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2025 shootings of Minnesota legislators
Assassination in the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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On June 14, 2025, Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman was assassinated in a shooting at her home in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, United States. Hortman, the leader of the state House Democratic caucus, was killed alongside her husband, Mark. Earlier that morning, state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot and seriously injured in their home in nearby Champlin and hospitalized. Police responding to the attack on the Hoffmans checked on the Hortmans' home, where a man fired at them. The shooter escaped, sparking the most extensive manhunt in Minnesota history.[3]
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The authorities identified 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter as a suspect and captured him on the evening of June 15 in Green Isle, Minnesota. He was federally charged with murder, stalking, and firearms offenses. The state charged Boelter with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder. Hennepin County attorney Mary Moriarty announced her intention to upgrade the charges to first-degree murder before a grand jury.[4]
The two victims were members of the Democratic Party-affiliated DFL. Federal charging documents described Boelter as acting with "the intent to kill, injure, harass, and intimidate Minnesota legislators". Governor Tim Walz called the shooting "an act of targeted political violence".[5][6] Inside Boelter's vehicle was a list of nearly 70 people, including abortion rights advocates, Democratic politicians, and abortion providers.[7][8][9][10]
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Events
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According to federal prosecutors, Boelter arrived at the Hoffman residence in Champlin shortly before 2 a.m. CDT (UTC−5) on June 14, 2025. He knocked on the door, shouting that he was a police officer. As the Hoffmans opened the door, he asked if they had weapons. John Hoffman shouted "You're not a cop" and attempted to push Boelter out the door; Boelter said "this is a robbery" and repeatedly shot both of them.[11] At 2:06 a.m., police in Champlin responded to an emergency call from the Hoffmans' adult daughter, Hope; they found Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, with gunshot wounds.[12][13] John Hoffman was shot nine times and Yvette eight times.[14] According to Hope, her parents pushed her out of the way to protect her from the shooter, and while she sustained minor injuries when her body slammed into their washing machine, she was not struck by bullets.[15]
According to acting United States Attorney for Minnesota Joseph H. Thompson, Boelter next went to state representative Kristin Bahner's house in Maple Grove, where he rang the doorbell.[16] Bahner, on vacation with her family, was not at home and Boelter left.[11][17] Soon thereafter, he parked near state senator Ann Rest's residence in New Hope.[16] New Hope police had heard about the Hoffmans' shooting and dispatched an officer to perform a wellness check on Rest. The officer arrived at Rest's house at 2:36 a.m. and saw Boelter's black SUV parked down the street. Believing him to be a colleague also sent to protect Rest, the officer tried to talk to Boelter, but he did not respond. The officer continued to Rest's house.[4][13] Boelter left New Hope and went to the Hortman residence in Brooklyn Park.[18][19]
According to the federal indictment, Boelter arrived at the Hortman residence at about 3:30 a.m, still impersonating a police officer and wearing a silicone face mask and wig. He knocked on the door and told Mark Hortman, who answered, that he was performing a welfare check, shining a flashlight in Hortman's eyes.[20] Two Brooklyn Park police officers, alerted by their colleagues in Champlin to the shooting, went to check on the Hortmans.[12] They arrived at the Hortman home at 3:35 a.m.[21] and saw what appeared to be a police vehicle in the driveway. Brooklyn Park chief of police Mark Bruley said the vehicle "looked exactly like an SUV squad car".[22]
As the officers arrived at the Hortman residence, they witnessed a person wearing a realistic silicone mask (an old man disguise), a full police uniform (including body armor), a badge, and standard police gear. According to the federal indictment, the attacker (alleged to be Boelter) drew his gun and shot at Mark Hortman and the officers, and they returned fire. The attacker "charged forward" into the house.[13][21] Security camera footage indicated that the attacker then shot Melissa Hortman as she attempted to flee upstairs.[20] The police moved Mark from the threshold of the home and he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. A drone was then used to enter the residence, where Melissa Hortman's body was found.[12] More officers were called to the scene, surrounding the house, and a SWAT team arrived. The attacker escaped on foot after exchanging gunfire with the police.[23][24] Officers did not enter the house until 4:38 a.m., over an hour later, in a departure from the department's policy on confronting active shooters.[25]
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Victims
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State representative Melissa Hortman (left) and her husband were killed, while state senator John Hoffman (right) and his wife were injured.
