Suspect showed few signs of political extremism before lawmaker shootings

In an age of social media tirades and escalating polarization, Vance Boelter did not strike people who knew him or worked with him as someone motivated by political rage.

Boelter was apprehended by police Sunday night, officials said, and is alleged by law enforcement to have carried out a political assassination. He’s been charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the fatal shootings of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and husband Mark in their Brooklyn Park home early Saturday after first shooting Sen. John Hoffman and wife Yvette, who both survived, at their home in Champlin.

Friends and associates say Boelter, 57, was mild-mannered. His social media footprint is small. He appears to have leaned toward conservative views, at least once registering to vote as a Republican and identifying as an evangelical Christian. One of his closest friends said Boelter voted for President Donald Trump last fall.

The friend, David Carlson, also said Boelter did not strike him as a zealot fixated on politics. And he never talked about violence.

“I knew the guy. He wasn’t like that. I can’t explain it,” Carlson said. “I don’t know that side of Vance.”

Boelter’s unusual life was coming into focus Sunday, as police hunted for him in the woods in Sibley County, not far from where he lived with his wife in Green Isle.

Authorities say Boelter left behind lists of Democratic lawmakers and abortion providers as targets.

Boelter appears to have been under financial distress. He struggled to launch a security business and transported cadavers for a funeral home to make ends meet.

He lived with roommates at least part-time in Minneapolis’ working-class North Side neighborhood to be closer to work.

There are signs Boelter’s life had been more secure. He was appointed by former DFL Gov. Mark Dayton to a Governor’s Workforce Development Board in 2016 and reappointed by Gov. Tim Walz three years later. He owned property in several states.

Josh Berg served on the workforce development board with Boelter for years until Boelter departed in 2023. Hoffman is a member of the same board, but Berg said he couldn’t recall any specific interaction between the senator and Boelter.

Aside from being an engaged board member with solid attendance, Boelter didn’t stand out, Berg said. “That’s maybe what’s most frustrating for my brain to comprehend,” he added.

Minnesota Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell served on the workforce board and had limited interactions with Boelter. “There was nothing notable,” Schnell said.

But Carlson, who said he had been friends with Boelter for about 50 years, saw signs of recent duress and mental health struggles.

“He kept things inside,” Carlson said. “He’s been kind of down. He was not as upbeat as he usually is.”

Things began to go downhill about three months ago after Boelter quit his jobs to go to the Democratic Republic of Congo for two weeks to meet his partner about business ventures, Carlson said. It came to little, Carlson said, and when Boelter returned he got a job picking up cadavers and taking them to funeral homes or morgues.

Boelter’s LinkedIn profile said he was CEO of a security company called Red Lion Group in the Congo.

“It wasn’t a reality,” Carlson said. “It was like a goal he had but it was never realized. He bought a couple of cars and maybe some uniforms. It was never a real company.”

Boelter was a devout Christian who opposed abortion and went to church “every Sunday” — first at an Assembly of God church and later at non-denominational churches, Carlson said.

Online videos show Boelter delivered sermons to a congregation in the Congo in recent years. “Many churches in America didn’t listen to Jesus. They’re divided,” he said in one clip. “The churches are so messed up, they don’t know abortion is wrong, many churches.”

Boelter participated in missionary trips to Africa organized by the Rev. Mcnay Nkashama, president and CEO of the Global Impact Center in St. Paul.

Nkashama said Sunday he first met Boelter in 2018, when he volunteered for church events multiple times, including trips to Africa as recently as 2023.

“I am trying to make sense of what might have triggered all of this,” Nkashama said. “I am extremely confused. I’ve known him long enough to be highly shocked.”

Boelter, Nkashama said, was like many people interested in missionary work: “They want to make a difference.”

Contrary to some reports, Carlson said Boelter was far from a Democrat. “He’d be offended” at the label, Carlson said.

Boelter’s political history has been the subject of intense speculation since authorities named him the prime suspect in the shootings of the lawmakers. Conservative influencers have attempted to tie Boelter to Walz because the DFLer reappointed him to the nearly 60-member workforce development board.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people volunteer to serve on state boards, task forces, advisory councils and commissions each year. A source close to Walz said the governor didn’t know who Boelter was.

Boelter was registered as a Republican when he lived in Oklahoma in the early 2000s, but Minnesota doesn’t require public disclosure of party affiliation.

On Sunday, the Minnesota DFL Party shared internal data with the Star Tribune showing Boelter voted in the 2024 presidential primary election, but not as a Democrat. The DFL also shared a survey response from Boelter in 2012 saying he would vote for Republicans down the ticket.

The only two other parties Boelter could have voted for in last year’s presidential primary election are the Republican Party and Legal Marijuana Now Party. The Minnesota Republican Party declined to say whether Boelter voted in the GOP presidential primary election, saying it considered that data private under the law.

On Saturday night, as the manhunt for Boelter continued, Carlson said he received a couple calls from Boelter’s wife, Jenny. The two tried to make sense of what happened, Carlson said.

“She doesn’t understand it either,” Carlson said. “He would complain about distrust in the government but she didn’t think it was where you take it this far.”