Fact Check: Marjorie Taylor Greene posted rifle photo after news of Minnesota lawmaker shootings. Here's context
Claim:
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., posted a photo showing her aiming a rifle soon after news broke of the shootings involving Minnesota Democratic Party lawmakers in June 2025.
Rating:
Context:
Greene, or a member of her staff, posted the picture on her official House representative social media pages, along with three other photos showing her participating in the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary event in Washington on the morning of June 14 — several hours after the shootings occurred. News had broken locally in Minnesota about the shootings at that hour, but many prominent national news outlets had not yet reported on them. A spokesman for Greene did not say whether she was aware of the shootings at the time. She later shared a post calling the shootings "horrific" and saying she was praying for victims' families and friends, adding, "Political violence must end in America."
A rumor that circulated online in June 2025 claimed U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., posted a photo on her official social media accounts showing her aiming a rifle soon after news broke of shootings involving Minnesota Democratic Party lawmakers. Snopes received reader mail asking, for example, "It's being shared on Facebook that Marjorie Taylor Greene posted a picture of herself firing an assault rifle in response to the news of the political assassinations in MN. Can you verify or debunk? Thanks." Another reader emailed, "Did MTG really post this right after the Minnesota assassinations?"
For example, on June 14 — the day of the shootings — a manager of the Feminist News Facebook page posted (archived) in part, "Minutes after news broke that two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota were targeted for assassination in separate attacks, Marjorie Taylor Greene posted this." Users shared this rumor on Bluesky (archived), Facebook (archived), Threads (archived) and X (archived).
(Feminist News/Facebook)
It is true that Greene shared that photograph in the hours after the Minnesota shootings, but the timeline of her posts and the news about the shootings requires context.
Greene posted the picture, as well as three others, in support of the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary event, the commemoration featuring a military parade attended by President Donald Trump, held in Washington on June 14 — the same day as the shootings. She, or a member of her staff, shared the photos on social media after some news outlets, particularly those based in Minnesota, reported the early details of multiple targeted shootings. At the same time, her posts appeared before some prominent national outlets, including The Associated Press, Fox News, Reuters and others, broke the news of the victims' high-profile status as Democratic Party politicians and their spouses.
Later on June 14, Greene posted a statement about the shootings on her social media accounts. The statement (archived) read in part, "The politically motivated assassinations of Minnesota lawmakers is horrific. I'm praying for their families and friends. Political violence must end in America."
Snopes emailed a representative for Greene asking if they wished to comment about this claim, including inquiring about whether or not the congresswoman was aware of the shootings at the time the photos were published. Spokesman Alec Ernst said it was "DISGUSTING" to suggest that the photos were posted in connection with the Minnesota shootings and reiterated that Greene was taking part in the Army anniversary event that day, "joining members of the Army on the National Mall for demonstrations of their equipment and workout routines." He did not say whether Greene knew about the shootings when the posts were made.
We also contacted a manager of the Feminist News Facebook page to ask about their post, in light of the timeline of when news broke nationally about the shootings. We will update this story if we receive more information.
On June 16, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Vance Luther Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, Minnesota, with stalking and murdering Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, in addition to stalking and shooting Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office in Minnesota announced Boelter also faces state charges on two counts of second-degree intentional murder and two counts of second-degree attempted intentional murder. The state said it intended to seek first-degree murder charges, and that the reason authorities filed second-degree charges was "to secure a warrant as quickly as possible."
The New York Times reported the shootings, occurring on June 14, began at around 2:00 a.m. CDT at the Hoffman residence in Champlin, then ended with a suspect running from law enforcement officers at the Hortmans' Brooklyn Park home about 3:30 a.m.
At 2:43 a.m., a manager of the MN Crime X account (@MN_CRIME), which posts about crimes around the state's capital and other areas, began a thread (archived) sharing early news of the Hoffmans' shooting.
Then, at 4:33 a.m., another post in the same thread reported victims' statuses as state politicians. The post (archived) read, "Per radio dispatches, there have been shootings at a State Senator's house in Champlin and a State Representative's home in Brooklyn Park. We don't have any information on the second shooting incident, nor confirmed updates on the victims' condition."
