Democrats on Minnesota ‘assassin’ Vance Boelter’s ‘hit-list’ after he ‘murdered lawmaker and her husband’

Suspected assassin Vance Boelter wanted to take out several A-list Democrats, a chilling hit list seized by police has suggested.

Boelter, 57, is accused of shooting dead Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, in their home on Saturday. He is also suspected of shooting and wounding state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette at their home a few miles away. 

But the alleged killer seemingly planned to target more liberal lawmakers and abortion providers, according to a list of about 70 names recovered from the crime scene.

US Senator Amy Klobuchar and ‘squad member’ Rep. Ilhan Omar were among the most prominent lawmakers featured on the list, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune and Alpha News reporter Liz Collins. Both women are Democrat members of Congress and are among the most famous females in their party. 

Congresswoman Kelly Morrison, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and even Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie Scott – whom Boelter listed as an ‘author and philanthropist, were also on the list.

All four are well known liberal figures. 

The suspect included doctors that work for Planned Parenthood, as well as several abortion clinics on his list, even noting one that is due to open in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Boelter, a former public servant and Gov. Tim Walz appointee, was apprehended and taken into Hennepin County custody Sunday night after two days on the run.

He is now facing two state murder charges as well as two attempted murder charges, and a federal warrant for ‘unlawful flight to avoid prosecution’. Those charges will soon be upgraded as the state ‘intends to pursue first-degree murder charges’ against Boelter, county attorney Mary Moriarty says.

Department of Justice officials are also mulling federal charges against Boelter, a source told CNN Monday morning. If convicted on a federal murder or terrorism charge, Boelter could end up being executed.

US Senator Amy Klobuchar (left) and ‘squad member’ Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (right) were named on suspected assassin Vance Boelter’s hit list style ‘manifesto’ 

Vance Luther Boelter, the man accused of assassinating the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, as he was arrested late Sunday, June 15, 2025

Chilling photos showed the suspect donning an unsettling costume mask covering his entire head during the shootings

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans, who confirmed investigators found the manifesto during a Sunday night news briefing, said the document ‘gives some indications’ about Boelter’s motives.

‘This is not a document that would be like a traditional manifesto that’s a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings,’ Evans explained, according to the Star Tribune.

He said it was instead a notebook ‘with a lot of lawmakers and others … as opposed to a succinct document’.

‘I don’t want the public to have the impression that there’s this long manifesto that’s providing all of this information and details and then associated with names. It’s much more about names,’ Evans added. 

But Boelter, now a Donald Trump supporter, is believed to have targeted Hortman and Hoffman due to their support for abortion rights. 

The suspect’s roommate also revealed Boelter texted him the night before the murders, saying he was ‘going to be gone for a while’.

Boelter’s best friend and roommate David Carlson tearfully read aloud text messages from the accused assassin to KARE 11.

‘David and Ron, I love you guys,’ the eerie note began. ‘I made some choices, and you guys don’t know anything about this, but I’m going to be gone for a while.’

He also said he ‘may be dead shortly’ and did not wish to involve Carlson or his other roommate Ron Ramsey.

Boelter is scheduled to appear in court Monday at 1:30 p.m. local time, jail records showed.

Boelter is accused of fatally shooting Democratic State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark (pictured)

He also allegedly wounded his Democratic State Senator John Hoffman

Boelter had been impersonating a police officer when he carried out the shootings on Sunday night. He was wearing an officer’s uniform and driving a Ford SUV with police-style lights, a criminal complaint said.

He allegedly entered Hoffman and his wife Yvette’s home around 2 a.m. by posing as a cop and opened fire.

Police were called to the scene of the home by one of their children, after Yvette went down trying to protect her adult daughter Hope. The couple were rushed to the hospital.

When Brooklyn Park police then realized Hoffman was a state legislator, they deployed other officers to the Hortman residence out of precaution, according to court documents obtained by The Minnesota Star Tribune.

By the time the officers arrived at around 3am, they noticed Boelter’s vehicle was already in the driveway, and watched as he fatally struck Mark Hortman, the charging documents claim.

Officers encountered Boelter fleeing Hortman’s home at 3.35am and exchanged gunfire with him. Chilling photos showed the suspect donning an unsettling costume mask covering his entire head.

Yet officers somehow let the suspect slip through their fingers as he escaped the scene on foot. He was allegedly heavily armed at the time. 

