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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Vance Boelter, accused of assassination of DFL House leader Melissa Hortman, apprehended
GREEN ISLE, MINNESOTA - JUNE 15: Law enforcement stage in a neighborhood on June 15, 2025 in Green Isle, Minnesota. Law enforcement agencies are searching for a suspect in the killing of DFL State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, who were shot at their home yesterday. DFL State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and hospitalized in a separate incident. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said during a press conference that the shooting "appears to be a politically motivated assassination." (Photo by) Law enforcement officers on Sunday night arrested Vance Boelter, who is accused of assassinating Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home in Brooklyn Park as part of a larger plot to kill Democratic elected officials and other advocates of abortion rights. Boelter is also accused of shooting Democratic-Farmer-Labor state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin. Both Hoffmans survived the shooting, but received surgeries for their injuries and remain hospitalized. The arrest comes after a 43-hour manhunt — the largest in state history, according to Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley. Law enforcement officers had been searching all day after locating Boelter's abandoned vehicle near Green Isle, where Boelter has a home. At the time of his arrest, Boelter was armed, but ultimately surrendered. Officers did not use any force, said Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol. In the state's new Emergency Operations Center in Blaine — which was paid for by legislation passed by Hortman's DFL-controlled House in 2020 — Gov. Tim Walz thanked law enforcement and decried political violence and hateful rhetoric. 'This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,' Walz said. 'Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country, and each and every one of us can do it. Talk to a neighbor rather than argue, debate an issue, shake hands, find common ground.' Boelter is a Christian who voted for President Donald Trump and opposes abortion and LGBTQ rights, according to interviews with his childhood friend and videos of his sermons posted online. A list of potential targets — including Hoffman and Hortman — included abortion providers and other Democratic elected officials from Minnesota and Wisconsin. The attack, which has shocked Minnesotans and the nation, comes amid rising political violence since the emergence of President Donald Trump, who has made repeated threats of violence against his political enemies and praised his supporters who, for instance, attacked officers while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He later pardoned all of them. He survived two assassination attempts in 2024. Authorities say Boelter attacked the Hoffmans at their home in Champlin at approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. An unsealed criminal complaint indicates that the Hoffmans' daughter called the police to report the shooting of her parents, the Associated Press reports. At around 3:30 a.m., Brooklyn Park police headed to the Hortmans' home to proactively check on them following the attack on the Hoffmans, said Drew Evans, superintendent at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at a press conference Saturday morning. When they arrived, the officers saw the attacker in a fake law enforcement uniform shoot Mark Hortman through the open front door, according to the complaint. Out front, emergency vehicle lights flashed from a Ford Explorer outfitted to look like a cop car. When the officers confronted the shooter, a gunfight ensued, and the killer escaped, abandoning the vehicle. Inside, Hortman and her husband, Mark, were dead from gunshot wounds. In the SUV, police found a document with a list of lawmakers and other officials on it. Hortman and Hoffman were on the list. Evans said Sunday that the document is not a 'traditional manifesto that's a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings.' Instead, it contains a list of names and 'other thoughts' throughout. On Saturday afternoon, police raided a home in north Minneapolis where Boelter lived part time. In an interview with the Star Tribune and other media outlets, Boelter's roommate and childhood friend David Carlson shared a text message Boelter sent him at 6:03 a.m. saying that he would be 'gone for a while' and 'may be dead shortly.' Federal and state warrants were out for Boelter's arrest, and the FBI was offering a $50,000 award for information that led to Boelter's capture. On Sunday morning, law enforcement officers detained and questioned Boelter's wife as she was driving through Mille Lacs County with other family members. Evans said Sunday none of Boelter's family members are in custody. Sunday afternoon, law enforcement officers located a car linked to Boelter in Sibley County within a few miles of his home address in Green Isle. From there, teams from dozens of law enforcement agencies fanned out in search of Boelter. Boelter was spotted in the area, and officers converged around him, Evans said. He declined to provide some details of the tactics used by law enforcement to capture Boelter. Law enforcement officials continue to investigate Boelter's motives, Evans said, and urged the public not to jump to conclusions. 