House Republicans held a conference call, which was described as “tense,” on Saturday with the House sergeant at arms and U.S. Capitol Police to discuss their concerns, multiple sources familiar with the call told ABC News. Several Republicans said on the one-hour call that they feel unsafe in their home districts and want more protection, sources said.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee is facing outrage and calls for his resignation over social media posts that baselessly claim the man charged with targeting Minnesota lawmakers in shootings during the weekend has ties to the political left.
Prominent right-wing figures, including Elon Musk, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, spread now-debunked claims that leftist politics motivated the shooting spree that left one Minnesota state representative dead and another wounded.
The lawmakers’ spouses also were shot, one fatally.
Lee on Sunday morning wrote two posts on X featuring an FBI-released surveillance camera image of Vance Luther Boelter, whose car contained a hit list targeting many Democratic Minnesota officials such as Gov. Tim Walz and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
- One of Lee’s posts read, “This is what happens (w)hen Marxists don’t get their way.”
- “Nightmare on Waltz Street,” the next stated, in an apparently-misspelled reference to Walz, who ran for vice president last year.
- Lee called Marxism a “deadly mental illness” in a Saturday post about the shootings.
Walz and the previous governor had appointed Boelter to a civilian economic board, leading to a blitz of rightwing speculation this weekend that Boelter, who was arrested late Sunday, had Democratic ties.
Boelter’s friends say he held deeply conservative religious and political views, the AP reported.
Vance Boelter, the man who authorities believe shot two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses in politically motivated shootings early Saturday morning, is now in custody.
Multiple sources told WCCO on Sunday evening that Boelter, 57, was taken into custody near his home in Green Isle, Sibley County.
Shortly before 10 p.m., the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office posted a picture on social media that appears to show Boelter being taken into custody.
“The face of evil,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “After relentless and determined police work, the killer is now in custody. Thanks to the dedication of multiple agencies working together along with support from the community, justice is one step closer.”