Minnesota State Patrol, SWAT teams, and a US Marshals Fugitive Task Force arrived in a dozen or more vehicles including heavily armored trucks about 11am on Sunday

Minnesota State Patrol, SWAT teams, and a US Marshals Fugitive Task Force arrived in a dozen or more vehicles including heavily armored trucks about 11am on Sunday

Authorities questioned Boelter’s wife, Jenny, who was stopped at a convenience store while driving a car with three other relatives inside near Onamia about 10am on Saturday

Following the fatal shooting, authorities questioned Boelter’s wife, Jenny, who was stopped at a convenience store while driving a car with three other relatives inside near Onamia about 10am on Saturday.

She was found with a weapon, ammunition, cash, and passports about 75 miles from where the shootings took place in northern Minneapolis eight hours earlier. 

More than a dozen officers swarmed Jenny’s car during the traffic stop and they were at the scene for two to three hours.

Jenny was detained for questioning after officers found the items inside the vehicle, but no one was arrested as she was released.

Authorities have since said she and other family members were cooperative with the investigation. But it remains unclear whether her vehicle was stopped randomly or being tracked by police.

One day later, officers searched Boelter’s SUV after the shootings and discovered three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9-mm handgun, and the 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.

Hortman and her husband Mark were then fatally shot at their home in Brooklyn Park about 3am on Saturday

Officers then encountered the gunman fleeing Hortman’s home at 3.35am and exchanged gunfire with him

The Sibley County Sheriff’s Office also told Fox News Boelter ‘verbally’ identified himself to authorities, and Lt. Jeremy Geiger, of the Minnesota State Patrol, said authorities did not have to use any force to detain Boelter.

The suspect was then pictured being handcuffed, as the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office wrote that he is ‘the face of evil.’

Boelter has armed security experience in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and North America through the Praetorian Guard Security Services, his biography on the website detailed. 

‘He brings a great security aspect forged by both many on the ground experiences combined with training by both private security firms and by people in the US Military,’ it read.

‘Vance Boelter has focused all this experience to make sure Praetorian Guard Security Services covers the needs you have to keep your family and property safe.’

Boelter had also lived a life of public service before Saturday’s tragedies, and he even served on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board, which works closely with Gov. Tim Walz to give advice on the state’s workforce.

He served on the board from June 2016 to June 2018 as a private sector representative and from December 2019 to January 2023 as a board member. 

He was appointed under Walz both times.

Boelter was seen in CCTV footage wearing a cowboy hat identical to one found on Sunday

By around 4pm Sunday, a four-door dark blue Buick Regal sedan was removed from the search area on a flatbed truck

Authorities went house to house in rural Belle Plaine, Minnesota on Sunday as the search for Boelter continued

Additionally, Boelter was the chief executive of Red Lion Group, which was based in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Red Lion Group has since deleted its website and LinkedIn pages, but Boelter’s LinkedIn said he started at the company in December 2021.

Boelter previously worked for Metro First Call, a funeral company in Minneapolis, in August 2023 to February 2025, where he took bodies from nursing homes to the business to be prepared for burial.

He said in a video posted online that he worked with police and death investigators at crime scenes. 

Boelter updated his LinkedIn a month ago to say he had returned to the US and was looking for work in the food industry on the corporate side.

He had previously worked at 7-Eleven and Greencore as a general manager, a system manager at Del Monte Foods, and an operational leader at Johnsonville Sausage, according to his LinkedIn.

The social media page also shows his deep connections to politics, as he asked his followers to vote ahead of the 2020 election. 

Privately, Boelter was an avid Trump supporter and voted for the Republican candidate, Carlson told KARE11 about his roommate.

A memorial sits outside the Minnesota State Capitol in honor of murdered Democratic state Assemblywoman Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark

Residents left flowers and American flags in Hortman’s memory

He also described the suspect as a Christian who opposed abortion.

In fact, the suspect worked as a pastor and was seen in a newly unearthed video dancing in a church service in Africa. 

The clip, filmed in February 2023, showed him delivering a passionate testimony about how he met Jesus at the age of 17.

‘I met the Lord when I was 17 years old and I gave my life to Jesus Christ,’ he says in the clip.

He went on to describe naming his five children – who he shares with Jenny – after Christian virtues, Grace, Faith, Hope, Joy, and David, in what he calls a testament to God’s blessings on his life.

Still, Carlson said he doesn’t ‘know why he did what he did.’ 

‘It’s just… it’s not Vance… He had lots of friends, trust me, and I wish I could have been there to stop him.’