Vance Luther Boelter, the suspected assassin of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, who also allegedly shot Stat
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 4: U.S. Sen. Tina Smith speaks during a press conference with Sens. Maggie Hassan and Patty Murray on June 4, 2024 in Washington, DC. The Democratic Senators are holding the press conference ahead of a Senate Health Committee hearing examining abortion access in America.
of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, who also allegedly shot State Sen. Mark Hoffman and his wife Yvette, is behind bars after the largest manhunt in the state's history. For some members of Congress, the chilling reality has started to set in that they were on a list of 45 names of officials found in Boelter's SUV. “I got the call Sunday night, of course while the shooter was still at large," said Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich. For safety reasons, the congresswoman postponed an in-person townhall Monday in her district. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, said Capitol Police notified her on Sunday morning that she was "one of the names on the Minnesota shooter's list of targets." Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, and Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, confirmed they were also notified by Capitol Police that their names were on the list. After a bipartisan security briefing Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Capitol Police "silent heroes behind the scenes keeping members safe.” The department has requested a budget of about $968 million for fiscal year 2026, a $176 million increase from its current budget, which has been frozen as 2024 levels. Capitol Police said in 2024, it investigated more than 9,400 concerning statements and directDuring the security briefing, Schumer said there was bipartisan consensus on the need for increased funding. "We are seeing a dramatic increase in threats against senators, congressmen, public officials and throughout America," Schumer said. "And these attacks are not just attacks on individuals, but on democracy, on our way of life, on what we believe in and they’re an attempt to intimidate people not to do their jobs, not to run for office. It’s gross, it’s disgusting." The Minnesota shootings have not brought about nationwide unity or compelled certain firebrands to tone down–or walk back–their rhetoric. It's customary for a president to call the governor of a state where a tragedy has occurred. But on Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump said, “I think the governor of Minnesota’s so whacked out. I’m not calling him. Why would I call him?” In a statement, a spokesperson for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said, "Governor Walz wishes that President Trump would be a president for all Americans, but this tragedy isn't about Trump or Walz. It's about the Hortman family, the Hoffman family, and the State of Minnesota, and the Governor remains focused on helping all three heal." Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, received a great deal of backlash for a series of posts on X he made in the hours after the shootings that implied the suspect was a Marxist and that Democrats were to blame for the deadly shootings. Boelter's roommate later told reporters Boelter was a Trump supporter. It wasn't until a day later that Lee issued a post condemning the attacks on a separate X account used for his official Senate duties. "I said you know, ‘Your message on social media showed the image of the man who killed my friend potentially minutes before that happened and your message is ‘this is what happens?’ You need to take responsibility and accountability for what you are saying and doing out there in the social media world," Smith said. Lee's office did not respond to our request for comment. On Tuesday afternoon, Lee deleted some of the Saturday posts but did not immediately issue an explanation or apology. "I hope that what I said sunk in," Smith said. "And that, as my mother used to say, ‘Words have consequences.’ And his words have a ton of consequence and he should own that.”
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