Vance Boelter texted family that they needed to flee their house before ‘people with guns’ showed up, filings allege

The man charged in connection with the recent shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses was a doomsday “prepper” who instructed his family to “prepare for war” as he tried to evade capture, according to new court filings.

Vance Boelter, 57, faces multiple federal and state murder charges after allegedly shooting dead the Democratic Minnesota state house speaker emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in the early hours of 14 June. Boelter is also accused of shooting and seriously wounding the Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, about 90 minutes earlier.

In a newly unsealed affidavit first reported by the local news station WCCO and seen by the Guardian, law enforcement pulled over Boelter’s wife and four children hours after the shootings near Lake Mille Lacs, about 75 miles (120km) north of the Twin Cities, apparently en route to Wisconsin.

  • thanks AV@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    26
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    10 days ago

    I think its more that preppers are, by and large, republican stooges waiting for an excuse to shoot their neighbors

    Sure, liberal preppers exist, but those people are called “prepared for emergencies” not doomsday cultists

    • thedruid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      10 days ago

      No. WE. Are not.

      There many , MANY, more who are far more into the sustainability, safety, and community aspects of prepping.

      Peppers learn how to filter , recycle and reuse, adapt and integrate.

      We learn to hunt, and yes to fight if needed.

      But our goal is renewal and regrowth. Surviving requiresnpeople. People need trust. Can’t trust a person who thinks prepping is stockpiling guns.

      You’re describing militias. Which is what this guy was really. A militarist without a militia

        • HeyJoe@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          9 days ago

          That can be said about most hobbies or interests people can have. Almost all of them have stereotypes people will think of immediately that is not necessarily a good representation of it.