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      How the right spread ‘brutal and cruel’ misinformation after Minnesota lawmaker killings

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      Tina Smith, a Minnesota senator, confronted Mike Lee, a Utah senator, on Monday to tell him directly that his social media posts fueled ongoing misinformation about a shooting that killed her friend.Lee’s posts, which advanced conspiracies that a Minnesota assassin was a “Marxist” and blamed the state’s governor for Melissa Hortman’s death, were among many threads of false or speculative claims swirling online after the killings.Smith told Lee his posts were “brutal and cruel”, according to CNN. “He should think about the implications of what he’s saying and doing. It just further fuels this hatred and misinformation,” she said. She wanted him to hear from her directly how painful it was to see his words after the brutality her state endured. Lee didn’t say much, according to Smith, and seemed surprised to be confronted.Within hours of the shootings, rightwing social media accounts with millions of followers manufactured false conspiracy theories about the suspect and his motives, falsely portraying the man whose friends say he is an evangelical Christian Trump supporter as a radical leftwing assassin and attempting to paint him as a political ally of Tim Walz, the Democratic governor and former vice-presidential candidate.It was the latest example of a rightwing 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. Elected officials such as Lee and others often share in the spreading rumors, lending legitimacy to these claims.Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was captured on Sunday after he allegedly killed Hortman, a Democratic house speaker, and her husband, and wounded John Hoffman, a state senator, and his wife.Collin Rugg, an engagement farmer on X, advanced a debunkable theory to his followers on X that Hortman was killed over healthcare policy for undocumented immigrants, implying the violence came from the left. He shared a video that ping-ponged around the rightwing internet of Hortman, emotional, describing a vote to repeal healthcare eligibility for undocumented adults.Missing from the post was the context: Hortman supported this care, only voting for its repeal to pass a state budget deal in an evenly split state House. Hoffman, the state senator, had not voted to repeal the provision.Rightwing social media personality Mike Cernovich, with 1.5 million followers, escalated the lie by suggesting Walz ordered the assassination. He hasn’t taken the post down and has continued to advance the claims, posting on Monday that “Democrats know they are now seen as the party of political violence so their propaganda agents are trying to shift the blame. It won’t work.”Laura Loomer, the far-right conspiracy theorist and Trump whisperer, posted that “Walz’s goons are now assassinating lawmakers who support legislation Walz opposes” and called the Democratic party “a terrorist organization”. Loomer and others on the right also tried to tie Boelter to the “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration. Officials found rudimentary signs in the suspect’s vehicle that said “No Kings”, an indication he knew of the event, not that he would attend it as a protester.Elon Musk, a frequent poster of unverified rightwing claims, amplified the narrative to his 200 million followers, quote-tweeting claims that “the left” killed Hortman and saying “the far left is murderously violent”.The lies ignore overwhelming evidence of Boelter’s actual politics: his roommate David Carlson told reporters that Boelter voted for Trump and “was a strong supporter” of the president. Other longtime friends told local media Boelter was right-leaning. While Minnesota voters don’t list party affiliation, he was registered as a Republican in Oklahoma in 2004.Boelter’s own recorded sermons expose his extremist views. Preaching in Congo in 2023, he is recorded as saying: “The churches are so messed up, they don’t know abortion is wrong.” He ranted against LGBTQ+ people as “confused”, claiming “the enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul”. His alleged hit list included abortion providers and pro-choice advocates.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionInfluencers seized on Boelter’s appointment to a state board, branding him a “Walz appointee” to misleadingly suggest a personal relationship. In reality, Boelter was first appointed by Walz’s predecessor, who was a Democrat, in 2016 to a 60-member volunteer advisory board. Walz did, however, renew the appointment in 2019, considered a routine administrative decision for one of hundreds of such positions. Walz did not know Boelter.“It was the equivalent of calling a Sunday school volunteer an ‘appointee of the bishop’,” a local reporter wrote.Rightwing X user Viva Frei, with more than 700,000 followers, posted a thread casting doubt on Boelter being a Trump supporter. The account has continued to post about the shootings, attempting to tie Walz to Boelter and his wife, Jennifer. A different Jennifer Boelter interned in Walz’s congressional office, though Frei has not accepted that fact.“Do you believe @GovTimWalz spokesperson when they claim that the Jennifer Boelter who interned for Tim Walz in 2010 is not the same Jennifer Boelter who is married to suspected assassin/domestic terrorist Vance Boelter?” the account asked in a poll.On Monday, posts showing a man at a protest with a shirt with a gun that says “resist” falsely claimed the man was Boelter. “Yea Libs sorry. He’s one of you. Keep saying he’s not. No one believes you,” said one post that got more than 2m views. The actual man in the picture debunked it, saying he was at a “No Kings” rally in Texas in the photo, making clear it was not Boelter.Local Republican officials have largely not contributed to the rumors, in some cases pushing back on the narratives.Harry Niska, the Republican floor leader in the Minnesota House, said on X that he often has and will continue to criticize Walz’s policies and rhetoric. “But there is no responsible basis to attribute to him any of the evil acts committed by Vance Boelter,” he said. More

