his car by using the posters in place of candy?
It makes perfect sense that the psycho assailant is an acolyte of the dim-witted, intemperate, corrupt and self-styled “knucklehead,” Tampon Tim.
Willingness to use any means necessary to get your way is practically a Democrat resumé bullet point.
This one will disappear pretty fast. As Jim Treacher says quite rightly,
“Modern journalism is all about deciding which facts the public shouldn’t know because they might reflect badly on Democrats.”
The perp was wearing a latex mask. Photo below. Looks eerie AF. Hard to believe anyone would open the door for that, particularly not on a night that isn’t Hollaween. Also, it’s not going to help the conspiracy theorists that there doesn’t seem to be any video or photographic evidence of this guy’s FACE, at least not yet.
https://x.com/Rightanglenews/status/1933999695044759686
“Pugsley, get the door — it’s Uncle Fester!”
The thing is the only obvious motive would be to create temporary Republican majorities in both houses. So it’s good that the suspect seems not to be someone who would want that. Which means the motive is something less obvious. Like making it look like Republicans did it, and shame them out of taking advantage of their temporary majorities.
Or maybe he just didn’t like them. He seems to have moved in government circles. Maybe they snubbed him at a party or something.
She sacrificed her “dignity” for the Party, but then the Party needed more. The Dems create loose cannons…. oh well…. they can find a replacement.
All this guy may have known is that the Democrat voted against the virtuous immigrants and for the King’s policies, and it broke his camel back. The rhetoric imposes duty. He flipped out and started with these traitors. He apparently had a list. Fortunately, he was interrupted by the cops. Speculation can be fun.
A lot of info here:
http://hotair.com/david-strom/2025/06/14/new-post-updates-on-minnesota-assassinations-n3803807
But no good explanations.
Apparently a MAGA moron . ( YEs, I know…reundant)