Jun 16, 2025:
At a press conference, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, Joe Thompson, said "It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmares."
U.S. Senator Mike Lee (Republican-Utah) posted the following on his official X account:
These hateful attacks have no place in Utah, Minnesota, or anywhere in America. Please join me in condemning this senseless violence, and praying for the victims and their families.
Lee posted the following on his personal X account:
This is what happens...When Marxists don't get their way
Elon Musk posted the following on X"
The far left is murderously violent
Musk's post also included a post from X username @insatiablevine which states:
The left kills the CEO of United Healthcare
Kills two Israeli ambassadors staffers
Attempts twice to assassinate the President
Doxes and attempts to murder federal ICE agents and Police - all week
And now kills a MN state rep and her husband and injures a Senator and his wife
The left has become a full blown domestic terrorist organization.
Musk's own real-time AI Grok chatbot responded to these posts with the following:
The claims lack evidence linking them to "the left" as a group. The United Healthcare CEO's killing was by an individual with personal grievances, not a political faction. The Israeli embassy staffers' deaths were by a lone suspect tied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not "the left." No actual presidential assassination attempts occurred; only thwarted threats by individuals. Doxxing of ICE agents happened, but no murder attempts are documented. The Minnesota lawmakers' shooting was targeted, but no evidence ties it to "the left." These are isolated acts, not coordinated by any group.
Source:
Kilander, Gustaf. (June 16, 2025). "GOP Senator's Minnesota Assassination Comments Spark Backlash". Newsweek. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
van Brugen, Isabel. (June 16, 2025). "Minnesota shooting suspect 'stalked victim like prey' as feds reveal chilling details of killings and announce charges". The Independent. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
Forstr, Erkki. (June 15, 2025). "Musk Slammed for Calling Anti-Abortion Dem Killer 'Far Left'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
Stein, Chris. (June 16, 2025). "Trump and other Republicans mock Democrats after Minnesota lawmaker killings'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
@insatiablevine. (June 14, 2025). "@insatiablevine | X". X. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
Jun 15, 2025:
Vance Boelter surrendered to police after they found him in the woods near his home.
Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said the search for Boelter was the "largest manhunt in the state's history."
According to a federal prosecutor, Boelter went to the homes of two other lawmakers on the night of the shootings with intent to shoot them as well.
Boelter was charged with federal murder and stalking offenses, and he faces state murder and attempted murder charges.
At a press conference, acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said it was too soon to speculate as to whether politics was a factor in the shootings.
Boelter drove to the scene of the assassination in a fake police vehicle. According to law enforcement officials (speaking on condition of anonymity), a list of about 70 names was found in the fake vehicle, including the names of prominent state and federal lawmakers, community leaders, abortion rights advocates, and information about health care facilities.
Source:
(June 16, 2025). "Man accused of shooting Minnesota lawmakers had plans to kill others, officials say". PBS. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
Jun 14, 2025:
Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman were assassinated in their Brooklyn Park, Minnesota home.
Melissa Hortman was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. She was also a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor party.
An apparent assassination attempt also took place at the home of Minnesota state lawmaker John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, both of whom received multiple gunshot wounds.
John Hoffman was a member of the Minnesota Senate. He was also a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor party.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said the assassination appears to be "politically motivated."
The shooting suspect, identified as 57-year-old Vance Boelter, posed as a police officer to gain access to the homes.
Source:
(June 14, 2025). "Minnesota lawmaker killed in 'politically motivated' shooting, authorities search for suspect". PBS. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
"Melissa Hortman". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
"John Hoffman (Minnesota politician)". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
Commentary:
Based on who he was targeting (Democratic lawmakers), it seems likely that the motivation for the shootings was political in nature. But, as of this writing (June 16, 2025), we don't know for sure what motivated the assassin.
Because of this, no one should be coming to conclusions or saying anything definitive about what happened and who is to blame.
Regrettably, in our current political environment people on both sides of the political divide are anxious and all-to-willing to blame the other side.
What's really appalling is how Mike Lee posts a reasonable, sympathetic response on his official X account, then he turns around and posts something ridiculous and inflammatory on his personal X account. If you want a little insight into the inner workings of the minds of so many Republicans, this is it. Lee shows us how outwardly, many Republicans make every effort to appear as normal, rational, reasonable, and caring human beings, when "behind the scenes" they are anything but.
Regarding Musk's comment on X, all I can do is shake my head in near disbelief. First, as I just stated, we don't know for sure what the motivation was, so until we do, don't make a complete fool of yourself, just shut up! Second, violent behavior is something exhibited by people of all political persuasions, not just liberals. The fact that Musk's own Grok chatbot debunked Musk's claim in real-time is more evidence of how deluded and insane his comment is.
What we all should be talking about and be concerned with, is how the political rhetoric and hatred in our country between liberals and conservatives continues to ampup. It's at a feverish pitch, and I foresee many more violent incidents like this assassination in the near future. It's a festering wound in our society, there's nothing there to heal it, so it keeps getting worse.
In an op-ed published on MSNBC entitled "The Minnesota shootings offer a painful lesson on the vitriol that haunts America", author Cynthia Miller-Idriss states:
There is an absolutely correct way to respond to a tragedy like a political assassination: immediately condemning all targeted violence, no matter the motivation — and an unequivocally wrong way: blaming victims, conspiracizing motivations and valorizing or justifying violence. The latter response increases the risk of more political violence, normalizes assassinations and makes a tragedy a moment for partisanship rather than national unity.
When we paint those we disagree with as enemies who threaten the health or vitality of the nation, we create the risk that fringe actors will resort to violent action that they perceive as a moral imperative and a patriotic and heroic act. If we don't find a way to put the genie back in the bottle, we guarantee that the horrific assassinations in Minnesota will be followed by more tragedies like them.
In an op-ed published on Salon entitled "Conspiracy theories about Minnesota shooter aren't just deflection. They're dangerous", senior writer Amanda Marcotte writes:
The first purpose of these disinformation efforts is, of course, to muddy the waters so that people with conservative inclinations, who may still abhor political violence, have a rationale to keep supporting Trump...But the other potential effect of these conspiracy theories, whether intended or not, is to encourage more political violence from the right.
Right-wing conspiracy theories that make excuses for MAGA violence function as incitement in two ways. First, it signals to would-be terrorists that, if they take violent action, they can expect support from MAGA cheerleaders in cyberspace. Second, it creates counter-narratives that allow potential killers a rationale that they are acting in "self-defense." That hurting and killing Democrats is justified because, according to the conspiracists, Democrats started it.
Because conspiracy theories like the ones propagated by the right after Jan. 6 and the attack on Paul Pelosi —and now in the wake of the Minnesota shootings — work to encourage more violence, it's a chilling barometer of our culture that the majority of MAGA influencers and media outlets moved immediately into lying about the alleged shooter and his motives. At a bare minimum, this lack of hesitation suggests an utter disregard for human life — or at least for the lives of Americans with different political views. They don't care that their rhetoric could serve to encourage would-be terrorists. Or worse, they feel that violence in the name of politics is a desirable outcome.
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