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Draft:Vance Luther Boelter

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Vance Luther Boelter
CC-TV still released by the FBI
Born (1967-07-23) July 23, 1967 (age 57)
Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, U.S.
OccupationBusinessman
Known forSuspect in the 2025 shootings of Minnesota legislators

Vance Luther Boelter (born July 23, 1967) is an American businessman and preacher who is suspected of committing the 2025 shootings of Minnesota legislators, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension the same day as the attack.[1]

Early life

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Boelter was born on July 23, 1967 in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, a rural town in Brown County located 42 miles (68 km) northwest of Mankato.[2] Boelter's father was a longtime high school baseball coach, who was a 2009 inductee of the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.[3] During his elementary years, Boelter served as a batboy for the Sleepy Eye High School baseball team in the mid-1970s, before eventually becoming a high school athlete.[4]

A former middle-schooler who knew Boelter in the late-1970s described him as a "normal kid who came from a middle-class background". A high-school classmate spoke to The Washington Post that Boelter was named “Most Courteous” and “Most Friendly,” according to images the classmate shared from his 1984-85 Sleepy Eye High School yearbook, listing him as the captain of the basketball team, a player for the Sleepy Eye Indians baseball team, a football player, and a member of the chorus.[5]

Careers

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In the early-1980s, Boelter received his first career as an employee for the Del Monte Foods Sleepy Eye plant, where he officially worked in the summer months. Boelter continued to work for Del Monte after graduating from Sleepy Eye High School in May 1985.[6] In 1988, Boelter left Minnesota for a couple years when he was enrolled as a student at Christ For The Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas.[7][8]

After graduating from the Christ For The Nations Institute in 1990, Boelter returned to Minnesota that same year to live with his father near St. Cloud in the small town of Richmond.[citation needed] Boelter was enrolled as a student at St. Cloud State University, and graduated in 1996 with a degree in international relations.[9] At the time, Boelter worked as an employee at the Gold'n Plump Poultry Cold Spring Processing Plant in nearby Cold Spring during the early-1990s.[10]

In 1996, Boelter left Minnesota and resided in Arcadia, Wisconsin.[11] Boelter later took over ownership of a former local Methodist church located across from the Trempealeau River the following year in 1997 after being abandoned for a short while.[11] Boelter took over ownership of the church shortly before marrying his wife in neighboring Winona, Minnesota that October.[12] In February 1999, Boelter claimed to have been employed by both Gerber Products as a supervisor,[8] and on November 15 of that same year, Boelter organized a private security company with the state entitled "Souljer Security"[13] which was registered for his then-owned church.[11] The church that Boelter owned in Arcadia was sold in 2003, and the Souljer Security system was dissolved by the state[11] on May 12, 2010.[13]

Boelter left Wisconsin in 2002 and resided in the small Eastern Oklahoma town of Muldrow, near the Arkansas border leading to the city of Fort Smith, where Boelter officially worked at a Gerber plant in Fort Smith.[14] Boelter left Oklahoma in 2005 for a brief Minnesota pitstop, before buying a house in Sheboygan, Wisconsin afterward because of Boelter's employment at Sheboygan Falls-based Johnsonville Foods, which he was employed in late-2004.[15] Sequoyah County, Oklahoma real estate records show that Boelter owned the family's Muldrow home from 2002 until 2007, while Sheboygan County, Wisconsin public records showed that Boelter owned the family's Sheboygan home from 2005 until 2013.[11][16][17] Boelter claimed to have worked at Johnsonville from late-2004 to April 2008,[18] when he returned to his Sleepy Eye hometown and returned as an employee at Del Monte Foods from April 2008 to July 2011, the same plant where Boelter employed during his high school years.[19] While living in Sheboygan at the time, Boelter 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.[20]

In July 2011, Boelter and his family left Wisconsin and returned to Minnesota when Boelter claimed to have worked at Greencore in Shakopee from July 2011 to April 2016.[8] While living in Shakopee, Boelter worked in the food service industry, reportedly having been a general manager of a 7-Eleven convenience store in the southwestern part of Minneapolis from April 2016 until November 2021.[21] In 2020, Boelter purchased property in Pierson, Iowa, including a church which had been converted to a home,[22] for $20,000.[23] He and his wife sold the property for $60,000 in 2024.[23]

Shortly before Boelter bought his Green Isle, Minnesota farmhouse in October 2023, Boelter took mortuary science courses at Des Moines Area Community College in Des Moines, Iowa between 2023 and 2024.[24] From August 28, 2023 to February 20, 2025, Boelter worked at Metro First Call, a funeral home in Savage, Minnesota,[25] removing bodies from houses and nursing homes for organ donation, which he voluntarily left.[26][25] He also claimed to have worked at Wulff Funeral Home in Saint Paul,[27] and he held a job during which he extracted donor eyeballs from cadavers.[25]