Melissa and Mark Hortman were killed.[26] Melissa Hortman, who was first elected in 2005, served from 2017 to 2019 as the state house minority leader and from 2019 to 2025 as the 61st speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives.[27] The Hortmans' pet golden retriever Gilbert, allegedly shot by Boelter,[28] was "gravely injured" during the attack and euthanized afterward.[29] John and Yvette Hoffman survived and were out of surgery by 9:50 a.m. that day.[30] First elected in 2012, John Hoffman served as minority whip from 2017 to 2020.[31] Like Representative Hortman, he is a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, the Democratic Party's Minnesota affiliate.[32]
On June 19, Hoffman and his wife released a joint statement about the assassination attempt.[33] On July 15, their daughter, Hope Hoffman, who was present but unharmed during the shootings, also released a statement, saying "my parents saved me".[34] On June 27, Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark, and their dog Gilbert all lay in state at the Minnesota State Capitol. Hortman is the first woman to receive this honor.[35][36] Thousands paid their respects, with the service attended by a number of high-profile Democrats, including former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and Governor Tim Walz.[37]
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Accused
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Vance Luther Boelter (born July 23, 1967) of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, was identified as the suspect by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension the same day as the attack.[38]
Early life
Boelter was born on July 23, 1967, in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, a rural town in Brown County 42 miles (68 km) northwest of Mankato.[39][40][41][42]
In 1996, Boelter left Minnesota and resided in Arcadia, Wisconsin.[43] He married his wife in nearby Winona, Minnesota, on October 4, 1997,[44] and they moved several times during the 2000s. Boelter left Wisconsin in 2002 and resided in the small Eastern Oklahoma town of Muldrow.[45] In 2005, he left Oklahoma for a brief time in Minnesota before buying a house in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.[46] Boelter owned the family's Muldrow home from 2002 to 2007 and the Sheboygan home from 2005 to 2013.[47] In 2020, he purchased property in Pierson, Iowa, including a century-old church that had been converted to a home for $20,000. In 2024, he and his wife sold the property for $60,000.[48]
Careers
In 1988, Boelter left Minnesota for a couple of years when he was enrolled as a student at Christ For The Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas.[49][50]
Upon graduating from the Christ For The Nations Institute in 1990, Boelter returned to Minnesota to live with his father in Richmond, Minnesota. Boelter enrolled as a student at St. Cloud State University and graduated in 1996 with a degree in international relations.[51]
While living in Muldrow in 2002, Boelter served as a supervisor at a Gerber Products Company plant in Fort Smith, Arkansas. A senior pastor from Springdale called Boelter "always very kind, gentle, patient, and gracious with people".[52] In late 2004, Boelter left Gerber for a job at Johnsonville Foods's Sheboygan headquarters.[53] In April 2008, he left Johnsonville and returned to Sleepy Eye. He worked as a production coordinator at Del Monte Foods there until 2011.[54]
Boelter later went back to school and earned a master's degree and then a doctorate in leadership from the now-closed Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.[55] In July 2011, after leaving Del Monte, Boelter moved to Shakopee, Minnesota, where he served as general manager for Greencore until April 2016. That month, he became general manger of a southwestern Minneapolis 7-Eleven store until November 2021.[56] Shortly before Boelter bought his Green Isle, Minnesota, farmhouse in October 2023, Boelter began mortuary science courses at Des Moines Area Community College.[57] In August 2023, Vance received his last employments at two Minnesota funeral homes, one in Savage and one in Saint Paul, removing bodies from houses and nursing homes for organ donation, jobs he quit in February 2025.[58][59][60]
On social media, Boelter claimed to have military training and a career in private security, but National Public Radio found "no history working in law enforcement, the military or private security".[61] A friend of Boelter's said he made claims about his life that were "fantasy".[61] His company, Praetorian Guard Security Services, was registered with the state to his home address and listed him as director of security patrol, but there is no record the company ever had any clients.[8] The company said it had a fleet of "police type vehicles"—the same SUVs police use.[8] Boelter had security ties to his own former company, Souljer Security, that was registered to a church he owned while living in Arcadia, Wisconsin, in the late 1990s.[62] He previously worked as a gas station manager before starting a company called Red Lion Group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).[63] Archives from the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions show that his company was first established on November 15, 1999, and was dissolved on May 12, 2010.[64] According to Forbes, he had financial problems since beginning the business in the DRC.[65] While living in Sheboygan, Boelter and his wife founded an evangelical nonprofit, Revoformation Ministries, and he claimed to have "sought out militant Islamists" in the West Bank and Gaza during the Second Intifada "to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn't the answer".[66]
