No, Elon: Minnesota Suspect Not a Leftist or Registered Democrat
PLUS: Top 10 False Claims by Iran Declaring Losses by Israel; Trump Did Not Pay ‘Seat Fillers’ to Attend Military Parade
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In today’s edition, we break down the evidence that disproves the claims that the suspect in the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers was a Democrat; we examine how Iranian state media used disinformation to declare victory after Israel’s airstrikes; and we unpack the false claim that Trump’s team paid “seat fillers” $1,000 to attend last weekend’s military parade.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Sofia Rubinson and Eric Effron.
1. Suspected Minnesota Shooter Is Not a Left-Wing Democrat
What happened: Conservatives are baselessly claiming that Vance Boelter, the man who allegedly shot two Democratic lawmakers and their spouses in Minnesota, is a registered Democrat. Others have inaccurately described him as a “leftist.”
Context: In the early hours of June 14, Boelter, posing as a law enforcement officer, allegedly fatally shot Democratic Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and seriously wounded Democratic State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their respective homes, authorities said.
A closer look: Within hours, conservative social media accounts began claiming that Boelter, who was taken into custody on June 15, was a member of the Democratic Party and a leftist, in an apparent attempt to cast Democrats and liberals as violent and to deflect any claims that he was a conservative.
Conservative commentator Ann Vandersteel, a self-described “citizen journalist” who has more than 360,000 followers on X, posted: “The man who just assassinated Democrat Rep. Melissa Hortman is also HIMSELF A DEMOCRAT.” The post garnered 45,500 views and 1,100 likes in two days.
Anonymous conservative X account @amuse posted on June 16: “His Democrat roommate insists (without evidence) that Boelter, a registered Democrat, is a huge Trump supporter.” The post received 44,800 views and 1,000 likes in less than one day.
Others, including X owner Elon Musk and Republican Sen. Mike Lee, claimed that Boelter is “far left” and a “Marxis[t].”
Actually: Friends of Boelter, voting records, government officials, and an alleged manifesto that authorities said was found in Boelter’s vehicle show that he was not a Democrat or liberal and may have voted for Donald Trump.
Boelter’s roommate, David Carlson, told CBS News that Boelter “is not a Democrat. He would be offended if people called him a Democrat,” adding that Boelter “is a Trump supporter. He voted for Trump. He liked Trump.” Carlson also said that Boelter “listened to InfoWars,” a radio show hosted by far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Boelter was a registered Republican in Oklahoma, where he lived in 2004 before moving to Minnesota, according to The Associated Press (NewsGuard Trust Score: 100/100). Minnesota does not allow voters to register with a political party, and voters can participate in any party’s primary election. The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party, released data showing that Boelter voted in the 2024 presidential primary election, but did not vote in the Democratic primary that year. The Republican Party of Minnesota did not share its data on Boelter, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune (Trust Score: 100/100).
An apparent manifesto found in Boelter’s car appeared to show a list of potential targets, which included only the names of other Democratic lawmakers in the state as well as abortion clinics, according to law enforcement.
Some conservatives claimed that Boelter had a close relationship with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the former Democratic vice presidential candidate, noting that Walz appointed Boelter to a state workforce development advisory board in 2019.
However, the board is bipartisan, and members are appointed to represent the views of multiple industries, according to the Star Tribune.
The Star Tribune reported that an unnamed source in Walz’s office said that Walz “did not know” Boelter. Boelter was first appointed to the board under then-Gov. Mark Dayton in 2016.
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2. When Down is Up: Top 10 Iranian State Media False Claims of Losses by Israel
What happened: Iranian state media and pro-Iran sources are spreading false and unsubstantiated claims about Israeli losses following the country’s June 13, 2025, offensive against Tehran, in a bid to portray the attack as a failure.
Context: On June 13, Israel launched an extensive strike against Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders and scientists and crippling air defenses in a bid to degrade or destroy Iran’s nuclear weapon efforts, according to The Associated Press and other media outlets.
A closer look: By June 16, NewsGuard identified 10 false Iranian narratives about the strikes, many of which appeared within hours of the Israeli offensive and were amplified by state media and pro-Iran and military-linked Telegram channels. Among them:
Fake jet takedown: Most prominently, Iranian state media outlets including PressTV (Trust Score: 7.5/100) and the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency (Trust Score 7.5/100) claimed that Iran shot down two Israeli F-35 jets and captured a female Israeli pilot.
As supposed evidence, Iranian state media displayed a photo purporting to show a downed F-35 jet and an image of “Sarah Ahronot,” the supposed captured pilot. The image was also widely shared by Russian and Chinese state media.
Actually: There is no evidence that Iran shot down any Israeli F-35 jets. Col. Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), told news outlets, “This news being spread by Iranian media is completely baseless.” BBC Verify reporter Shayan Sardarizadeh noted on X that the wing, exhaust, and fuselage in the image are inconsistent with real F-35 jets.
Moreover, NewsGuard conducted a reverse image search of the “Sarah Ahronot” image and found that the photo was from December 2021 and actually shows a Chilean Navy lieutenant named Daniela Figueroa Scholz.
Commander death hoax: Pro-Iranian accounts are also falsely claiming that Israeli Navy Commander “David Salami” was killed in an Iranian airstrike, which they said directly targeted Salami and represented a triumph for Iranian military intelligence capabilities.
Actually: The current commander of the Israeli Navy is David Saar Salama, not “Salami,” and there are no credible reports that he was killed. Israel authorities said that as of June 16, 24 people have been killed by Iranian missiles, all of whom were civilians, according to news reports.
Phony Greek escape: Iranian sources, including the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (Trust Score: 7.5/100), falsely claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fled to Greece, framing it as an act of cowardice ahead of Iran’s expected retaliation.
The sources cited as evidence a flight map showing that Netanyahu’s official aircraft traveled from Israel to Greece on June 13.
Actually: The aircraft’s sole passenger was the Israeli ambassador to Greece, Noam Katz, after commercial air traffic in Israel was suspended, according to news reports. Netanyahu was photographed at a security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on June 13, and local news reports indicate that he met with his security cabinet on June 14 in an underground bunker.
The other seven examples of false claims spread by pro-Iran media:
A video shows the Tel Aviv-based Mossad headquarters in flames
U.S. military jets refueled Israeli planes that participated in Israel’s attack on Iran
A video shows mass destruction at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport
Pakistan threatened nuclear action against Israel
Israel relocated its civilian aircraft fleet to Turkey
A photo proves that Iranian supreme leader’s advisor Ali Shamkhani was not killed
Azerbaijani military jets were seen flying near the Iranian border in June 2025
Zooming out: NewsGuard has found that Iranian state media has previously circulated fabricated images and videos in an attempt to inflate its military successes and downplay losses. Meanwhile, according to reports from independent media, amid the strikes, Iran has arrested at least 14 Iranian citizens and accused them of supporting Israel by spreading “disinformation.”
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3. Liberals Claim Trump Hired ‘Seat Fillers’ for His Military Parade
By Nicole Dirks
What happened: Liberal social media users are citing a Craigslist advertisement to falsely claim that “seat fillers” were offered $1,000 to attend the June 14, 2025, U.S. military parade, positing that event organizers were worried about turnout and optics.