'We often want easy answers for complex problems, and this is a complex situation…those answers will come as we complete the full picture of our investigation,' he said. Fragments of Boelter's life available online, and interviews with those who know him, shed light on his religious and political beliefs. Boelter's LinkedIn page indicates that he spent many years working in food production before becoming the general manager of a 7-Eleven. More recently, he worked at funeral homes, the New York Times reported. Boelter was facing financial stress after quitting his job to embark on business ventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Carlson, the Star Tribune reported. The website for a private security firm lists Boelter as the 'director of security patrols,' and his wife as the CEO. He purchased some cars and uniforms but 'it was never a real company,' Carlson told the Strib. Carlson said Boelter is a Christian who strongly opposes abortion, the New York Times reported. In recordings of sermons Boelter delivered in Matadi, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he railed against abortion and LGBTQ people. The reporting on Boelter's religious life suggests that his beliefs were rooted in fundamentalism, though he doesn't appear to have been ordained in any particular denomination, said Rev. Angela Denker, a Minnesota-based Lutheran minister, journalist and author of books on Christianity, right-wing politics and masculinity. 'What this kind of theology says is that if you commit violence in the name of whatever movement you're a part of, then you're going to be rewarded,' Denker said. The gunman shot John Hoffman nine times, and Yvette Hoffman eight times, according to a statement from Yvette. The Hoffmans' nephew, Mat Ollig, wrote on Facebook that Yvette used her body to shield her daughter. John Hoffman is 'enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,' Yvette Hoffman said in a statement. On Sunday night as leaders spoke to the press, Boelter was being questioned by law enforcement, but officials declined to say where he was detained and which agency was questioning him. On the steps of the State Capitol Sunday, mourners created an extemporaneous memorial for Hortman, who will be known as one of the most consequential progressive leaders in recent state history.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Vance Boelter, accused of assassination of DFL House leader Melissa Hortman, apprehended
Law enforcement stage in a neighborhood on June 15, 2025 in Green Isle, Minnesota. Shooting suspect Vance Boelter later surrendered. (Photo by) Law enforcement officers on Sunday night arrested Vance Boelter, who is accused of assassinating Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home in Brooklyn Park as part of a larger plot to kill Democratic elected officials and other advocates of abortion rights. Boelter is also accused of shooting Democratic-Farmer-Labor state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin. Both Hoffmans survived the shooting, but received surgeries for their injuries and remain hospitalized. The arrest comes after a 43-hour manhunt — the largest in state history, according to Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley. Law enforcement officers had been searching all day after locating Boelter's abandoned vehicle near Green Isle, where Boelter has a home. At the time of his arrest, Boelter was armed, but ultimately surrendered. Officers did not use any force, said Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol. In the state's new Emergency Operations Center in Blaine — which was paid for by legislation passed by Hortman's DFL-controlled House in 2020 — Gov. Tim Walz thanked law enforcement and decried political violence and hateful rhetoric. 'This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,' Walz said. 'Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country, and each and every one of us can do it. Talk to a neighbor rather than argue, debate an issue, shake hands, find common ground.' Boelter is a Christian who voted for President Donald Trump and opposes abortion and LGBTQ rights, according to interviews with his childhood friend and videos of his sermons posted online. A list of potential targets — including Hoffman and Hortman — included abortion providers and other Democratic elected officials from Minnesota and Wisconsin. The attack, which has shocked Minnesotans and the nation, comes amid rising political violence since the emergence of President Donald Trump, who has made repeated threats of violence against his political enemies and praised his supporters who, for instance, attacked officers while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He later pardoned all of them. He survived two assassination attempts in 2024. Authorities say Boelter attacked the Hoffmans at their home in Champlin at approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. An unsealed criminal complaint indicates that the Hoffmans' daughter called the police to report the shooting of her parents, the Associated Press reports. At around 3:30 a.m., Brooklyn Park police headed to the Hortmans' home to proactively check on them following the attack on the Hoffmans, said Drew Evans, superintendent at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at a press conference Saturday morning. When they arrived, the officers saw the attacker in a fake law enforcement uniform shoot Mark Hortman through the open front door, according to the complaint. Out front, emergency vehicle lights flashed from a Ford Explorer outfitted to look like a cop car. When the officers confronted the shooter, a gunfight ensued, and the killer escaped, abandoning the vehicle. Inside, Hortman and her husband, Mark, were dead from gunshot wounds. In the SUV, police found a document with a list of lawmakers and other officials on it. Hortman and Hoffman were on the list. Evans said Sunday that the document is not a 'traditional manifesto that's a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings.' Instead, it