Latest news with #doomsdayprepper
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Suspect in Minnesota lawmaker's killing was ‘prepper' preparing ‘for war'
The man charged in connection with the recent shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses was a doomsday 'prepper' who instructed his family to 'prepare for war' as he tried to evade capture, according to new court filings. Vance Boelter, 57, faces multiple federal and state murder charges after allegedly shooting dead the Democratic Minnesota state house speaker emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in the early hours of 14 June. Boelter is also accused of shooting and seriously wounding the Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, about 90 minutes earlier. In a newly unsealed affidavit first reported by the local news station WCCO and seen by the Guardian, law enforcement pulled over Boelter's wife and four children hours after the shootings near Lake Mille Lacs, about 75 miles (120km) north of the Twin Cities, apparently en route to Wisconsin. Boelter's wife consented to a search of her vehicle, where law enforcement located a revolver in the glove box and a semi-automatic pistol in a cooler. Police also found a safe, Boelter's and the children's passports, and at least $10,000 in cash, according to the affidavit by FBI agent Terry Getsch. Boelter's wife told investigators that her husband had recently sent a message to a group text thread with their children, which 'stated something to the effect of they should prepare for war, they needed to get out of the house and people with guns may be showing up to the house', wrote Getsch. According to the affidavit dated 14 June, Boelter and his wife were preppers – a term which refers to people who stockpile materials such as weapons, food and gasoline. Preppers' purpose for doing that is to survive a future major disaster or catastrophe such as war or economic or political collapse. At some point earlier, Boelter had given his wife a 'bailout plan' – instructions of what to do and where to go in case of 'exigent circumstances'. The plan specified that the family go to her mother's residence in Spring Brook, Wisconsin. She also told investigators that her husband 'has a business partner from Worthington' who lives in the state of Washington. The two were 'partners … in Red Lion, a security company and fishing outfit in Congo, Africa', the affidavit states. The deadly shootings took place as millions of people prepared to take to the streets to protest against the Trump administration and its assault on free speech, peaceful assembly and due process rights embedded in the US constitution. Getsch wrote the affidavit during what became the largest ever manhunt in Minnesota state history, when he believed the gunman may have fled state lines. Boelter was eventually captured two days later while trying to evade arrest by fleeing into a wooded area close to his home. The affidavit does not imply that Boelter's wife knew about her husband's alleged plans to attack the lawmakers. She has not been charged with any crime. Boelter was disguised as a police officer and drove a black SUV with a license plate that said 'police'. He allegedly ambushed the lawmakers at home in the middle of the night, banging on their front doors armed with a 9mm handgun, and wearing a black tactical vest and silicone mask. He exchanged fire with police at about 3.30am on Saturday outside the Hortmans' home but managed to flee the scene, according to a federal criminal complaint. According to separate court documents obtained by WCCO on Friday, law enforcement found a storage locker rented by Boelter in Minneapolis on 10 June. He had last 'used his access code' for the locker the day before the shootings. Investigators later found empty rifle cases, gun-cleaning supplies and a bike inside the locker. Law enforcement found a 'hit list' of individuals inside what they believe was Boelter's vehicle. It included Hortman, Hoffman and several other Democratic lawmakers, as well as reproductive rights advocates. In a statement released on Thursday, the Hoffman family recounted the terrifying attack. The statement said: 'We are grappling with the reality that we live in a world where public service carries such risks as being targeted because someone disagrees with you or doesn't like what you stand for.'
