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 motives.
Cops believe that Vance Luther Boelter murdered a top Democratic state lawmaker and attempted to kill another Dem politician. 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 suburban Minneapolis home early on Saturday, in what 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.”
His roommate said that he had conservative political views, but rarely talked about politics and didn’t seem overtly political.
“He was a Trump supporter. He voted for Trump. He liked Trump. I like Trump,” 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 — while his wife and children lived on a farm in rural Green Isle, about 50 minutes from the big city.
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.
When cops searched Boelter’s car, they 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 US Sen. Tina Smith, according to their respective offices.
A picture of handwritten fliers with the slogan “No Kings,” which has become a popular anti-Trump rallying cry, were also reportedly found in his car, according to law enforcement.
