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Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and others posted unfounded claims on social media about the political affiliation of the gunman arrested in the June 14 fatal shootings of a Democratic Minnesota lawmaker and her husband and the wounding of another Democratic state lawmaker and his wife.
Lee and Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio referred to the suspect as a Marxist or member of the “extreme left” hours after the shootings, but friends told news outlets he was a supporter of President Donald Trump and held conservative beliefs.
Lee’s posts linking the shooter to Marxism, on his personal X account, were deleted on June 17.
Authorities said that when he was captured on June 15 after an extensive manhunt, the suspect had a list of elected officials he intended to target, all of them Democrats.
Vance Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, Minnesota, has been charged with stalking and murdering state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, and shooting state Sen. Mark Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman.
“According to the charges, the defendant had a list of possible targets and went to the homes of public officials to conduct violent attacks,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a June 16 press release. Joe Thompson, acting U.S. attorney for the district of Minnesota, said in the press release that the shootings were “targeted political assassinations.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also said the shootings appeared to be a “politically-motivated assassination.”
At a June 16 press conference, commenting on the list found in Boelter’s car, Thompson said, “They were all elected officials. They were all Democrats. Beyond that, I think it’s just way too speculative for anyone that’s reviewed these materials to know and to say what was motivating him in terms of ideology or specific issues.”
But in their posts on social media, Lee and others made baseless claims about Boelter’s political loyalties. In a June 15 post on X on his personal account, Lee reshared a post with a photo of Boelter and added the comment, “Marxism is a deadly mental illness.” In another post with an image of Boelter, Lee wrote, “This is what happens. When Marxists don’t get their way.” Those posts and others by Lee about the Minnesota shootings were deleted on June 17, after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Lee to remove them and Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota spoke to Lee about them.
Hours after the shootings on June 14, Moreno, a Republican, reshared a post referring to the killing of Hortman and a photo of fliers about the “No Kings” demonstrations found in Boelter’s car. Numerous “No Kings” protests were held on June 14 around the U.S. to protest Trump’s policies. Moreno wrote on X, “The degree to which the extreme left has become radical, violent, and intolerant is both stunning and terrifying.”
Also on June 14, Elon Musk wrote on X, “The far left is murderously violent.”
But, as we said, Boelter’s victims were all Democrats and the posts provide no evidence that he ascribed to Marxist or left-leaning politics, other than photos of “No Kings” fliers. The “No Kings” events occurred hours after the early morning attacks on the Minnesota lawmakers. Fearing “No Kings” rallies may have been a potential target rather than something Boelter supported, Minnesota State Patrol requested the public not attend any of the protests in the state “out of an abundance of caution.”
Asked by a reporter on June 17 whether he had called Walz about the shootings, Trump responded that he would not be calling the Minnesota governor and, referring to Boelter, said Walz “appointed this guy to a position.”
Boelter was appointed to the Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Board by then-Gov. Mark Dayton in 2016, the New York Times reported. Boelter was later reappointed by Walz to the board, which has 41 members who work to improve the state’s business development.
Minnesota voters do not reveal their political affiliation when registering to vote, and state reports related to the workforce board listed Boelter’s affiliation as “none or other” in 2016 and “no party preference” in 2020, the Times reported.
Boelter was registered to vote as a Republican while he was living in Oklahoma in 2004, the Associated Press reported.
A close friend of Boelter’s, David Carlson, told the Times that Boelter voted for Trump last year.
Paul Schroeder, a longtime friend of Boelter’s, told the AP that Boelter was conservative and religious. “He was right-leaning politically but never fanatical, from what I saw, just strong beliefs,” Schroeder said.
We reached out to the offices of Lee and Moreno for information supporting their claims on social media, but we did not receive responses.
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