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      Suspect in Minnesota shootings visited other legislators’ homes, say authorities

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      A man accused of dressing up as a police officer and shooting two Minnesota state lawmakers in their homes – killing one and her husband – also showed up at the houses of two other legislators the same night intending to assassinate them too, authorities revealed on Monday.Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was captured on Sunday night after a major two-day manhunt and charged by state prosecutors with the second-degree murder of the Democratic representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their residence in Brooklyn Park early on Saturday.He was also charged with the attempted murder of state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin.Appearing in federal court in St Paul, Minnesota, on Monday, Boelter said he could not afford an attorney. A federal public defender was appointed to represent him. A hearing about whether Boelter should be detained in federal custody pending the outcome of his case was tentatively scheduled for 27 June.The court appearance came after officials announced a separate 20-page federal indictment, which could include the death penalty for Hortman’s murder, at a late-morning press conference.The acting US attorney for the district of Minnesota, Joe Thompson, told reporters that as well as the early-hours attacks on the Hortman and Hoffman residences, Boelter was spotted at the homes of two other unnamed lawmakers, one a state representative, the other a state senator, in a “planned campaign of stalking and violence”.At one of the properties, nobody was home, he said. At the other, he was confronted by a police officer who was called to make a wellness check, and fled the scene.“It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmares,” Thompson said.“Boelter stalked his victims like prey. He went to their homes, held himself out as a police officer, and shot them in cold blood.”Hortman’s killing, at the final house he visited, “was a political assassination”, he added.“It’s a chilling attack on our democracy, on our way of life. The trend [of political violence] has been increasing over recent years and I hope it’s a wake-up call to everyone that people can disagree with you without being evil, without [anybody] needing to be killed for it.”Thompson gave a timeline of Boelter’s alleged spree, which began at the Hoffmans’ home. Arriving in a black SUV disguised to look like a police vehicle, and wearing a “hyper-realistic latex mask”, Boelter knocked on their door claiming to be a police officer, and shot them both repeatedly after they opened the door and realized he was not who he claimed to be.Both remain in hospital in serious condition but are expected to survive.Next, Thompson said, Boelter drove to the home of a Minnesota state representative in Maple Grove, where a doorbell camera captured him at 2.24am. She was on vacation, and he left.From there, he traveled to the home of a state senator, arriving at about 2.36am. An officer from the New Hope police department arrived to find Boelter’s vehicle parked a short distance away with lights on.Thompson said she assumed he was a fellow officer already there in response to the Hoffman shooting – but when she wound down her window to speak to him, Boelter did not respond, and “just sat there and stared straight ahead”, Thompson said.She retreated to the senator’s home to await the arrival of colleagues, who arrived to find him gone.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionFinally, Thompson said, he drove to the Hortmans’ home in Brooklyn Park. Officers arrived at about 3.30am to find him standing on the porch – and when they got out of their vehicles, he began firing at them, forced his way into the house and shot and killed Hortman and her husband, then fled on foot.“Boelter planned his attack carefully. He researched his victims and their families,” Thompson said.“He used the internet and other tools to find their addresses and names, the names of the family members. He conducted surveillance of their homes and took notes about the location of their homes.”He said he could not speculate on a motive, but said investigators found “dozens and dozens of names on hundreds of pages of documents” in the vehicle retrieved at the Hortman residence. All the elected officials targeted were Democrats, Thompson said.The writings and list of names are believed to include prominent state and federal lawmakers and community leaders, along with abortion rights advocates and information about healthcare facilities.An FBI affidavit states that after the shootings Boelter used cash to purchase a vehicle from a stranger, and then drove to Green Isle, about an hour west of Minneapolis, where a police officer reported seeing him run into woodland.The Brooklyn Park police chief, Mark Bruley, said about 20 different tactical teams searched inside a perimeter for him and he was located after an hours-long operation that included a helicopter.When Boelter was found, Bruley said, he crawled out of the woods after “a short period of negotiation” and was taken into custody in a field.In the vehicle there, police allegedly found a handwritten confession, while a search of his wife’s car yielded two handguns, passports and $10,000 in cash, the affidavit said.It states that Boelter texted his wife: “Words are not gonna explain how sorry I am for this situation. There’s gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don’t want you guys around.”The superintendent of Minnesota’s bureau of criminal apprehension, Drew Evans, told a Sunday news conference that authorities interviewed Boelter’s wife and other family members in connection with Saturday’s shootings and that they were cooperative and not in custody. More

