Friends say Minnesota shooting suspect was deeply religious and conservative

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent/AP

Sunday 15 June 2025 19:52 EDT


The man accused of assassinating the top Democrat in the Minnesota House held deeply religious and politically conservative views, telling a congregation in Africa two years ago that the United States was in a “bad place” where most churches didn’t oppose abortion.

Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was at the center of a massive multi-state manhunt on Sunday, a day after authorities say he impersonated a police officer and gunned down former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home outside Minneapolis. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz described the shooting as “a politically motivated assassination.”

Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were shot earlier by the same gunman at their home nearby but survived.

Friends and former colleagues interviewed by The Associated Press described Boelter as a devout Christian who attended an evangelical church and went to campaign rallies for President Donald Trump. Records show Boelter registered to vote as a Republican while living in Oklahoma in 2004 before moving to Minnesota where voters don’t list party affiliation.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/vance-luther-boelter-minnesota-republican-b2770577.html

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This info has come from AP now (vs the Daily Mirror).

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Preacher trying to make the world safe for his beliefs so he can control people. /nt

[Lovie777]

2. Conservative, religious................

my way or no way, gawd tells me you mist die.

[Javaman]

3. and deeply disturbed. nt

[Baitball Blogger]

4. So...is he now going to say that he was mentally ill, BECAUSE he was too religious and conservative?

Haven't we suspected that all along?

[ProudMNDemocrat]

7. Time to look at the M'Naghten Rule regarding insanity, which this man will likely use...

The M'Naghten rule is a legal test for determining insanity in criminal cases. It essentially states that a defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity if, at the time of the crime, they were suffering from a disease of the mind that prevented them from knowing either the nature and quality of their act or that it was wrong. This rule is also known as the "right-wrong test". In Vance Boelter's case, his attorneys may use this ploy to determine that their client is NOT GUILTY by reasons of insanity. Vance Boelter KNEW what he did was WRONG.

A case in point from February 1988 of the murder that took place in Rochester, Minnesota involving a family my husband and I knew and my children knew the younger children involved through the small Catholic School they all had attended. It is a long story and the brutal deaths at the hands of an older son towards his parents and younger siblings remain embedded in my memory forever. The youngest member of the family attended my son's 11th Birthday party that previous Friday before the murders took place the following Ash Wednesday. They had been friends and classmates since 1st Grade. The murder, the reference hearing, and eventual trial left a mark on my son that plagued him for many years as he suffered from PTSD when in his teen years.

The person in question, David Brom, murdered his family and younger siblings. His attorney, who I knew, used the M'Naghten Rule to try to get David off after it was determined through the Court system that David would be tried as an Adult for this terrible crime, rather than that as a Juvenile. He was 16 at the time of the murders. The District Court in Olmsted County tried David as an Adult and was found Guilty on 4 counts of Murder in the 1st Degree. David is currently serving time in prison for this and will be eligible for a parole hearing when he is 70. To this day, he has expressed no remorse for what he had done.

[IbogaProject]

15. Knew enough to run away and hide

And I am sure he is in recordings preaching morality. He had a hit list.

[chowder66]

19. He texted his friend that he did something bad. He knew what he was doing and he knew it was wrong.

[Bengus81]

8. Smart enough to dress that SUV up like a police vehicle complete with flashing lights

Let his lawyer try that insanity shit and see if anyone buys it.

[OldBaldy1701E]

11. That was my thought as well. (n/t)

[Owens]

20. No, he needs to be given the Luigi treatment

[TexasBushwhacker]

5. Nothing says "pro-life" like cold-blooded murder! N/t

[Rhiannon12866]

6. +1000

[Farmer-Rick]

23. As Voltaire said.......

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

[Canada Kid]

9. Mindless MAGA stormtrooper!

"The Lord is my Shepard...I shall kill at random anyone who doesn't fervently believe in MAGA doctrines and that our beloved leader Trump is the second coming"
All the crazies are coming out of the woodwork. Letting out all the Jan6 right wing whackos and pardoning them gave credence to this type of mentality. (us against them).

[twodogsbarking]

10. I am the lord thy god thou shall not have stranger gods before me.

There are stranger gods?

[et tu]

12. when the religious fringe rules

crazy happens and here we are

[Martin Eden]

13. How many abortions did Boelter prevent by shooting those people?

It's an irrational act, even if he firmly believes the ends (preventing abortions) justify ANY means.

