Minnesota Assassin Vance Boelter Apprehended

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Vance Boelter, the madman who assassinated Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, and who shot Senator John Hoffman and his wife, has been apprehended in rural Sibley County, Minnesota. 

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An intense statewide manhunt that spanned hundreds of square miles in the state is over. For much of the day, the manhunt was concentrated in Sibley County, where Boelter's family lived. Police conducted an extremely thorough search of the area using every resource available, but ultimately it was a drone operator who discovered him after he had been caught by a neighbor's trail camera. 

10:22 p.m. - Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, who had SWAT officers and deputies deployed to the area of the arrest, said that around 7 p.m. a Sibley County resident reported that their trail camera captured an image that “was consistent with Boelter.”

“Most of the search had concluded then,” he said. “But the trail cam picture alerted SWAT teams to go to that area, secure a perimeter, and with the help of drones, identify his location.”

Fletcher said that for about an hour Boelter attempted to evade arrest, but eight teams crawled in ditches to corral him and “he eventually surrendered peaceably after evading the SWAT teams.” Fletcher, who declined to say whether Boelter was armed, said he was taken to the Sibley County Jail by the Brooklyn Park Police Department.

Boelter surrendered to the drone, raising his hands, and he subsequently surrendered to SWAT officers who took him into custody. 

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The Star Tribune, which as of this writing has yet to post an updated story, outlined the timeline of the manhunt up to now:

Authorities identified the suspect as 57-year-old Vance Boelter. A manhunt is underway to locate him.

Officials said the suspect left at the scene a list of politicians. A person who has seen the list said it included several abortion rights supporters, including lawmakers. Sen. Amy Klobuchar appeared on the list, according to federal law enforcement sources. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison also said he was on the list.

There has been considerable speculation about Boelter's motives, ranging from his being a crazed left-wing lunatic angry about the state passing a budget that cut off free health care for illegal aliens, to Boelter being a crazed right-wing assassin taking out the most vocal advocates of abortion. 

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The truth is that we don't know anything, other than that killing politicians for political reasons is evil. He is, in other words, crazed. 

I got caught up in the speculation about Boelter's motives--the connections to politicians and the "No Kings" flyers discovered in his car made that easy, but after following the story for two days, I am more confused now than when it all started. A good reminder that the first hours of any big story are a jumble, and we should reserve judgment. 

His "best friend," with whom he lived several days a week, says that Boelter was a Republican, not a Democrat, but that he was not especially political. We just don't know much as of now. 

Even all that talk about a "manifesto" seems to be overblown--we are now told that the "manifesto" amounted to little more than the list of his targets. 

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My own impression is that Boelter is a man with big dreams and small accomplishments. He has portrayed himself as a mover and shaker, and he has wheedled his way onto government commissions--appointments by Democratic governors Mark Dayton and Tim Walz--but it's pretty clear that he is all hat and no cattle. His family business--Praetorian Security Services--at this point looks like it never had any customers, but that is unconfirmed. 

Boelter bragged about having executive-level positions in the food industry, but not so long ago, he was a manager at a 7-11. Until February, he was working at a funeral home removing bodies. 


SAVAGE, Minn. — Vance Boelter, the suspect in the killing of Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) and her husband, Mark, voluntarily left his job at a funeral home earlier this year, according to his former boss.

“We would like to extend our thoughts and condolences to the families of Rep. Hortman and Sen. Hoffman. This is devastating news for all involved. As far as Vance Boelter is concerned, he worked for our company from August 28, 2023, until he voluntarily left on February 20, 2025," said a statement from the owner of Metro First Call, a funeral home based in Savage.

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Boelter was also the CEO of an NGO, but it's unclear what exactly that means. He was, we are told, helping the Democratic Republic of Congo with agricultural issues, but there is almost no paper trail outside Boelter's claims. There is video of Boelter in the DRC, but that was of him preaching to a crowd about Christianity. 

He styles himself "Dr" Boelter--a Doctor of Education, just like Dr. Jill, but those degrees are about a dime a dozen, and it seems to have little bearing on anything he has done. It appears to be a throwaway title, in other words. At least Dr Jill has done some teaching. 

Boelter's resume, in other words, reads to me like he is a loser. A man whose aspirations far outstripped his abilities. He wanted to change the world, and found that the world wasn't that interested in his ideas for changing it. He seems to have bounced around quite a bit, always looking to strike it big and rubbing up against some important people, but never hitting it big himself. 

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This, too, could be a misreading. There is so little hard information still that I am conveying my impressions here. Inevitably the picture will solidify over the next days and weeks. 

Well, he has hit the big time, but in a very bad way. A self-styled pastor who preached the gospel to Islamist terrorists in Gaza--he claims--has become a terrorist himself in order to become a big man. 

Unfortunately, we don't have the death penalty in Minnesota. He richly deserves it.