Boelter preached more than once in a church in the DRC,[63] speaking against abortion rights and transgender people.[66][67] He appeared as a speaker at a 2022 seminar on trade and investment organized by Minnesota Africans United, a nonprofit for African immigrants in Minnesota.[68][69] In 2016, he was appointed to the Governor's Workforce Development Board, a nonpartisan 60-member unpaid advisory board, by then-Governor of Minnesota Mark Dayton. Governor Tim Walz reappointed him to a four-year term in 2019.[70] Matthew Taylor, a senior Christian scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies, said, "Boelter's views now appear to align with the political 'far right' of Christianity in the United States."[71] Boelter's only prior legal troubles were minor traffic violations.[72]
Motive
Federal charging documents described Boelter as acting with "the intent to kill, injure, harass, and intimidate Minnesota legislators".[6] His anti-abortion views are a possible motive.[73] Boelter was registered to vote in Oklahoma as a Republican for the 2004 United States presidential election, although on a state document in 2019 he wrote that he had "no party preference".[8] A longtime Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, resident who knew Boelter as a fourth-grade student in his childhood town since 1976, told reporters he was stunned to learn that Boelter is a suspect in the attacks. He described Boelter as "a conservative who voted for President Donald Trump and was strongly against abortion rights", and said Boelter was having financial problems and struggling to find work, adding that "he was looking around but immediately gave up and decided to go out in the blaze of glory" and saying that "there was darkness inside of him".[8][74] Boelter's wife told investigators their family "prepared for major or catastrophic incidents" and that, after the shootings, he warned her by text message that "they should prepare for war, they needed to get out of the house and people with guns may be showing up to the house".[75]
An unmarked black fifth-generation Ford Explorer equipped with an orange and white LED lightbar was left in the Hortmans' driveway and contained a list of about 70 potential targets,[76] including "abortion providers, pro-abortion rights advocates, and lawmakers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and other states".[8] Hortman and Hoffman were on the list,[77] as were Walz, U.S. representatives Angie Craig, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Mark Pocan, Gwen Moore, Kelly Morrison, and Hillary Scholten,[78][79] U.S. senators Amy Klobuchar,[80] Tina Smith, and Tammy Baldwin,[81] and Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison.[82] On the day of the shooting, Boelter texted friends: "I love you guys. I've made some choices, and you guys don't know anything about this, but I'm going to be gone for a while. I may be dead shortly."[83] The police found AK-style firearms in his vehicle.[1][22] Also in his car was a stack of flyers for the No Kings protests to be held on the day of the shooting.[84][85] Police said they believed Boelter may have intended to target the protests, sparking cancellations.[86]
In a letter addressed to the FBI, Boelter claimed that Governor Walz instructed him to kill multiple officials, especially Klobuchar, to allow Walz to run for her Senate seat. The letter was left in a car that Boelter had deserted near his house, along with his confession to shooting the Hortmans and Hoffmans. People with knowledge of the letter who spoke to the Star Tribune described it as rambling, incoherent, and conspiratorial.[87][75] United States Attorney for Minnesota Joseph H. Thompson called Boelter's accusation a "fantasy" likely intended to excuse his crimes and misdirect the investigation.[88]
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Manhunt and arrest
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In response to the shooting, the governor's office activated the State Emergency Operations Center.[12] Local authorities and federal law enforcement[89][90] launched the largest manhunt in Minnesota history to find the shooter.[13][53] A shelter-in-place order was issued in Brooklyn Park.[12] Because the attacker had impersonated a police officer, residents were advised not to open the door to police unless two officers were present.[91] The FBI offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture.[92][93] Images of Boelter were released showing him wearing a light-colored cowboy hat, dark long-sleeved shirt or jacket, light-colored pants, and dark sneakers.[94]