[Easterncedar]

14. Controlling fantasists find power on church stage

Are any of these evil clowns “religious”? I don’t see faith, just narcissism.

And that goes for the Franklins, the Swaggarts and all their oily imitators.

[orangecrush]

16. He was NOT DEEPLY RELIGIOUS

He was DEEPLY DELUSIONAL.

[Emile]

17. Apparently he didn't obey the 6th commandment,

"Thou shalt not kill".

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

27. Which other commandments does he ignore?

Or, perhaps he can show us where in the bible it tells him that murder is just fine

[Upthevibe]

18. Kick. N/T

[Marthe48]

21. No, he wasn't

he was a fraud. He is a murderer. If he hid, he knew he did wrong.

[malthaussen]

22. Nope. "Deeply religious" and "murderous bastard" are actually oxymorons.

What we need to do is stop calling things what they ain't. Hypocrites and heretics are not "religious," they just insist on the label.

A "religious" person is one who actually tries to follow the tenets of his faith. Not someone who mouths them and ignores them.

-- Mal

[Beowulf42]

24. Deeply religious?

Thou Shalt not kill.

[travelingthrulife]

25. Devout Christianevangelical hater.

[AntiFascist]

32. The same type of people behind Project 2025 n/t

[kimbutgar]

26. He seems to have forget the Thou shalt not kill part of the Ten Commandments.

He gives Christians a bad name.

[Jilly_in_VA]

28. I have a serious question.

This guy had FRIENDS? I don't believe that for one minute. People like him do not have real friends. They have acquaintances, maybe, who they think are friends, but they don't have real friends.

[OverBurn]

29. Deeply religious, yep Jesus would be proud. What the fuck is wrong with these people.

[Grins]

30. Once more: the separation of church and state is essential. NM

[doc03]

31. How can you be deeply religious and murder

people. What real religion teaches that.

[Nigrum Cattus]

33. White "christian" nationalists

They are the American Taliban
The same people that our funding fathers left England to get away from !

[H2O Man]

41. You nailed it.

[Jean Genie]

34. Shame on those "friends and former collegues!"

BFD! Since when does "deeply religious and conservative" equate with "evil-ass murderer?"
Lotta fine folks on both sides, eh?

[slightlv]

35. I resent the use of the phrase "deeply religious"

in reference to this man (and I use THAT term loosely!). He was a heretical fanatic. He was the xtian equivalent of an Islamist terrorist. I'm not a christian, so I guess I don't have a dog in that show... but I AM spiritual. And nowhere, except in those Fundamentalist Fanatical madrassas would this pass as "deeply religious."

With all that's going on, and no help for the weak, the weary, the poor, the exploited... I'm finally coming "this" close to being totally atheist. It's the old "good vs evil" thing... there is too much evil for a god to exist. And I feel a real loss at that piece of... what... innocence, naiveté... that has been stolen from me. When each day the news is as it has been, with no checks on trumpy's evil deeds, I can't believe in anything but ourselves... and even that falters at times. I'm in the real heartbreak period. It's just one more unexpected disillusionment in this phase of my life. I despise trump and the magats for what they've done... ALL that they've done, tho some of it has never been mentioned, nor ever will be.

[ancianita]

36. As an unrepentant Christian he should know he'll go to hell for murder, pride, anger, and other deadly sins. His

victims were church going Catholics and Protestants.

[aggiesal]

37. He couldn''t be that religious if he completely ignores the 6th Commandment ...

Thou shall not kill.
Not to mention that Christianity is based on "Love thy neighbor."

[Rebl2]

38. I don't

consider him deeply religious. He’s a sick monster.

[womanofthehills]

39. Could have been a hit man

Psychopath who was low on money.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

40. If he's deeply religious, then perhaps he has a shallow religion!

[H2O Man]

42. Recommended.

I have no problem agreeing that he is "deeply religious." But he created a god in his own image, sharing all his rage and delusions.

[LuvLoogie]

43. Yes, he is religious. It provides the framework for his life and how he views the world

and how he acts within it. Religion always provides cover for the systemic evil that men do. It was used to justify slavery, murder, robbery, rape, kidnapping, torture.

Religious people are like cops. A lot of shitty cops out there, and a lot of silent cops out there looking the other way.

Morality is internal. Religion is learned. Sometimes they mesh. Other times it's just cover.

But yeah. This guy is a Christian. Christians need to check their church.