Daily Beast: Dem[ocrat] Assassin Is ‘Strong Trump Supporter’ Best Friend Reveals

The suspected assassin who ambushed a Minnesota state senator and lawmaker in a deadly attack was a “strong” supporter of President Donald Trump, his roommate revealed.

David Carlson told reporters Saturday that suspected killer Vance L. Boelter voted fro the MAGA president last year. The revelation came after Republicans such as Elon Musk painted Boelter, who was appointed to Governor Walz’s Workforce Development Board in 2019, as a violent leftist—despite his pro-life views and his plans to target dozens of Democratic leaders.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/dem-assassin-is-strong-trump-supporter-best-friend-reveals

Atlantic: In Minnesota, America’s Luck Ran Out

Early this morning, a gunman apparently impersonating a police officer targeted two Democratic Minnesota state lawmakers in their homes. First, he shot State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, who were seriously wounded. Law-enforcement officials believe the same gunman then shot Melissa Hortman, who served as Minnesota’s speaker of the house from 2019 to 2024. She was killed, along with her husband, Mark.

The perp was a die-hard MAGA maniac Trump supporter with hit list of 70 Democrats and abortion providers to be snuffed out.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/06/in-minnesota-americas-luck-ran-out/683194

MSNBC: Elon Musk’s bad-faith response to the Minnesota shootings risks encouraging political violence

In the wake of the attacks, prominent right-wing social media commentators and conspiracy theorists were quick to falsely lay blame at the feet of Democrats.

The shootings of two Minnesota state legislators and their spouses this weekend — resulting in the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband and grievous injury to Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, who were shot multiple times — is the latest horrific episode of political violence across the country.

It won’t be the last.

In the wake of the attacks, prominent right-wing social media commentators and conspiracy theorists were quick to falsely lay blame at the feet of victims and Democrats. After reports surfaced that Gov. Tim Walz had appointed the Minnesota shooting suspect, who was taken into custody Sunday, to a state workforce development board, right-wing social media personality Mike Cernovich asked on X whether Walz had unleashed an “assassin” and “ordered the political hit against a rival who voted against Walz’s plan to give free healthcare to illegals.” Elon Musk was swiftly mocked online after he blamed the “far left” for the killings in a post on X.Expand article logo  Continue reading  Back to Home

These conspiracy theories are patently wrong. The suspect in custody for Saturday’s killings has reportedly voted for Trump and is a supporter of the president, according to a close friend of his who spoke with NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis, and he appears to have deliberately targeted progressive and liberal candidates and causes. Police discovered a list of other targets, including Democrats who support abortion rights and Planned Parenthood clinics. He was an ordained Christian minister who had taken several trips to proselytize overseas.

When political leaders use rhetoric that demonizes their opponents, declaring them enemies who are worthy of revenge or pledging retribution, their supporters may feel emboldened or empowered to take violent action.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/minnesota-shootings-suspect-elon-musk-response-conspiracies-rcna213152

Deadline: John Oliver Says “Slippery Slope To Authoritarianism Under Trump” Is Here With POTUS Response To L.A. Anti-ICE Protests

John Oliver, like his fellow late-night hosts before him, is ringing the alarm on president Donald Trump’s authoritarianism.

The Last Week Tonight host wasted no time getting down to brass tacks, addressing the Los Angeles protests that were spurred by the White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller-led escalation of ICE raids, with agents targeting a Home Depot parking lot occupied by day laborers to meet increased deportation quotas last week.

Referring to a clip of Trump’s Fort Bragg speech, where POTUS claimed the City of Angels would be “on fire” akin to the devastating Palisades and Eaton blazes earlier this year if he hadn’t mobilized thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines, Oliver remarked: “I know I’m not saying anything new right now, but he is such a dick. There is just no reason to bring up the traumatic fires that are still very much on people’s minds in L.A., for the same reason you shouldn’t open a toast at a retirement party with, ‘Wow, only milestone left after this is death.’ Yeah, everyone knows that, and we’re all trying not to think about it.”

https://deadline.com/2025/06/john-oliver-trump-los-angeles-protests-ice-authoritarian-1236434562

ABC News: ‘Tense’ security call among House Republicans following Minnesota shootings

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.

Which was major disinformation and fear-mongering aimed at Democrats. The perp, Vance Luther Boelter, was a MAGA maniac.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/tense-security-call-among-house-republicans-following-minnesota-shootings/ar-AA1GPofq

Axios: Sen. Mike Lee called to resign for “disgusting” posts about Minnesota shooting

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.

https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2025/06/16/minnesota-shooting-mike-lee-twitter-posts-resign

Raw Story: ‘Deep brain rot’: Ex-Republican blasts GOP over ‘deranged’ assassin theories

Former Republicans Tim Miller and MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace were incensed by the behavior of former colleagues over the assassination and threats to Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota over the weekend.