On Boelter's social media accounts, he claimed to have had military training and a career in private security, but National Public Radio could find "no history working in law enforcement, the military or private security".[28] A friend of his said that Boelter made various claims about his life that were "fantasy".[28] His private security company, Praetorian Guard Security Services, was registered with the state to his home address and listed him as director of security patrol.[28] However, NPR found no record the company had ever had any clients.[29] The company claimed to have a fleet of "police type vehicles".[29]

Boelter's LinkedIn profile claimed that he previously worked through several American energy and petroleum companies, including Tesoro Corporation, Marathon Petroleum, and Speedway, as well as him been the CEO of a company called Red Lion Group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).[citation needed] According to Forbes, he had financial problems since beginning the business in the DRC.[30] He and his wife ran an evangelical non-profit called Revoformation Ministries, where 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".[31]

He preached more than once in a church in the DRC,[32] speaking against abortion rights[31] and transgender people.[33][better source needed] Boelter also appeared as a speaker at a 2022 seminar about trade and investment which was organized by Minnesota Africans United, a nonprofit for African immigrants in Minnesota.[34] In 2016, he was appointed to the Governor's Workforce Development Board, a 60-member unpaid advisory board by then-Governor of Minnesota Mark Dayton, and re-appointed for a four-year term in 2019 by the governor, Tim Walz.[35][better source needed] 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".[36]

Shootings of Minnesota legislators

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Main article: 2025 shootings of Minnesota legislators

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 in their home in nearby Champlin and were hospitalized. Police responding to the attack on the Hoffmans checked on the Hortmans' home, where a man believed to be Boelter fired at them. The shooter escaped the scene, sparking the most extensive manhunt in Minnesota history.[37]

Motive

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Shortly after the shootings, Boelter texted his wife and other relatives, "Dad went to war last night" and "I don't want you guys around". Several hours after the shooting, the Mille Lacs County Sheriff's Office detained and interrogated Boelter's wife, a former Springbrook, Wisconsin resident, at 10 a.m. on the day of the shootings. Police, tracking her from her cellphone, pulled her over with several of the couple's children during a traffic stop near Onamia, Minnesota. Officer searched her vehicle and reportedly found a weapon, ammunition, around $10,000 in cash, and passports for herself and the children.

Federal charging documents described Boelter as acting with "the intent to kill, injure, harass, and intimidate Minnesota legislators".[38] Boelter's anti-abortion views were placed under consideration as a possible motive.[39] Boelter was registered to vote in Oklahoma as a Republican in connection of the 2004 United States presidential election while residing in Muldrow, though on a state document in 2019, he wrote that he had "no party preference".[29] A longtime friend of Boelter, a Sleepy Eye resident who knew him as a fourth-grade student since 1976, spoke to reporters in front of his northern Minneapolis home after the attacks that he was stunned to learn that he is a suspect in the attacks. He described Boelter as "a conservative who voted for President Donald Trump and was strongly against abortion rights". He replied that Boelter was having financial problems and struggling with finding 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".[29][40][41][42]

The vehicle, a black fifth-generation facelift Ford Explorer equipped with an orange and white LED lightbar, was left in the driveway of the Hortman home contained a list of about 70 potential targets,[43] including "abortion providers, pro-abortion rights advocates, and lawmakers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and other states".[29] Hortman and Hoffman's names appeared on the list[44] alongside Walz, United States representatives Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Mark Pocan, Gwen Moore, and Hillary Scholten,[45] United States senators Amy Klobuchar,[46] Tina Smith, and Tammy Baldwin,[47] and Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison.[48] On the day of the shooting, Boelter sent friends a text message, writing, "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."[49] The police found AK-style firearms in his vehicle; the police later stated that he was believed to be armed only with a pistol.[50] Officers discovered a stack of flyers in his car for "No Kings" anti-Trump protests which were to be held on the day of the shooting.[51][52]

According to an interview with an unnamed witness, Boelter attempted to buy a second-generation Buick LaCrosse and a Electric bike on the morning of the shooting, and allegedly drove with the witness to a bank where he withdrew $2,200 in cash.[53] On the morning of June 15, police discovered the Buick abandoned on the side of 301st Avenue near the Minnesota State Highway 25 intersection in nearby Henderson.[54] Later that evening, Boelter was spotted by authorities at the Mud Lake Waterfowl Production Area in Green Isle after a Green Isle resident in the area captured images of Boelter on a trail camera several hours beforehand.[55] With Boelter found alive and healthy, he was immediately taken into federal custody. Following a brief stay at Sibley County Jail, Boelter was transferred back to Hennepin County to face both state and federal charges. Boelter appeared in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota in Minneapolis on June 16, where he was federally charged with two counts of murder with a firearm, two additional counts of firearms offenses, and two counts of stalking. He was taken into federal custody, where he remained in Hennepin custody until his next court appearance scheduled for June 27, 2025.[56]

