XPost: alt.politics.radical-left, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics
XPost: alt.politics.democrats, mn.politics
https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/nation-world/minnesota-lawmakers- shooting-suspect-search-hortman-hoffman/507-24c79278-b67b-426c-bb87- ff0d1bc1c1db?ref=exit-recirc
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — The man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker
and wounding another has been taken into custody, two law enforcement
officials said, bringing an end to a nearly two-day search that put the
state on edge.
Vance Boelter was arrested Sunday evening. The arrest was confirmed to The Associated Press by law enforcement officials were who were not authorized
to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP
on condition of anonymity. Former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman
and her husband, Mark, were killed in their Brooklyn Park home early
Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were injured at their Champlin home, about
9 miles (about 15 kilometers) away.
Boelter was captured in Minnesota, though officials didn’t immediately say where.
A criminal complaint unsealed Sunday night says Boelter faces two counts
of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder
in the deaths of the Hortmans and the wounding of Hoffman and his wife.
The Hoffmans were attacked first at their home in Champin early Saturday.
After police in nearby Brooklyn Park learned of that shooting, they sent
patrol officers to check on the Hortmans’ home.
The complaint says the Brooklyn Park police officers arrived just in time
to see Boelter shoot Mark Hortman through the open door of the home. It
says they exchanged gunfire with Boelter, who fled inside the home before escaping the scene.
Earlier Sunday Drew Evans, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said authorities found a car very early Sunday they believed Boelter was using, a few miles from his home in Green Isle, in the farm
country about an hour west of Minneapolis. He also said they found
evidence in the car that was relevant to the investigation, but did not
provide details.
Authorities named Boelter, 57, as a suspect, saying he wore a mask as he
posed as a police officer, even allegedly altering a vehicle to make it
look like a police car.
Evens confirmed that investigators found a cowboy hat near the vehicle and believe it belonged to Boelter. The superintendent also said authorities interviewed Boelter’s wife and other family members in connection with Saturday’s shootings. He said they were cooperative and were not in
custody.
The FBI had issued a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to
his arrest and conviction. They circulated a photo taken Saturday of
Boelter wearing a tan cowboy hat and asked the public to report sightings.
More than 100 law enforcement officers including SWAT teams were searching
the area, including nearby homes, Evans said. He also said they had
received more than 400 tips from the public.
The earlier search happened in rural Sibley County, roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Minneapolis, where Boelter had a home with his
wife and five children. Residents in the area received an emergency alert
about the located vehicle that warned them to lock their doors and cars.
The shootings come as political leaders nationwide have been attacked,
harassed and intimidated amid deep political divisions. Lawmakers said
they were disturbed by the attacks as Twin Cities residents mourned.
Brightly colored flowers and small American flags were placed Sunday on
the gray marbled stone of the Minnesota State Capitol along with a photo
of the Hortmans. People scrawled messages on small notes including, “You
were our leader through the hardest of times. Rest in Power.”
Pam Stein came with flowers and kneeled by the memorial. An emotional
Stein called Hortman an “absolute powerhouse” and “the real unsung hero of Minnesota government.”
No details on motive
Authorities have not yet given details on a motive.
A list of about 70 names was found in writings recovered from the fake
police vehicle that was left at the crime scene, the officials said. The writings and list of names included prominent state and federal lawmakers
and community leaders, along with abortion rights advocates and
information about healthcare facilities, according to the officials.
Evans clarified that while he described the materials on Saturday as a “manifesto,” the papers were not a political or ideological treatise. He
said it was more of a notebook, listing lawmakers and other people, with various thoughts mixed in. He declined to give details.
A Minnesota official told AP that lawmakers who had been outspoken in
favor of abortion rights were on the list. The official spoke on the
condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
The attacks prompted warnings to other state elected officials and the cancellation of planned “No Kings” demonstrations against President Donald Trump, though some went ahead anyway, including one that drew tens of
thousands to the State Capitol in St. Paul. Authorities said the suspect
had “No Kings” flyers in his car.
The suspect
Boelter is a former political appointee who served on the same state
workforce development board as Hoffman, records show, though it was not
clear if or how well they knew each other.
Around 6 a.m. Saturday, Boelter texted friends to apologize for his
actions, though he didn't say what he had done.
“I’m going to be gone for a while. May be dead shortly, so I just want to
let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn’t gone this way. …
I’m sorry for all the trouble this has caused," he wrote in messages
viewed by AP.
Two Democrats targeted
Police first responded to reports of gunfire at the Hoffmans’ home shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday and found the couple with multiple gunshot wounds.
Local police from Brooklyn Park were assisting with the call and decided
to proactively check on Hortman's home nearby, Brooklyn Park Police Chief
Mark Bruley said Saturday.
There, they encountered what appeared to be a police vehicle and a man
dressed as an officer leaving the house. Officers confronted him, he fired
at them and officers returned fire. The suspect then retreated back into
the home and fled on foot, Bruley said.
On Sunday evening, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar shared a statement from Yvette Hoffman expressing appreciation for the outpouring of public support.
“John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to
being out of the woods,” Yvette Hoffman said in a text that Klobuchar
posted on social media. “He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive. We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark.”
On social media, Gov. Tim Walz remembered Hortman on Sunday as, “The most consequential Speaker in state history.”
Hortman, 55, had been the top Democratic leader in the state House since
2017. She led Democrats in a three-week walkout at the beginning of this
year’s session in a power struggle with Republicans. Under a power-sharing agreement, she turned the gavel over to Republican Rep. Lisa Demuth and
assumed the title speaker emerita.
Hortman used her position as speaker in 2023 to champion expanded
protections for abortion rights, including legislation to solidify
Minnesota’s status as a refuge for patients from restrictive states who
travel to the state to seek abortions — and to protect providers who serve them.
The couple had an adult son and an adult daughter.
Hoffman, 60, was first elected in 2012 and was chair of the Senate Human Services Committee, which oversees one of the biggest parts of the state budget. He and his wife have one adult daughter.
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November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.
Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.
Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
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