Just before 5:30 a.m., Minnesota officials broadcast an "emergency alert" message (archived) with the status of "extreme," stating that the Brooklyn Park Police Department issued a "shelter in place order" to some residents for an "emergent event" involving "multiple targeted shootings." The message did not mention any details about the victims' status in state politics. Local news media outlets began (archived) reporting (archived) these early details about the developing story around the same time.
At 8:36 a.m. — 9:36 a.m. in Washington — Greene posted (archived) four photos on her official House representative X account — including the rifle picture — showing her enjoying festivities at the Army's 250th anniversary event, including giving attendees an up-close look at military vehicles and weapons. The post featured American flag emojis and read, "Happy 250th Anniversary to the @USArmy !! The National Mall is hosting the coolest and most patriotic celebration today and I can't wait for the parade this evening!! Today, let's celebrate AMERICA!! God bless the USA!!"
A short time later, at 9:02 a.m. CDT, Juliette Kayyem, CNN's senior national security analyst, reported on the cable news TV channel that someone had targeted two Democratic legislators, and their spouses, in their homes.
At 9:20 a.m., Greene posted the same photos and message on her House representative Facebook (archived) and Instagram (archived) accounts. Then, at 9:24, she appeared live (archived) on the Real America's Voice channel for an interview from the same grounds in Washington that offered attendees a chance to see and experience the military equipment.
MSNBC then reported the news, including specifically mentioning the Democratic lawmakers, on air at 9:30 a.m., followed by Fox News' TV channel at 9:32 a.m. The Associated Press published the news on X (archived) at 9:40 a.m., followed by an article (archived) on the Fox News website at 9:44 a.m. Reuters reported (archived) the news on X at 9:45 a.m.
At 9:46 a.m., Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced the names of the victims at a news conference.
For further reading, a previous fact check confirmed the claim that Greene bought shares of Palantir Technologies days before the Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced a $30 million contract with the company.
"After Two-Day Manhunt, Suspect Charged with Shooting Two Minnesota Lawmakers and Their Spouses." United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, 16 June 2025, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/after-two-day-manhunt-suspect-charged-shooting-two-minnesota-lawmakers-and-their-spouses.
@AP. X, https://x.com/AP/.
Beno, Leah. "#Breaking: A Shelter in Place Order Has Been Put into Effect in Part of Brooklyn Park. We Are Actively Working to Confirm Various Details, Calls Coming into Our Newsroom." X, @LeahBenoFox9, 14 June 2025, https://x.com/LeahBenoFox9/status/1933849661866954908.
"Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene." Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/RepMTGreene/.
Dominguez, Leo, and Ashley Cai. "How the Minnesota Shootings, Manhunt and Suspect's Arrest Unfolded." The New York Times, 15 June 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/15/us/minnesota-shooting-timeline.html.
Dorgan, Michael. "Minnesota Lawmaker, Spouse, Shot Dead in 'Politically Motivated Assassination': Gov. Walz." Fox News, 14 June 2025, https://www.foxnews.com/us/minnesota-lawmakers-spouses-shot-separate-home-attacks.
Haworth, Jon, et al. "Minnesota Lawmaker Melissa Hortman Killed, State Sen. John Hoffman Wounded in 'Targeted Political Violence.'" ABC News, 14 June 2025, https://abcnews.go.com/US/2-minnesota-lawmakers-shot-targeted-incident-officials/story?id=122840751.
"Hennepin County Attorney's Office Confirms Multiple Charges against Vance Luther Boelter, Will Seek First-Degree Murder Charges." Hennepin County, Minnesota, 16 June 2025, https://www.hennepinattorney.org/news/news/2025/June/boelter-charges.
"LIVE | Minnesota Lawmaker Shootings News Conference." YouTube, FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, 14 June 2025, https://www.youtube.com/live/RL1jJLhyLBg.
@MN_CRIME. X, https://x.com/MN_CRIME/.
@Reuters. X, https://x.com/Reuters/.
"TV News Archive." Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/tv.
Yamat, Rio, and Hallie Golden. "Many Lawmakers Named in Writings of Suspected Minnesota Shooter Vow Not to Bow Down." The Associated Press, 17 June 2025, https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-lawmakers-shot-potential-targets-reaction-7c6b5f9923e53e955295a0a700b6ac6f.
June 19, 2025: This story was updated to correct a mention of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's party affiliation.
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