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So, the MN Dem Shooting Suspect Never Worked for a Private Security Firm?

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  June 16, 2025 6:05 AM

I still don’t know what to think about this reported friend of Vance Boelter, the suspected assassin of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman, who he shot and killed, along with her husband, over the weekend. Boelter dressed like a police officer during the attack. 

He also shot State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife; both are expected to survive. It led to a two-day manhunt. Boelter is a strange agent: he worked at a private security firm where his wife, Jennifer, was CEO, had ties to the Middle East and Africa, owned multiple homes, and then committed this senseless rampage.  

All of this is being shared by his friend and roommate David Carlson, whom he texted before the attacks (via NY Post):

Suspected assassin Vance Boelter fronted a security firm his best friend said never existed and experienced “struggles” after returning from a three-year trip to Africa months before he allegedly turned his gun on a pair of Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses. 

Federal and state authorities are on the hunt for Boelter, 57, who allegedly disguised himself as a cop before executing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday, just prior to shooting and seriously wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in their house. 

[…] 

Friends and roommates described the accused gunman as a quiet but intelligent family man who rarely discussed politics. 

But behind the unassuming façade lurked hints of a growing trouble within, which began after a three-year stint in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he claimed to have multiple business interests tied to his security company, Red Lion Group. 

“I thought his demeanor [changed], he wasn’t as cheerful as he used to be. Since he got back from Africa, I guess,” Boelter’s roommate and self-described best friend David Carlson told The Post, adding he got back four months ago and quit his job to go there. 

And somehow, all of this led to a deranged rampage based on reported anti-abortion tendencies. His friend also said he’s a Trump supporter. We’ll see about that. Police detained Jennifer Boelter over the weekend after a traffic stop in Onamia, where a weapon, ammunition, cash, and passports were found inside the car.  

We'll keep you posted, but this story is off the rails. 

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