MINNEAPOLIS — The massive manhunt for alleged Minnesota political assassin Vance Luther Boelter — and revelations about his bizarre life and back story — have sparked major questions about his political affiliations and motivations
Cops believe that Vance Luther Boelter murdered a top Democratic state lawmaker and attempted to kill another Dem. But, he was also appointed to a state advisory board by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.
Boelter claimed to have a doctorate of education, and said he spent extensive time in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa — where he was seen in videos apparently preaching on stage.
Boelter, 57, is being hunted by authorities in connection with the assassination of Democrat Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in their Brooklyn Park home early on Saturday, in what Minnesota Governor Tim Walz described as “targeted political violence.”
The suspected assassin, who reportedly had a list of 70 “targets” including that of Walz, is also accused of badly wounding a second Democrat lawmaker, Senator John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin, a northern suburb of Minneapolis, on Saturday.
Boelter was reportedly impersonating law enforcement when he entered both lawmakers’ homes and when he later exchanged gunfire with police.
Haunting security camera footage believed to show him wearing a creepy latex mask of an old man’s face was shared by the FBI on Saturday, which issued a $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
“Politically motivated assassination”
Gov. Walz described the killing of Hortman as “a politically motivated assassination.”
“He was a Trump supporter. He voted for Trump. He liked Trump. I like Trump,” his roommate and lifelong friend David Carlson told The Post.
“He didn’t like abortion.”
Boelter lived with Carlson and another man part-time while he worked a job in Minneapolis — whole his wife and children lived on a farm in rural Green Isle, about 50 minutes from the big city.
Carlson and the other roommate, Matthew, said he rarely talked politics and didn’t seem to be overtly political.
Following the shootings, he sent a sinister message to his friends.
“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 said in the message, as reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Inside his car, authorities found a targeted list of individuals including several politicians as well as abortion providers and pro-abortion politicians, the Star Tribune reported.
Those included Democratic Rep. Kelly Morrison and Sen. Tina Smith, according to their respective offices.
However, a picture of handwritten fliers with the slogan “No Kings,” which has become a popular anti-Trump rallying cry, were reportedly found in his car, according to law enforcement.
Although the exact motivations for Boelter’s alleged crimes are unclear, it is known that he worked on the same state workforce development board as Sen. Hoffman, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension confirmed to KTTC.
Appointed by Gov. Tim Walz
Two notices of appointment for Boelter to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board (GWDB) were obtained by KTTC.
The first notice was issued by Gov. Walz’s predecessor, Mark Dayton, a fellow Democrat, in June 2016 for a two-year term.
Boelter was listed as a private sector representative for Dayton’s appointment.
He was reappointed to the board by Gov. Walz in December 2019, this time as a business member, for a term that expired in January 2023.
The GWDB is listed under Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), which includes Sen. Hoffman under its current membership directory.
Waltz sources told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that the governor, who was Kamala Harris’ presidential running-mate, didn’t know Boelter.
Boelter was merely re-appointed to a bipartisan advisory board that had 60 members, his office told the newspaper.
Food for thought
Boelter spent much of his career in the food industry, working at Nestle and Del Monte, as well as a spell at Wisconsin-based Johnsonville Sausage, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He is a St. Cloud State University graduate and later received his Master of Science and a doctor of education from Cardinal Stritch University, a private Catholic establishment in Milwaukee, which closed in May 2023 following financial challenges and declining enrollment.
He spent a decade as a general manager at a Greencore grocery store and at a 7-Eleven in Minneapolis before leaving in November 2021 to become CEO of a mysterious company called Red Lion Group.
It is not clear what the company did and the website for Red Lion Group, linked to Boelter’s LinkedIn profile, is currently down.
Boelter also claimed he was the head of a security company in Minnesota, but also reportedly had links to central Africa.
A month ago, Boelter claimed he was looking for work and wanted to get back into the food industry on his LinkedIn, while also describing his recent work in Africa with the mystery Red Lion Group.
“I’m looking to get back into the US Food Industry and I’m pretty open to positions,” he wrote. “I have been doing projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa the last three years with Red Lion Group. If you hear of any opportunities or just want to catch up, please send me a message.”
He described himself as open to senior roles in Texas, Minnesota, Florida and the Washington DC-Baltimore area.
Two years ago, he claimed he was “currently in the Democratic Republic of Congo working on several projects, adding that “Red Lion Group had a great meeting with the new Governor of Congo Central to talk about our private business projects that are all moving forward.”
Boelter is also listed as the director of security patrols on the website of the Praetorian Guard Security Services, which uses a photo of him also shared by the FBI.
Praetorian Guard Security Services claimed to provide residential armed home security in Minnesota. However, his roommate Carlson said the company never had any clients or employees.
“His dream was to have a security company. He never was or never had a security company. It’s like me saying I want to start a company selling hot dogs, but I need a hot dog stand,” he said.
“I find a hot dog stand and I need supplies and it never kinda works out and I have the hot dog stand.”
Despite that, he made big claims about his work.
“Vance has been involved with security situations in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip,” his profile on the company website reads.
“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 U.S. Military. He has worked for the largest U.S. oil refining company, the world’s largest food company based in Switzerland and the world’s largest convenience retailer based in Japan.”
Search continues
Police on Sunday are still surrounding Boelter’s home around five miles from the remote hamlet of Green Isle, which itself is an hour outside of Minneapolis.
His only public criminal history in Minnesota is for minor traffic tickets including speeding and parking violations, KTTC reports.
The manhunt for Boelter is continuing into Sunday with parts of suburban Minneapolis put under shelter-place-orders.
Residents in South Dakota were warned to watch out for a maroon Buick potentially being driven by a “person of interest in the events that have happened in Minnesota,” who could be traveling with someone “armed and dangerous,” according to law enforcement.
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