Federal charging documents indicated that Boelter returned in the early morning to a Minneapolis apartment in which he occasionally lived and then approached a stranger at a bus stop around 7 a.m.[13] The other man, who later reported the interaction to the police, agreed to sell Boelter his e-bike and a second-generation Buick LaCrosse, and the two went to a bank branch for cash to complete the transaction.[13]
After the shootings, Boelter texted his wife and other relatives, "Dad went to war last night" and "I don't want you guys around."[95] Law enforcement from Mille Lacs County detained and interrogated Boelter's wife at 10 a.m. on the day of the shootings. Police, tracking her via her cellphone, pulled her over with several of the couple's children during a traffic stop in Onamia, Minnesota.[96] Law enforcement searched her car and reportedly found a weapon, ammunition, about $10,000 in cash, and passports for herself and the children.[97]
Early on June 15, police found the Buick abandoned on the side of 301st Avenue near the Minnesota State Highway 25 intersection in nearby Henderson, Minnesota, in Sibley County, a few miles from his home in Green Isle, that was believed to have been used by Boelter, along with some of Boelter's belongings.[13][98] The same day, an area resident captured images of Boelter on a trail camera. Officers set up a square-mile search perimeter deploying drones and police dogs. Boelter was located and tracked as he crawled through thick shrubs near the Mud Lake Waterfowl Production Area of Green Isle. He was arrested that evening in a field near his Green Isle home roughly 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Minneapolis, ending a nearly two-day manhunt involving hundreds of officers and 20 SWAT teams.[13][99]
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Legal proceedings
Hennepin County prosecutors initially charged Boelter with two counts of second-degree murder in the killings of Melissa and Mark Hortman and two counts of attempted second-degree murder related to the shootings of John and Yvette Hoffman.[100] On June 16, Boelter appeared in federal court, via United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, where he was federally charged with two counts of murder with a firearm, two additional counts of firearms offenses, and two counts of stalking.[4] He was taken into federal custody until at least his next court appearance on June 27.[101] At that court appearance, Boelter's bail hearing was delayed to July 3. Boelter was wearing a suicide prevention smock.[35] On July 15, Boelter received six federal grand jury indictments for the murders and shootings.[102][103]
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Responses
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The shootings occurred amid increasing threats and political violence against state and national lawmakers since 2017.[104] The wife of the suspect sent condolences on behalf of herself and her children, saying the family was blindsided and heartbroken over the violence, which she said betrayed their Christian faith and tenets.[37]
Local
At a press conference with law enforcement, Governor Walz described Hortman as "someone who served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, humor and a sense of service"[12] and called the shooting "an act of targeted political violence".[5] U.S. senator from Minnesota Amy Klobuchar, who knew Hortman, said she was "heartbroken and horrified" and that the killing was motivated by opposition to abortion rights.[105][106] She called the shootings an act of targeted political violence and an attack on American democracy.[107]
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House majority whip Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota's 6th congressional district, condemned "this despicable act of political violence".[108] Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee and a former chair of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, called the shootings indicative of "extremism and political violence" in the U.S.[109] Mark Johnson, the minority leader of the Minnesota Senate, represented Senate Republicans in condemning "this brazen act of violence".[110] Minnesota House speaker Lisa Demuth said she was "shocked and horrified" and sending prayers to the victims and law enforcement.[13]
No Kings protests opposing the U.S. Army 250th Anniversary Parade and the policies and actions of the second presidency of Donald Trump were planned for that day.[111] A spokesperson for the Minnesota State Patrol asked the public not to attend those protests "out of an abundance of caution".[8] The Minnesota "No Kings" organizers canceled the protests, but thousands later attended a rally in Saint Paul.[112][113] In response to public nervousness over potential attackers impersonating police officers, Minnesota police advised residents that they can call 911 for verification before opening a door or window.[114]
National