References

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  1. ^ Nace, Aki (June 14, 2025). "Person of interest in Minnesota DFL lawmaker shootings identified as Vance Boelter". CBS News. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
  2. ^ "Sleepy Eye native charged with federal and state crimes in shootings, murders". Sleepy Eye News. June 19, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  3. ^ Nelson, Dustin (June 17, 2025). "Minnesota shooting suspect went from youthful evangelizer to far-right zealot". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 20, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  4. ^ McGuire, Mary (June 19, 2025). "Minnesota lawmaker shootings: What we know about Vance Boelter". KMSP-TV. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  5. ^ Nelson, Dustin. "Minnesota shooting suspect went from youthful evangelizer to far-right zealot". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  6. ^ "Sleepy Eye residents share memories of Vance Boelter". New Ulm Journal. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  7. ^ "Vance Boelter graduated from Dallas religious school". KDFW-TV. June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c Cuevas, Jeanine Santucci and Eduardo. "Manhunt underway for Vance Luther Boelter in Minnesota lawmakers shooting". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  9. ^ "Who Is Vance Boelter? What to Know About the Man Accused of Shooting Minnesota Lawmakers". People. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  10. ^ Hanneman, Joseph. "Phone associated with accused assassin's home traveled to Dubai, Nepal, India, and Turkey, report says". Blaze. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  11. ^ a b c d e Miston, Bill (June 19, 2025). "Minnesota lawmaker shootings, Vance Boelter's Wisconsin ties date back decades". WITI-TV. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  12. ^ "Vance Luther Boelter marriage in Winona - October 4, 1997". Newspapers. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  13. ^ a b "SOULJER SECURITY, LLC". Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions. June 19, 2025. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
  14. ^ Dearing, Todd (June 19, 2025). "Arkansas pastor worked with suspect in Minnesota lawmaker shootings decades ago". KHBS/KHOG. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
  15. ^ Garber, Alex. "Man accused of killing Minnesota lawmaker worked at Johnsonville, owned a home in Sheboygan". The Sheboygan Press. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  16. ^ Hayes, Jana (June 17, 2025). "Minnesota shooting suspect Vance Boelter once lived in Oklahoma. Here's what we know". The Oklahomian. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  17. ^ WISN-TV (June 16, 2025). "Records show Minnesota shooting suspect lived in Wisconsin". WKOW-TV. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  18. ^ Pandey, Maia (June 19, 2025). "Property records show Minnesota shooting suspect lived in Wisconsin". WISN-TV. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  19. ^ Pandey, Maia (June 19, 2025). "Residents share memories of Vance Boelter". The New Ulm Journal. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  20. ^ Mustian, Jim (2025-06-15). "Friends say Minnesota shooting suspect was deeply religious and conservative". AP News. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  21. ^ Sen, Sumanti (2025-06-15). "Vance Boelter social media: Old LinkedIn post saying 'keep the United States in your prayers' surfaces". HindustrianTimes. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  22. ^ Teunissen, Gage (June 16, 2025). "Man suspected of shooting 2 Minnesota lawmakers owns 100-year-old Siouxland building". KCAU-TV. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  23. ^ a b Welte, Dean (June 16, 2025). "Suspect in shooting of 2 Minnesota lawmakers owned property in Woodbury County". KTIV-TV. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  24. ^ Worth, Cooper (June 17, 2025). "Minnesota shooting suspect may have targeted Iowans as well, officials say". Des Moines Register. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
  25. ^ a b c Somasundaram, Praveena (June 16, 2025). "What we know about Boelter captured in Minnesota lawmaker shootings". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  26. ^ Mustain, Jim (June 17, 2025). "Friends say Minnesota shooting suspect was deeply religious and conservative". Associated Press. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
  27. ^ Alsharif, Mirna (June 15, 2025). "Portrait of suspect in Minnesota 'politically motivated' shootings emerges amid massive manhunt". NBC News. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  28. ^ a b c Mann, Brian (June 15, 2025). "Food worker with 'fantasy' of security career sought in Minnesota political shootings". NPR. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  29. ^ a b c d e Vogt, Adrienne; Vales, Leinz; Reiss, Rebekah; Gainor, Danya; Watson, Michelle; Lendon, Brad; Radford, Antoinette; Miller, John; and Perez, Evan (June 14, 2025). "Manhunt underway after Minnesota Democratic House leader killed in 'politically motivated' attack". CNN. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  30. ^ Saadah, Yezen. "Minnesota Shooting Suspect Vance Boelter Arrested After State's 'Largest Manhunt' (Live Updates)". Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  31. ^ a b Owen, Tess. "Suspect in Minnesota Shooting Linked to Security Company, Evangelical Ministry". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  32. ^ Hippensteel, Chris; Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas; Londoño, Ernesto; Baker, Mike; Walker, Mark (June 14, 2025). "What We Know About the Minnesota Shooting Suspect". The New York Times.
