First court appearance Monday afternoon
Minnesota authorities overnight apprehended the suspect sought in the Saturday shootings of two Democratic state politicians and their spouses. The two-day manhunt concluded in a field southwest of Minneapolis (Associated Press):
Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was captured late Sunday following a two-day manhunt authorities described as the largest in the state’s history. Boelter is accused of impersonating a police officer and gunning down former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home outside Minneapolis. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz described the shooting as “a politically motivated assassination.”
Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were shot earlier by the same gunman at their home nearby but survived.
Friends and former colleagues interviewed by AP described Boelter as a devout Christian who attended an evangelical church and went to campaign rallies for President Donald Trump. Records show Boelter registered to vote as a Republican while living in Oklahoma in 2004 before moving to Minnesota where voters don’t list party affiliation.
Boelter will face state and potentially federal charges. He was arrested after being spotted on a trail camera.
Multiple news accounts list Boelter’s past jobs, a visit to Africa, his service on a couple of local boards, and his armed home security business that had no business. “He had no employees. He wasn’t doing security for anybody. It wasn’t his job,” David Carlson, a roommate and lifelong friend, told reporters:
He said Boelter supported Trump and tuned in to programming from Alex Jones’s conspiracy-filled Infowars site. Boelter would be offended if anyone called him a Democrat, his roommate said.
What’s not being reported to date is how Boelter’s religious affiliations may have influenced his decision to draft what appears to be a list of 70 potential targets that included “politicians, civic and business leaders, and Planned Parenthood centers, according to law enforcement officials.”
Bruce Wilson, a researcher of the Christian right and New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), posted a thread speculating about Boelter’s connections to the movement.
Boelter’s unpublished book blurb lists him as a graduate of Christ For The Nations Institute.
The rest is speculation that Boelter is at least NAR adjacent. More may come out after police interrogate Boelter and after reporters dig into his past.
We’ve written plenty here on the NAR. Fred Clarkson and Andre Gagne published last year “A Reporter’s Guide to the New Apostolic Reformation,” describing the movement as “hiding in plain sight” and off news reporters’ regular beats.
Carlson spoke on Sunday with reporters outside his residence:
“I just want you guys to just not say ‘crazy right-winger gone nuts’ and that was all he is, you know,” he said. “It just bothers me that that’s his legacy, but I knew — I knew him my whole life. He was a good guy.”
He broke into tears and stepped back into his home.
Expect a great flood of whataboutism from the right. Luigi Mangione will figure prominently. And Thomas Crooks, the Butler, Pa. sniper, no matter his mental state or the muddiness surrounding his motives. Boelter will be disowned. Because conservatism never fails.
(h/t FC)
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