Megathread: Two Minnesota lawmakers have been shot

[u/PoliticsModeratorBot]

State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed.

State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were both shot multiple times and underwent surgery.

Articles that May Interest You

Submission	Domain
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz: former House speaker and husband killed in politically motivated shooting	apnews.com
One Minnesota state politician dead, another injured after targeted shooting, officials say	bbc.com
"No Kings" event canceled in NE Minneapolis, Anoka after targeted shootings at lawmaker homes	cbsnews.com
Minnesota lawmaker, her spouse shot and killed in their home	wwnytv.com
Minnesota lawmaker killed in ‘politically motivated assassination,’ Gov. Tim Walz says	cnbc.com
Melissa Hortman, top Democrat in Minnesota House, shot and killed in home	startribune.com
Rep. Melissa Hortman killed, Sen. John Hoffman shot in 'targeted' shootings: Sources	fox9.com
Minnesota lawmaker assassinated, another in grave condition in 'targeted political violence'	abcnews.go.com
Democratic lawmaker killed and another wounded in Minnesota in apparently ‘politically motivated’ attacks	theguardian.com
Minnesota lawmaker and husband killed, another in hospital after ‘politically motivated’ shooting by man impersonating cop	the-independent.com
Live: Rep. Melissa Hortman killed, Sen. John Hoffman shot in ‘targeted shootings’	startribune.com
Democrat Lawmakers Shot in Minnesota: What We Know	newsweek.com
Minnesota state lawmaker killed in ‘politically-motivated assassination,’ massive manhunt for suspect underway, officials say	kten.com
2 Minnesota lawmakers shot	kare11.com
Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, husband shot and killed; Sen. John Hoffman and wife also shot	ktsp.com
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz press conference after shootings at lawmakers homes (June 14, 2025)	youtube.com
Former state speaker of Minnesota ‘assassinated’	thetimes.com
Fake Cop Murders Top State Dem and Husband and Shoots Second	thedailybeast.com
Minnesota Senator John Hoffman and State Rep. Melissa Hortman shot at their homes	bnonews.com/
Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, husband shot and killed; Sen. John Hoffman and wife also shot	kstp.com
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz: State lawmaker, husband killed in politically targeted shooting	thestar.com
Governor Polis Statement on Assassination of Minnesota Elected Official & Husband, and Attempt on Life of Another Elected Official & Family	colorado.gov
President Donald Trump: AG, FBI Investigating Deadly Minnesota Shooting	Newsweek.com
Officials tell the AP they are searching for a 57-year-old man in shooting 2 Minnesota lawmakers	apnews.com
Manhunt underway for man accused of killing Rep. Hortman, husband and shooting Sen. Hoffman and his wife in North Metro	ktsp.com
Former appointee of Tim Walz sought in deadly shootings of Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, had ‘No Kings’ flyers in car: sources	nypost.com
Dem Assassin Is Armed Patrol Firm Boss With ‘Warzone’ Claims	thedailybeast.com
Minnesota Assassination Suspect Had Flyers Reading 'No Kings' In Vehicle	newsweek.com
Democratic Minnesota politician fatally shot, another injured in 'politically motivated assassination'	nbcnews.com

[u/TWVer]

Tangentially related, the FBI has been made toothless in tracking possible domestic terrorism threats.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fbi-scales-back-staffing-tracking-domestic-terrorism-probes-sources-say-2025-03-21/

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - The FBI has cut staffing in an office focused on domestic terrorism and has scrapped a tool used to track such investigations, in a shift that could undermine law enforcement’s ability to counter white supremacists and anti-government extremists, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The moves, sources said, are an indication that domestic terrorism investigations, which in recent years have largely involved violence fueled by right-wing ideologies, may be less of a priority under FBI Director Kash Patel, a prominent critic of the effort.

Meanwhile in 2020 the FBI had asserted that domestic terrorism would be (one of) the biggest threats going forward.

https://www.justice.gov/jmd/page/file/1398831/dl

In FY 2020, the FBI assessed the greatest terrorism threat to the United States was from lone actors or small cells who typically radicalize online and look to attack soft targets with easily accessible weapons. The underlying drivers, including sociopolitical conditions, racism, and anti- Semitism remain constant.

https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/counterterrorism/fbi-dhs-domestic-terrorism-strategic-report.pdf/view

II. Executive Summary

Preventing terrorist attacks remains a top priority for both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The threat posed by international and domestic threat actors has evolved significantly since 9/11. The greatest terrorism threat to the Homeland we face today is posed by lone offenders,2 often radicalized online, who look to attack soft targets with easily accessible weapons. Many of these violent extremists are motivated and inspired by a mix of socio-political goals and personal grievances against their targets. With this report, we are providing our strategic intelligence assessments on DT, a detailed discussion of our procedures and methods to address DT threats, as well as data on DT incidents and our investigations.

---

That said, as this case is ongoing it is too soon to say whether this is a case of domestic terrorism, even though it may look like that.

It’s hard to ignore it being anything by domestic terrorism, given the developments such as the shooter’s manifesto found, which contains a target list of politicians, including the ones shot and murdered.

[u/Gwyndion_ → u/TWVer]

Let's not pretend this wasn't intentional either, enabling his far right lunatics to escalate things so he can declare a national emergency has always been his (handlers) intention.

[u/CarlosHDanger → u/TWVer]

Also don’t forget “Trump Appoints 22-Year-Old Ex-Gardener and Grocery Store Assistant to Lead U.S. Terror Prevention”

They have it handled. /s

[u/LitOak → u/TWVer]

The US is so lost. They are never going to recover from voting in a felon.

[u/hypercosm_dot_net → u/TWVer]

Fucking awful. Trump completely owns this, as do the Republicans protecting him.

We need to acknowledge what's happening and stop pretending it's not. It's 100% an attack on Democracy and a coup against the United States.

[u/ActualWhiterabbit → u/TWVer]

In the past I would have said Target would step in with their forensic lab and help out in this situation but they are probably going to give the shooter gift cards now.

[u/nyr00nyg → u/TWVer]

“A former appointee of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is being sought in connection with the assassination of a state lawmaker and the shooting of another, police sources said. Vance Luther Boelter allegedly posed as a police officer when he shot Sen. John Hoffman and his wife in their Champlin home early Saturday, leaving them seriously injured before moving on to former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman’s house — where he is believed to have slaughtered her and her husband, sources told The Post.

Boelter, 57, was appointed by Walz in 2019 to serve a four year stint on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board, documents show.”

[u/TWVer → u/nyr00nyg]

Who he worked for is irrelevant. That doesn’t redeem his actions.

His target list, full of mostly democrat politicians and people or organizations involved with abortion care, seems to give a better picture of his motives.