  33. ^ "Wanted Shooting Suspect, Vance Boelter Preaching in Africa About Sexuality," YouTube. No date. [Note: This seems to be a recent cut from a longer video.]
  34. ^ Cuevas, Eduardo; Limehouse, Jonathan (June 15, 2025). "Who is the man wanted in the Minnesota lawmaker assaults? What we know". USA TODAY. ISSN 0734-7456. OCLC 8799626. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  35. ^ Raji, Tobi; Amenabar, Teddy; Dance, Scott; Wang, Amy B; Masih, Niha; Bailey, Holly; Vazquez, Maegan; Hill, Glynn A.; Wells, Dylan; Hawkins, Derek; Hsu, Spencer; Levine, Susan; Itkowitz, Colby; Viser, Matt; Blanco Ramos, Adrián (June 14, 2025). "Live updates: Manhunt underway for suspect in shooting that killed a Minnesota lawmaker". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
  36. ^ Nelson, Dustin; Gowen, Annie; O'Connell, Jonathan; Boorstein, Michelle (2025-06-17). "Minnesota shooting suspect went from youthful evangelizer to far-right zealot". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2025-06-18. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
  37. ^ Anderson, Meg; Treisman, Rachel (June 16, 2025). "The suspect in the shootings of 2 Minnesota lawmakers has been captured and charged". NPR. Archived from the original on June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  38. ^ "Read the Federal Complaint Against the Man Charged in the Minnesota Assassination". The New York Times. June 16, 2025. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  39. ^ Ensor, Josie (June 15, 2025). "Suspected gunman Vance Boelter had 'hit list of abortion activists'". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved June 17, 2025. One motive being considered is the targeting of pro-abortion activists after a list obtained from the vehicle identified prominent advocates and others in support of liberal causes.
  40. ^ Friend of Vance Boelter: 'He really hated abortion' in the 90s. FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. June 14, 2025. Retrieved June 15, 2025 – via YouTube.
  41. ^ Kuznia, Rob (June 14, 2025). "Minnesota shooting suspect "needed help," his friend says". CNN. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  42. ^ "A bus, an e-bike, a stranger's Buick: How the alleged assassin eluded authorities". Minnesota Star Tribune. June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
  43. ^ Goldman, Adam (June 14, 2025). "Manhunt for Suspect in Political Assassination Rattles Minnesota". The New York Times. ISSN 1553-8095. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
  44. ^ Londoño, Ernesto (June 14, 2025). "Chief Mark Bruley of the Brooklyn Park Police said the gunman's vehicle contained a "manifesto" and a target list with names of individuals, including the two lawmakers who were shot". The New York Times. ISSN 1553-8095. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
  45. ^ "Michigan Democrat cancels town hall". POLITICO. June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  46. ^ "Live: Authorities find assassination suspect's vehicle as manhunt continues". Star Tribune. June 15, 2025. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  47. ^ Pellish, Aaron (June 16, 2025). "Sen. Baldwin named on alleged Minnesota shooter's list". Politico. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  48. ^ Haworth, Jon; Shapiro, Emily (June 14, 2025). "Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman killed, State Sen. John Hoffman wounded in 'targeted political violence'". ABC News. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
  49. ^ Rice, Nicholas (June 15, 2025). "Suspect in Minnesota Lawmakers Shootings Allegedly Sent Chilling Texts to Roommates. He's Still on the Loose". People.com. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  50. ^ Sullivan, Tim (June 14, 2025). "Police say they have recovered writings in a car used by suspect in shooting of Minnesota lawmakers". apnews.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
  51. ^ Breen, Kerry (June 15, 2025). "Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman killed, state Sen. John Hoffman injured in targeted shootings. Here's what we know". CBS News. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  52. ^ Wendling, Mike; Kupemba, Danai Nesta (June 15, 2025). "Minnesota lawmakers Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman targeted by gunman, suspect at large". BBC News. Retrieved June 15, 2025. Elected officials across the state were put on alert and "No Kings" protests against President Donald Trump were called off after flyers for the demonstrations were found in his car.
  53. ^ "Minnesota shooting suspect went from youthful evangelizer to far-right zealot". Minnesota Star Tribune. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  54. ^ "Vance Boelter's car found 1 day after targeted lawmaker shootings in Minnesota, according to government alert". WCCO-TV. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  55. ^ "After Two-Day Manhunt, Suspect Charged with Shooting Two Minnesota Lawmakers and Their Spouses". Justice.gov. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  56. ^ "June 16, 2025: Minnesota shootings suspect faces 6 federal charges and state 1st-degree murder charges". CNN. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
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