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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