Saturday morning brought the tragic news that two Minnesota lawmakers were the target of an assassin. As RedState reported, the as-of-now unidentified man shot State Rep. Melissa Hortman (D) and State Sen. John Hoffman (D) in their homes. Hortman and her husband, who was also shot in the attack, have since died as a result of their wounds, while Hoffman and his wife are expected to recover.
SEE: Two Minnesota Lawmakers Shot in Their Homes, Attacker Still At Large
No motive for the attack has been released, but the Minnesota State Patrol has released a picture of pieces of paper with the words "No Kings" written on them that were found in the attacker's car. For those unaware, "No Kings" is a left-wing protest planned across the United States in opposition to President Donald Trump. In light of that, police are urging any protesters to cancel their events in Minnesota.
This is going to be a Rorschach test for a while because these aren't really flyers in the sense that they are advertisements meant to show a location, date, and time. So while they could point to the shooter being a supporter of the "No Kings" movement, at least one source has told The New York Times that authorities believe the shooter was going to target a "No Kings" rally. It's not clear what that is based on, as again, the "flyers" could mean several different things.
With that said, the shooter has been identified, according to a report from Julio Rosas, and the current evidence suggests this was not a right-winger.
Vance Luther Boelter was appointed to the Minnesota Workforce Development Board in 2019 by current Gov. Tim Walz (D). The alleged shooter's Facebook has already been taken offline.
While I absolutely trust Rosas' reporting (and have for years), it is important to note that the above identity has not been officially confirmed by law enforcement. The alleged shooter's relationship with Walz is also a bit hazy. Were they friends? What was the shooter's political background? All of these questions are hanging out there, and we'll no doubt get more information soon.
RedState will update this as necessary.