contains a list of names and 'other thoughts' throughout. On Saturday afternoon, police raided a home in north Minneapolis where Boelter lived part time. In an interview with the Star Tribune and other media outlets, Boelter's roommate and childhood friend David Carlson shared a text message Boelter sent him at 6:03 a.m. saying that he would be 'gone for a while' and 'may be dead shortly.' Federal and state warrants were out for Boelter's arrest, and the FBI was offering a $50,000 award for information that led to Boelter's capture. On Sunday morning, law enforcement officers detained and questioned Boelter's wife as she was driving through Mille Lacs County with other family members. Evans said Sunday none of Boelter's family members are in custody. Sunday afternoon, law enforcement officers located a car linked to Boelter in Sibley County within a few miles of his home address in Green Isle. From there, teams from dozens of law enforcement agencies fanned out in search of Boelter. Boelter was spotted in the area, and officers converged around him, Evans said. He declined to provide some details of the tactics used by law enforcement to capture Boelter. Law enforcement officials continue to investigate Boelter's motives, Evans said, and urged the public not to jump to conclusions. 'We often want easy answers for complex problems, and this is a complex situation…those answers will come as we complete the full picture of our investigation,' he said. Minnesota House Democratic leader dead after targeted shooting; Democratic senator also shot Fragments of Boelter's life available online, and interviews with those who know him, shed light on his religious and political beliefs. Boelter's LinkedIn page indicates that he spent many years working in food production before becoming the general manager of a 7-Eleven. More recently, he worked at funeral homes, the New York Times reported. Boelter was facing financial stress after quitting his job to embark on business ventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Carlson, the Star Tribune reported. The website for a private security firm lists Boelter as the 'director of security patrols,' and his wife as the CEO. He purchased some cars and uniforms but 'it was never a real company,' Carlson told the Strib. Carlson said Boelter is a Christian who strongly opposes abortion, the New York Times reported. In recordings of sermons Boelter delivered in Matadi, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he railed against abortion and LGBTQ people. The reporting on Boelter's religious life suggests that his beliefs were rooted in fundamentalism, though he doesn't appear to have been ordained in any particular denomination, said Rev. Angela Denker, a Minnesota-based Lutheran minister, journalist and author of books on Christianity, right-wing politics and masculinity. 'What this kind of theology says is that if you commit violence in the name of whatever movement you're a part of, then you're going to be rewarded,' Denker said. The gunman shot John Hoffman nine times, and Yvette Hoffman eight times, according to a statement from Yvette. The Hoffmans' nephew, Mat Ollig, wrote on Facebook that Yvette used her body to shield her daughter. John Hoffman is 'enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,' Yvette Hoffman said in a statement. On Sunday night as leaders spoke to the press, Boelter was being questioned by law enforcement, but officials declined to say where he was detained and which agency was questioning him. On the steps of the State Capitol Sunday, mourners created an extemporaneous memorial for Hortman, who will be known as one of the most consequential progressive leaders in recent state history. Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Here are some of the projects funded by the $700 million infrastructure deal
Construction on the Robert Street Bridge on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Saint Paul, Minn. (Photo by Ellen Schmidt/Minnesota Reformer) After bipartisan legislative leaders publicly pronounced an infrastructure bill dead for the year, they resurrected it during closed-door negotiations and shepherded the $700 million deal through the Legislature during a one-day special session Monday. The infrastructure bill is called a 'bonding bill' because the state government issues bonds — i.e. borrows money — to pay for the projects. Sixty percent of both the House and Senate must vote 'yes' to allow the state to issue bonds, so bonding bills require robust bipartisan support. This one passed 116-15 in the House and 57-10 in the Senate. The bill distributes money across the state to a wide variety of projects. In some cases, the funding will go to a state agency, which has discretion over where exactly the money goes; in other cases, lawmakers directed money to a specific project. The DFL-controlled Legislature passed a $2.6 billion infrastructure package in the 2023 session, including $1.5 billion in bonds. In 2020, lawmakers passed a $1.9 billion bonding bill. Here are the biggest-ticket items: $176 million to the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority to build, upgrade and repair municipal water treatment plants. $84 million to Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, mostly for asset preservation; $24 million will go toward a new transportation center at Alexandria Technical and Community College. $80 million to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, largely for road and bridge repairs. $60 million to the University of Minnesota. $67 million for a new Bureau of Criminal Apprehension headquarters in Mankato. $55 million for a new 50-bed psychiatric facility on the campus of the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center. $44 million to the Department of Natural Resources for asset preservation, accessibility, flood mitigation and more at state parks. $40 million for repairs and upgrades of state prisons. $29 million to the Minnesota Housing Finance Authority, mostly for the rehabilitation of public housing. $16 million to the Metropolitan Council, the vast majority for metro-area sewer work and $1 million for tree planting. $13.7 million to the Minnesota Zoo, mostly for a new animal hospital. $11.5 million for the Capitol complex, mostly to make one of the underground tunnels connecting the buildings compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The rest is for asset preservation and security improvements.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