“I mean, all the way up to Elon Musk, richest man in the world, former shadow president, two United States senators, Mike Lee and Bernie Moreno, and a bunch of other very prominent right wing media folks, are still up until this moment, trying to claim that this person is a marxist. They invented some rationale that I guess one of the victims had voted against something that Gov. Tim Walz was pushing through with regards to health care for undocumented immigrants or something.”

“I mean, this is like a deep brain rot, and it is infecting all of their followers,” Miller said. “It’s infecting people all around the country.”

He noted that these kinds of statements only “incite people more.” By claiming the left is behind the violence is “radicalizing people more towards the victims.”

https://www.rawstory.com/minnesota-assassin

WCCO News: Vance Boelter taken into custody in lawmaker shootings in Minnesota

MAGA’s poster-boy mass murderer has been busted!

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.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/vance-boelter-taken-into-custody-minnesota-lawmaker-shootings-sources

Newsweek: Did Senator ID himself when Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem’s guards wrestled him?

Video footage posted to Padilla’s account on X, formerly Twitter, showed the senator identifying himself, but he appeared to do so after he began approaching the podium and was blocked by agents.

“I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla said before agents pushed him into a hallway, where FBI agents forced him to the ground and placed him in handcuffs. The senator was released shortly after.

The customary lies and misrepresentations from Bimbo #2 Noem:

In an interview with Fox News, [Bimbo #2] Noem said Padilla “did not identify himself and was removed from the room.”

“This man burst into the room, started lunging toward the podium, interrupting me and elevating his voice and was stopped,” [Bimbo #2] Noem said. “Did not identify himself and was removed from the room. So as soon as he identified himself, you know, appropriate actions were taken.”

“I had a conversation with the senator after this,” she continued. “We sat down for 10 to 15 minutes and talked about the fact that nobody knew who he was. He didn’t say who he was until he already had been lunging forward, and people were trying to detain him for quite a period of time.”

[Bimbo #2] added, “He was never arrested. Nobody knew who he was when he came into the room creating a scene.”

But:

Padilla said in a video posted on his social media channels: “I introduced myself. ‘I’m Senator Alex Padilla, and I have a question.’ And it took all of a second for multiple agents to forcibly remove me from the room, to pin me on the ground and handcuff me.”

https://www.newsweek.com/did-senator-alex-padilla-id-himself-kristi-noem-guards-wrestled-2085009

Esquire: Somehow Republicans Are Defending Kristi Noem After the Forceful Removal of Senator Alex Padilla

I thought assaulting someone holding federal office was a crime. Not anymore, apparently.

So, apparently we’re bum-rushing US senators now. From The Guardian:

In video taken of the incident that has since gone viral on social media, Padilla is seen being restrained and removed from the room by Secret Service agents.“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla shouts, as he struggles to move past the men removing him from the premises. “Hands off!” he says at one point.Emerging afterward, Padilla, who is the ranking member of the judiciary subcommittee on immigration, citizenship and border safety, said he and his colleagues had repeatedly asked DHS for more information on its “increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions” but had not received a response to his inquiries.

This tinhorn governor of a state where nobody lives, this puppy-murdering hack whose political career outside of MAGA World was as dead as Custer, now gets to sic her black-shirted thugs on the senior senator of a state that she and her criminal boss and all their attendant lords have been lying about, and about which she had flown to Los Angeles to lie about some more.

Dumbass in a ballcap says what? She just admitted they’re blowing up the town to get rid of the mayor and governor. If the courts ever get their teeth back, this gaffe will figure prominently in many filings.

Meanwhile, Padilla is hauled into a backroom and driven to the floor and handcuffed.

And not for nothing, but threatening and/or assaulting the holder of any federal office is a felony and could draw you five to ten in the pokey. And these goons are pretty identifiable.

And, of course, the administration’s prevarication mill went into full operation almost instantly. From The New Republic via Yahoo:

In posts on X, the official DHS account and Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin released a statement attempting to justify wrestling Padilla to the ground and handcuffing him. “Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” the statement read.

Tricia learned to lie like this at the AEI’s Leadership Institute.

But in a video of the altercation from Padilla’s office, the senator could be heard clearly identifying himself. “Hands off! I’m Senator Alex Padilla, and I have questions for the secretary,” said the California Democrat as a security guard pushed him out of the room.

It’s clear that the goons looked at him and just saw another angry brown face. And by their reactions, Tricia and her boss are similarly afflicted.

This is also all my bollocks. Noem knows who Padilla is and, if she doesn’t, she should, and he did identify himself. Third-rate hack with a fourth-rate alibi.

And what about Speaker Moses? What did you expect?

That sanctimonious sumbitch wants Padilla censured. And he spent the afternoon hiding. If he’s a Christian, I’m an Ostrogoth.

The day was not without its burlesque, however. In a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Maxwell Frost asked Chairman James (Jughead) Comer to issue a subpoena for Noem regarding the events of the day. Comer, of course, refused, probably because Padilla was not carrying Hunter Biden’s laptop at the time. And then we were off.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a65058840/senator-padilla-kristi-noem-james-comer-marjorie-taylor-greene