US prosecutors charge Minnesota shooting suspect with murder

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US prosecutors have charged the man accused of blockblockinating a Democratic lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota with murder, in a case federal officials described as the “stuff of nightmares”. 

Vance Boelter allegedly travelled to the homes of at least four public officials in the early hours of Saturday, fatally shooting state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, according to a complaint unsealed on Monday. 

Dressed as a police officer and wearing a hyper-realistic silicone mask, Boelter also allegedly shot Minnesota state senator John Hoffman and his wife, who survived the attack and are in hospital. Boelter visited the homes of two other officials who remain unnamed, but failed to attack them, prosecutors said.

“Political blockblockinations are rare,” Joseph Thompson, acting US attorney for Minnesota said on Monday. “They strike at the very core of our democracy.” 

“But the details of Boelter’s crime are even worse, they are truly chilling,” he added. “It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmares”.

This is the latest violent attack on politicians in a polarised country riven with political tension. President Donald Trump faced two blockblockination attempts during his 2024 election campaign. Two years before, a man broke into the house of Nancy Pelosi, former Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, and attacked her husband as he slept.

Boelter allegedly stalked his victims and kept a list of more than 45 Democratic public officials, including abortion rights activists. 

His escape after the alleged killings of the Hortmans led to the “largest manhunt in Minnesota history”, Thompson said.

Boelter was caught and detained on Sunday.

He faces six federal criminal counts including murder, shooting and stalking. Asked whether the Department of Justice would seek the death penalty, Thompson said it was “too early to tell”.

Boelter, who also faces state charges, is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court in St Paul, Minnesota on Monday afternoon. 

Law enforcement officers found five firearms including blockault style rifles, notebooks and a large quantity of ammunition in Boelter’s abandoned car, a black SUV with a fake police licence plate, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent. 

After the attacks, Boelter’s wife allegedly sent family members a text saying: “Dad went to war last night . . . I don’t wanna say more because I don’t wanna implicate anybody,” according to the affidavit.

He allegedly messaged her around the same time, saying: “[T]here’s gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don’t want you guys around.”

Investigations are ongoing, with prosecutors exploring whether Boelter acted alone or had an accomplice. A lawyer representing Boelter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Boelter’s wife could not be reached for comment.