Topline
Vance Boelter, the now-arrested murder suspect charged with killing a Minnesota state lawmaker and shooting another—who federal officials say could face the death penalty—was described by friends and former colleagues as a devout Christian and political conservative with work troubles according to multiple reports, after Elon Musk and others portrayed the shooter as a violent leftist on social media.
This booking photo provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office shows Vance Boelter in Green ... More
Federal officials announced at a Monday news conference that Boelter could face the death penalty after what they called “a chilling attack on our democracy” and “political extremism.”
Boelter, 57 and raised in a small Minnesota town, is married with five children, according to a recorded 2021 sermon cited by The Wall Street Journal.
He was a pastor for the Democratic Republic of the Congo-based evangelical church, La Borne Matadi, for which he preached about “living for God” and “the power of joy” on three separate occasions dating back to September 2021, according to an archived page on the church’s website.
Boelter was described as having “sought out militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn’t the answer,” according to an archived website for his ministry cited by The Wall Street Journal.
David Carlson, one of Boelter’s roommates, told the Wall Street Journal that Boelter was working overnight shifts for an organization handling eye donations and would sometimes be on call in the middle of the night—Boelter had quit most of his jobs and was struggling to build a solid income.
Carlson said Boelter had voted for President Donald Trump and was against abortion, and “thought it was murder,” according to the Minnesota Star Tribune, which reported that a list found in the suspect’s SUV included the names of “many lawmakers and other officials,” including Rep. Melissa Hortman and Sen. John Hoffman, as well as abortion providers.
Boelter was appointed to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in 2019, according to state records cited by The Wall Street Journal and the Star Tribune. The Star Tribune reported that Walz “did not know Boelter,” according to a source in his office, and that he was first appointed to the board in 2016 by former Gov. Mark Dayton. The board consists of about 60 people and aims to provide leadership on business, education and labor across the state. Boelter was misidentified, including as a “left-wing Tim Walz appointee,” by users on social media despite his conservative views. Elon Musk posted on X that “the far left is murderously violent” while quoting a post alleging “the left” killed Hortman.