MINNEAPOLIS: A man accused of killing a Democratic state lawmaker while posing as a police officer is expected to appear in a Minnesota court on Monday afternoon on state murder charges.
Vance Boelter, 57, is being held in Hennepin County after he was arrested on Sunday following a massive manhunt over the weekend. Boelter is accused of shooting dead Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, in their home on Saturday.
Authorities said Boelter was also suspected of shooting and wounding another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette at their home a few miles away.
Governor Tim Walz has characterized the crimes as a “politically motivated assassination.”
“A moment in this country where we watch violence erupt, this cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,” Walz said.
Boelter was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, a criminal complaint showed. He is scheduled to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. local time, jail records showed.
Three of those charges are punishable with jail terms of up to 40 years, according to a Hennepin County criminal complaint unsealed on Sunday.
Boelter had been impersonating a police officer while carrying out the shootings, wearing an officer’s uniform and driving a Ford SUV with police-style lights, the complaint said.
Boelter fled on foot early on Saturday when officers confronted him at Hortman’s Brooklyn Park home, said authorities who had warned residents to stay indoors for their own safety and unleashed the state’s biggest manhunt.
When police searched Boelter’s SUV after the shootings, they discovered three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9-mm handgun, and a list of other public officials including their addresses, the criminal complaint showed.
Working on a tip that Boelter was near his home in the city of Green Isle, more than 20 SWAT teams combed the area, aided by surveillance aircraft, officials said. Boelter was armed but surrendered with no shots fired.
The operation to capture Boelter, drawing on the work of hundreds of detectives and a wide range of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, was the largest manhunt in state history, Brooklyn Park police Chief Mark Bruley said during a news conference on Sunday.
The killing was the latest episode of high-profile US political violence.
Such incidents range from a 2022 attack on former Democratic US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their home, to an assassination bid on Donald Trump last year, and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s house in April.
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Suspect in shooting of Minnesota lawmakers to appear in court on murder charges
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Suspect in shooting of Minnesota lawmakers to appear in court on murder charges
- Vance Boelter was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder
Duterte drew up ‘death lists’, boasted about murders: ICC prosecutor
- Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte personally drew up “death lists” and boasted about murders committed during his “war on drugs“
THE HAGUE: Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte personally drew up “death lists” and boasted about murders committed during his “war on drugs,” an International Criminal Court prosecutor alleged Tuesday at a crimes against humanity hearing.
On day two of proceedings against Duterte, ICC prosecutor Edward Jeremy laid out searing testimony including allegations that children had their heads wrapped in packing tape and strangled to death.
“As president, Duterte publicly named persons he alleged were involved in drugs, and many of those would end up as victims in his so-called war on drugs,” Jeremy said.
The “Duterte list” was “basically a death list,” Jeremy cited a witness as saying, showing a video of Duterte himself saying: “I am the sole person responsible for it all.”
Duterte faces three ICC counts of crimes against humanity, with prosecutors alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018.
Prosecutors say this is a “mere fraction” of the thousands believed killed in his “war on drugs” as mayor of Davao City and then president.
“As witnesses stated, the poor were often targeted, because they were the ones least likely to file complaints against the police,” said Jeremy.
Jeremy played a clip of Duterte joking about “extrajudicial killings” during a speech.
“And in this opulent, gilded, presentation room, the officials laugh along with their president while he boasts about his skills in extrajudicial killing,” said Jeremy.
“And outside on the streets of the Philippines, the bodies pile up.”
Jeremy alleged that almost 1,500 people had already been killed at the time of this clip.
The week-long ICC proceedings are not a trial but a “confirmation of charges” hearing, enabling judges to weigh whether to move ahead with a trial.
Duterte, 80, is not in the courtroom after exercising his right not to appear.
His defense team says he is weak and in cognitive decline. The prosecution and victims counter that he is healthy but does not want to face loved-ones of victims.
The court passed him fit to attend but granted him his right to absence.
Once the hearings wrap up Friday, the court will take up to 60 days to decide whether to proceed to a full trial, usually by written judgment.
Duterte’s defense lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, on Monday said his client “maintained his innocence absolutely.”
Kaufman argued that while Duterte used “bluster and hyperbole” in his speeches, he also frequently ordered authorities only to shoot in self-defense.
On day two of proceedings against Duterte, ICC prosecutor Edward Jeremy laid out searing testimony including allegations that children had their heads wrapped in packing tape and strangled to death.
“As president, Duterte publicly named persons he alleged were involved in drugs, and many of those would end up as victims in his so-called war on drugs,” Jeremy said.
The “Duterte list” was “basically a death list,” Jeremy cited a witness as saying, showing a video of Duterte himself saying: “I am the sole person responsible for it all.”
Duterte faces three ICC counts of crimes against humanity, with prosecutors alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018.
Prosecutors say this is a “mere fraction” of the thousands believed killed in his “war on drugs” as mayor of Davao City and then president.
“As witnesses stated, the poor were often targeted, because they were the ones least likely to file complaints against the police,” said Jeremy.
Jeremy played a clip of Duterte joking about “extrajudicial killings” during a speech.
“And in this opulent, gilded, presentation room, the officials laugh along with their president while he boasts about his skills in extrajudicial killing,” said Jeremy.
“And outside on the streets of the Philippines, the bodies pile up.”
Jeremy alleged that almost 1,500 people had already been killed at the time of this clip.
The week-long ICC proceedings are not a trial but a “confirmation of charges” hearing, enabling judges to weigh whether to move ahead with a trial.
Duterte, 80, is not in the courtroom after exercising his right not to appear.
His defense team says he is weak and in cognitive decline. The prosecution and victims counter that he is healthy but does not want to face loved-ones of victims.
The court passed him fit to attend but granted him his right to absence.
Once the hearings wrap up Friday, the court will take up to 60 days to decide whether to proceed to a full trial, usually by written judgment.
Duterte’s defense lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, on Monday said his client “maintained his innocence absolutely.”
Kaufman argued that while Duterte used “bluster and hyperbole” in his speeches, he also frequently ordered authorities only to shoot in self-defense.
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