President Donald Trump, himself the target of two assassination attempts in 2024, said the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI were investigating the shooting and that "horrific violence will not be tolerated".[115] After initially saying he might call Walz, Trump said on June 17 he had no plans to do so, calling Walz "whacked out" and "a mess".[101][116] U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the shootings "will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law".[117][118] FBI deputy director Dan Bongino announced that the "FBI is fully engaged on the ground in Minnesota and is working in collaboration with our local and state partners".[119][120]
U.S. House speaker Mike Johnson called the shootings "horrific political violence" that "every leader must unequivocally condemn". House majority leader Steve Scalise, who was seriously injured in the 2017 congressional baseball shooting, said "there can be no tolerance of political violence and it must be stopped".[121][122][123] Former U.S. representative Gabby Giffords, the target of an assassination attempt in 2011, said she was "horrified and heartbroken" by the attack.[124] U.S. representative and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband was injured in a politically motivated home invasion in 2022, condemned the "abhorrent manifestation of political violence in our country".[125] The day after the attack, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said, "This should be another wakeup call amongst many that have happened over the last several years, including, of course, the violent attack on the Capitol that took place on January 6."[101] Jeffries requested that the Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives and the Capitol Police "ensure the safety of our Minnesota delegation and members of Congress across the country".[126] Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, whose residence was firebombed two months earlier, said he was pained by the shootings.[127]
Based on Boelter's notebooks, the police and FBI believe he found the victims' addresses through data brokerages.[128] Boelter had lists of 11 data broker websites, with people's home addresses and other personal information widely available online. The events have led to more calls to reform U.S. privacy laws.[128] Senator Ron Wyden said, "Every single American's safety is at risk until Congress cracks down on this sleazy industry."[129] After the assassination of Charlie Kirk in September 2025, Trump was criticized for failing to mention the Minnesota shootings during his national address, solely blaming "the radical left" for recent political violence and mentioning no Democratic victims of violence.[130][131] Trump was also criticized for ordering the flag be lowered in honor of Kirk after not doing so for Hortman.[132]
Right-wing misinformation
Many prominent right-wing and far-right figures falsely claimed that the suspect, Vance Boelter, was left-wing, a Democrat, and an ally of Governor Tim Walz.[133][134][135] Elon Musk shared tweets saying that "the left" had killed Hortman and tweeted, "The far left is murderously violent."[133] U.S. senator Mike Lee tweeted multiple times that the suspect was a "Marxist" and blamed the assassination on Walz.[133][134] Donald Trump Jr. claimed the suspect "seems to be a leftist" and "was a Democrat".[134][136] U.S. senator Bernie Moreno and U.S. representative Derrick Van Orden both suggested that the shooter was a far-left extremist.[137][138][139] Large right-wing social media accounts began spreading similar misinformation.[133][134][135] Right-wing commentator Mike Cernovich suggested that Walz had ordered the assassinations, and Laura Loomer called Boelter one of "Walz's goons" and called for Walz to be "detained" and "interrogated" by the FBI.[133][134] YouTuber Benny Johnson claimed the suspect was a "Tim Walz associate".[134] Other posts falsely claimed that a photo of a man at a No Kings protest in Texas was that of the suspect.[133]
The Guardian called this "the latest example of a right-wing media ecosystem that swiftly spins up narratives that serve their political agendas after tragic events, regardless of accuracy, and does not correct them after further information shows them to be untrue or incomplete".[133] The misinformation was condemned by Minnesota state lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, who said that intensely partisan rhetoric was harmful. Unlike their state legislature counterparts, Minnesota's Republican congressional delegation did not address Lee's comments.[140]
After it became known that the suspect was a Trump voter, unsubstantiated claims that the killings were a "false flag" by the "deep state" and a "psyop" spread on social media. Alex Jones claimed Boelter was a "patsy" who was "being framed". Loomer also suggested that Boelter was not the actual perpetrator.[136]
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See also
- 2011 Tucson shooting – Mass shooting in Arizona, US
- List of assassinated American politicians
- Political polarization in the United States
References
External links
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