What Targeted Lawmaker Attacks Could Mean for Future of Policing
It’s been just days since Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were brutally murdered in their Brooklyn Park home.
Alleged assassin Vance Boelter killed the Hortmans and wounded Sen. John Hoffman (DFL-Champlin) and his wife Yvette while impersonating a police officer.
In the wake of the tragedy, investigators are trying to piece together what happened and what it means for the future of law enforcement.
Joseph Thompson, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, called Boelter’s crimes “the stuff of nightmares” when announcing he’d face a bevy of federal charges that make him eligible for the death penalty.
Killer Impersonated Police
Investigators say Boelter impersonated a police officer as he committed his crimes.
He had a black SUV outfitted with flashing lights and fraudulent police license plate.
Likewise, he wore a blue shirt, police-style body armor and a gold badge.
According to Thompson, Boelter visited the homes of at least four elected officials dressed this way with the intent to kill them.
Wearing a silicone mask, he shot both Hoffmans at their Champlin home.
He then traveled to the home of Rep. Kristin Bahner (DFL-Maple Grove), but no one answered the door when he knocked.
Next, he headed to the New Hope home of Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope), and encountered a police officer along the way.
New Hope police were on their way to conduct a wellness check on Rest when they spotted Boelter and his vehicle at 2:36 a.m.
The New Hope officer initially believed Boelter was a fellow officer and attempted to talk with him. He ignored her, so she proceeded to Rest’s home.
Boelter then fled the scene.
By about 3:30 a.m., he reached the Hortman home, where he exchanged gunfire with police.
He then fired into the house and entered it, shooting both Melissa and Mark Hortman.
Boelter fled out the back of the home, kicking off a nearly two-day manhunt. Law enforcement officials arrested Boelter at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday in a field near Green Isle, Minn., a town about 50 miles west of Minneapolis in Sibley County.
Police found three AK-47s, a 9 mm handgun, and a hit list with more than 45 state and federal elected officials in the fake police vehicle he abandoned at the Hortman residence.
Law enforcement officials arrested Vance Boelter at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday in a field near Green Isle, Minn., a town about 50 miles west of Minneapolis in Sibley County.
What Comes Next?
It’s not clear what, if any impact the murders will have on law enforcement policy.
“So there’s a lot of questions about what this really means,” said New Hope Mayor and Robbinsdsale Police Captain John Elder. “Of what had happened, as well as concern for safety of my officers and all officers that we involved in this. “
The Robbinsdale Police Department was one of many that responded to the Hortman home after the shooting. And since then, there’s been little time for policy discussion while hunting down a killer.
“Right now, we have been really drinking out of a fire hose,” Elder said. “We will have to have those conversations about doing things moving forward if there need to be changes. We don’t even know at this point if there need to be changes.”
There’s also likely to be calls for increased security for lawmakers.
It’s an issue Elder knows well. He was in the New Hope City Council Chambers in 2015 when 68-year-old Raymond Kmetz shot two police officers.
Questions of security for elected officials are tied to the taxpayer, Elder said.
“Everything comes with a price tag. And if we’re talking about having security for the elected officials, where does that start, where does that stop?” he said.
All these questions are difficult — but perhaps the answers can help prevent another murder.