BBC News
13 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Minnesota shootings suspect was a 'prepper', FBI says
The suspect accused of fatally shooting a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband in a gun rampage last week was a doomsday "prepper", according to the wife of the accused, Vance Boelter, told investigators the family was among a small group of Americans who "prepare for major or catastrophic incidents", said a court 57, has been charged with killing Democratic House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, last also seriously wounded Democratic State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Police say there is evidence he was planning to target others. Police captured Mr Boelter in woods last Sunday after a two-day wife was pulled over in a traffic stop hours after the shootings. She was taking their four children to stay with friends, according to investigators. Jenny Boelter told the authorities her husband had warned her in a message that she should flee, documents show. "The text stated something to the effect of they should prepare for war, they needed to get out of the house and people with guns may be showing up to the house," wrote FBI agent, Terry Getsch, in an affidavit released on her car, investigators found about $10,000 in cash, passports and two guns. Mrs Boelter has not been charged with any said her husband had given her a "bailout plan", for what to do if she ever needed to leave the Boelter also said her husband had a business partner in the north-western US state of Washington and that they ran a security company and "fishing outfit" called "Red Lion" in Congo, Africa. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, has called the shootings an "act of targeted political violence".According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Mr Boetler wrote a rambling and incoherent letter addressed to the FBI in which he claimed the state's governor had ordered him to kill Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar as part of a supposed plot for Walz to take her spot in the Senate. There is no evidence of any such and Minnesota's other US senator, Tina Smith, along with Walz, were among Democratic politicians on a list of around 70 targets found in Mr Boetler's possession, according to local suspect disguised himself as a police officer to gain access to the homes of the two US lawmakers he shot, police have said. He was wearing a vest with a Taser and a badge. Yvette Hoffman, who survived the attack, was released from the hospital on Thursday, while her husband remains in care. Mrs Hoffman was shot while shielding her daughter, Hope, from gunfire. It was Hope who called 911.
The Guardian
14 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Suspect in Minnesota lawmaker's killing was ‘prepper' preparing ‘for war'
The man charged in connection with the recent shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses was a doomsday 'prepper' who instructed his family to 'prepare for war' as he tried to evade capture, according to new court filings. Vance Boelter, 57, faces multiple federal and state murder charges after allegedly shooting dead the Democratic Minnesota state house speaker emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in the early hours of 14 June. Boelter is also accused of shooting and seriously wounding the Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, about 90 minutes earlier. In a newly unsealed affidavit first reported by the local news station WCCO and seen by the Guardian, law enforcement pulled over Boelter's wife and four children hours after the shootings near Lake Mille Lacs, about 75 miles (120km) north of the Twin Cities, apparently en route to Wisconsin. Boelter's wife consented to a search of her vehicle, where law enforcement located a revolver in the glove box and a semi-automatic pistol in a cooler. Police also found a safe, Boelter's and the children's passports, and at least $10,000 in cash, according to the affidavit by FBI agent Terry Getsch. Boelter's wife told investigators that her husband had recently sent a message to a group text thread with their children, which 'stated something to the effect of they should prepare for war, they needed to get out of the house and people with guns may be showing up to the house', wrote Getsch. According to the affidavit dated 14 June, Boelter and his wife were preppers – a term which refers to people who stockpile materials such as weapons, food and gasoline. Preppers' purpose for doing that is to survive a future major disaster or catastrophe such as war or economic or political collapse. At some point earlier, Boelter had given his wife a 'bailout plan' – instructions of what to do and where to go in case of 'exigent circumstances'. The plan specified that the family go to her mother's residence in Spring Brook, Wisconsin. She also told investigators that her husband 'has a business partner from Worthington' who lives in the state of Washington. The two were 'partners … in Red Lion, a security company and fishing outfit in Congo, Africa', the affidavit states. The deadly shootings took place as millions of people prepared to take to the streets to protest against the Trump administration and its assault on free speech, peaceful assembly and due process rights embedded in the US constitution. Getsch wrote the affidavit during what became the largest ever manhunt in Minnesota state history, when he believed the gunman may have fled state lines. Boelter was eventually captured two days later while trying to evade arrest by fleeing into a wooded area close to his home. The affidavit does not imply that Boelter's wife knew about her husband's alleged plans to attack the lawmakers. She has not been charged with any crime. Boelter was disguised as a police officer and drove a black SUV with a license plate that said 'police'. He allegedly ambushed the lawmakers at home in the middle of the night, banging on their front doors armed with a 9mm handgun, and wearing a black tactical vest and silicone mask. He exchanged fire with police at about 3.30am on Saturday outside the Hortmans' home but managed to flee the scene, according to a federal criminal complaint. According to separate court documents obtained by WCCO on Friday, law enforcement found a storage locker rented by Boelter in Minneapolis on 10 June. He had last 'used his access code' for the locker the day before the shootings. Investigators later found empty rifle cases, gun-cleaning supplies and a bike inside the locker. Law enforcement found a 'hit list' of individuals inside what they believe was Boelter's vehicle. It included Hortman, Hoffman and several other Democratic lawmakers, as well as reproductive rights advocates. In a statement released on Thursday, the Hoffman family recounted the terrifying attack. The statement said: 'We are grappling with the reality that we live in a world where public service carries such risks as being targeted because someone disagrees with you or doesn't like what you stand for.'