GOP scores win as Legislature repeals health care for undocumented adults
GOP scores win as Legislature repeals health care for undocumented adults originally appeared on Bring Me The News. Minnesota lawmakers voted Monday to strip MinnesotaCare health insurance from undocumented adults. The measure, which was the most controversial of the legislative session, passed both the House and Senate after leaders reached a budget agreement to avoid a government shutdown. In the evenly-divided House, DFL caucus leader Melissa Hortman was the only Democratic lawmaker to vote for the bill's passage. In the DFL-controlled Senate, Majority Leader Erin Murphy, Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope and others joined Republicans in voting for the bill. "I cannot vote to shut down our state, I just can't," Rest said in brief remarks on the Senate floor. "I made an agreement, I gave my word," Murphy said shortly before the vote. "I will vote for this. And it's among the most painful votes I've ever taken." The move rolls back a 2023 legislative accomplishment for Democrats, handing a major win to GOP lawmakers who refused a series of offers from DFL leaders and continued to leverage the threat of a government shutdown to get the bill across the finish line. Around 17,000 undocumented adults are currently enrolled in MinnesotaCare, which offers state-subsidized health care plans for low income people who pay premiums in exchange for coverage. The move is expected to save the state $56.9 million in the 2026-27 biennium. Opponents of the bill decried the measure as shameful and several Democratic lawmakers have said the change will cause some undocumented immigrants to die as serious health issues go undetected or untreated. Democrats have also claimed fiscal responsibility is not the motive of the GOP, as the change could drive costs associated with emergency hospital care. This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Infrastructure package is dead this year, Minnesota legislative leaders say
Photo by. A bill to fund critical public works projects — including upgrading the state's roads, protecting Minnesota's drinking water and expanding city sewers — is dead this year, legislative leaders said Thursday. The Minnesota Legislature in even years typically passes an infrastructure package — known as a 'bonding bill' around the Capitol because it's funded with borrowed money — that costs hundreds of millions and sometimes billions of dollars. But partisan tensions appear to have won out this year and killed the bill's prospects. Bonding bills require a 60% supermajority in both the House and Senate to pass, meaning it needs robust bipartisan support. Legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz are working to button up budget bills in hopes of convening a special session next week to pass the biennium budget, after failing to complete their work before the constitutionally mandated May 19 adjournment. If lawmakers fail to pass a budget by June 30, the government will shut down. The DFL-controlled Legislature passed a $2.6 billion infrastructure package in the 2023 session, including $1.5 billion in bonds, following three legislative sessions without an infrastructure deal. The 2023 package included more than $317 million for upgrades to college buildings in the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State systems, $9 million for security upgrades at the State Capitol and $443 million for economic development initiatives, much of which went to Twin Cities metro nonprofits that assist people of color. Last year, the Legislature failed to pass a bonding bill. Democrats at the time blamed Republicans for making their necessary votes contingent on Democrats killing the Equal Rights Amendment. House DFL caucus leader Melissa Hortman on Thursday told reporters that Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, is trying the same tactics this year. 'Johnson has a price tag that includes lots and lots of other things far outside the bonding bill, and so I think he's going to overplay his hand, exactly as he did in 2024 and there will again not be a bonding bill,' Hortman said, laying the blame on Senate Republicans. Asked what kinds of demands Johnson is seeking, Hortman said, 'He just wants to rewrite every other bill.' In a statement, Johnson said Democrats refused to compromise. 'Democrats are the only ones unwilling to work together to pass (a) bonding bill and are playing political blame games to appease their activist base,' Johnson said. A lack of bonding bill this year could also cost Minnesota more money in the long run. Republicans in Congress are considering eliminating a tax break that lowers the cost of public infrastructure projects across the country, as they try to gather savings to pay for a major tax cut that would especially benefit the wealthy. If passed, the cost of borrowing for state and local governments would increase, meaning taxpayers would foot the bill.