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      Suspect in shootings of Minnesota lawmakers charged with two counts of murder

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      The man suspected of opening fire on two Minnesota legislators and their spouses on 14 June, killing one legislator and her husband, was apprehended late on Sunday night and charged with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder, the state’s governor, Tim Walz, said at a news conference.Vance Boelter, 57, is suspected of fatally shooting the Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their residence early on Saturday. Boelter is also suspected of shooting the state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home, seriously injuring them.“One man’s unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota,” the state’s governor, Tim Walz, said at a news conference.Boelter was arrested in a rural area in Sibley County, southwest of Minneapolis, according to police, who added that he was armed when he was taken into custody. A criminal complaint unsealed Sunday night said 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.Authorities alleged Boelter fled on foot after police responded to a shooting at Hortman’s house. Authorities alleged Boelter was wearing a police uniform that so closely resembled an actual law enforcement uniform that most civilians wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.Earlier Sunday, Drew Evans, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said at a news conference a nationwide warrant had been issued for the suspect’s arrest.Evans 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.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.On Sunday evening, US Senator 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.” More

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      ‘No Kings’ demonstrator dies after being shot at Utah protest, police say

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      A demonstrator who was shot on Saturday during Salt Lake City’s “No Kings” protest has died, Utah police said on Sunday afternoon.The man, Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, had apparently been shot by a man who had been part of the event’s peacekeeping team.“Our victim was not the intended target,” Brian Redd, the Salt Lake City police chief, said, “but rather an innocent bystander participating in the demonstration.”Arturo Gamboa, 24, was taken into police custody on Saturday evening on a murder charge, said Redd at a Sunday news conference. Ah Loo had been taken to the hospital on Saturday evening, where he died from his wounds.Redd said a man in a brightly colored vest fired three shots from a handgun at Gamboa, inflicting a relatively minor injury to Gamboa but fatally shooting Ah Loo.Two of the peacekeepers in neon vests allegedly saw Gamboa separate from the crowd of marchers in downtown Salt Lake City, move behind a wall and retrieve a rifle around 8pm, Redd said.When the two men in vests confronted Gamboa with their handguns drawn, witnesses said Gamboa raised his rifle into a firing position and ran toward the crowd, said Redd.That’s when one of the men in the bright vests shot three rounds, hitting Gamboa and Ah Loo, said Redd. Gamboa, who police said didn’t have a criminal history, was wounded and treated before being booked into jail.Detectives don’t yet know why Gamboa pulled out a rifle or ran from the peacekeepers, but they accused him of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo’s death. The Associated Press did not immediately find an attorney listed for Gamboa or contact information for his family in public records.The gunshots sent hundreds of protestors running, some hiding behind barriers and fleeing into parking garages and nearby businesses, police said in a statement. “That’s a gun. Come on, come on, get out,” someone can be heard saying in a video posted to social media that appears to show the events.No Kings protests swept across the country on Saturday, and organizers said millions rallied against what they described as Donald Trump’s authoritarian excesses. Confrontations were largely isolated.The Utah chapter of the 50501 movement, which helped organize the protests, said in a statement on Instagram that they condemned the violence.The Utah chapter did not immediately respond to AP questions about the peacekeeping team. It was unclear who hired them, whether they were volunteers or what their training was prior to the event. Redd said that the peacekeepers’ actions are also part of the investigation.Police said they recovered an AR-15 style rifle, a gas mask and a backpack at the scene. More

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      Manhunt continues for suspect in shootings of Minnesota lawmakers

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      The hunt for the man suspected of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses while impersonating a police officer, killing one legislator and her husband, continued on Sunday more than 24 hours after the killings.Vance Boelter, 57, now on the FBI’s most wanted list, is believed to have left the Minneapolis region after allegedly gunning down Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home, according to CNN. Boelter is also suspected of shooting Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their residence, gravely injuring them; a relative posted on Facebook that they were out of surgery and recovering.Authorities have disseminated photos of Boelter to border patrol agents in case he tries fleeing to Canada, CNN said.The Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar said on Sunday that authorities believe Boelter remains in the midwest. Klobuchar said on NBC’s Meet The Press that “he may be” in Minnesota and that law enforcement has issued an alert in South Dakota.“We believe he’s somewhere in the vicinity and that they are going to find him,” Klobuchar said. “But right now, everyone is on edge here because we know that this man will kill at a second.”An emergency alert was issued in Sibley county, which is approximately one hour from Minneapolis, around 12pm after Boelter’s vehicle was discovered, according to local Fox anchor Chenue Her. “Officials are telling residents nearby to take precaution as they continue searching for Boelter,” Her also reported.Klobuchar urged the public to be cautious if they see Boelter, warning they “should not approach him, that they should immediately call the tip lines and report”.View image in fullscreenPolice responded to a shooting at Hoffman’s house at about 2am local time, then went to check on Hortman, who lives approximately 9 miles away. When they arrived there around 3.30am they encountered Boelter, who was dressed as a police officer. They said he exchanged shots with them before escaping on foot.Hoffman’s nephew, Mat Ollig, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that both were recovering from surgery. In a Facebook post, Ollig said that Yvette saved their daughter’s life.“Early this morning, an absolute vile piece of shit dressed as a cop broke into my aunt and uncle’s house and shot him 6 and my aunt 5 times in a political act of terrorism. My aunt threw herself on her daughter, using her body as a shield to save her life,” Ollig wrote.“These two are the kindest, most giving and caring people I know. He went into politics to help people with disabilities get the care they need, and she works with young school children. They have always been there for me and everyone in our family and community.”Police said Boelter’s uniform might appear authentic to most people.Boelter also drove a vehicle that appeared identical to an SUV police squad car, said Mark Bruley, a local police chief. “It was equipped with lights, emergency lights, that looked exactly like a police vehicle, and yes, they were wearing a vest with Taser, other equipment, a badge very similar to mine, that, no question, if they were in this room, you would assume that they are a police officer,” Bruley said.Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, said the murders appear “to be a politically motivated assassination”.The Federal Bureau of Investigation has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to Boelter’s apprehension and conviction. He was added to the FBI’s most wanted list on Saturday.Before the attacks he reportedly contacted two friends by text message, which they read aloud to the Star Tribune: “I made some choices, and you guys don’t know anything about this, but 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.”He added: “I don’t want to say anything more and implicate you in any way because you guys don’t know anything about this. But I love you guys and I’m sorry for all the trouble this has caused.”Authorities reportedly said that Boelter left a list of potential targets at the shooting scene. Multiple outlets have reported that it included pro-choice lawmakers, as well as reproductive health clinics.“There clearly was some through line with abortion because of the groups that were on the list, and other things that I’ve heard were in this manifesto. So that was one of his motivations,” Klobuchar said.She also urged the public not to make any assumptions and allow investigators to work. “But again, they’re also checking out, did he have interaction somehow with these without legislators? Is there more to this?”The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that 11 lawmakers in the state of Wisconsin were also among the targets listed in Boelter’s alleged manifesto.Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, said on MSNBC that he expects to convene with congressional leaders to discuss ramping up security for lawmakers across the country in the wake of the deadly attacks.“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,” Jeffries said. More