How US senator falsely claimed Minnesota shooting suspect was ‘Marxist’

The June 14 shooting of Minnesota authorities lawmakers and their spouses has inflamed fears of governmental unit successful the United States. The fatal shooting, which has been dubbed arsenic politically motivated, has fuelled online speculation astir the gunman’s governmental beliefs.

Vance Boelter was arrested connected June 15 successful transportation with fatally shooting Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and injuring authorities Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Boelter faces state and federal charges, including second-degree murder, second-degree attempted execution and stalking.

As Minnesota and national instrumentality enforcement officers launched their two-day hunt for Boelter, Senator Mike Lee, without evidence, made galore X posts astir the suspect’s ideology.

“This is what happens (w)hen Marxists don’t get their way,” Lee said of Boelter astatine astir 11am ET connected June 15. Posting from his idiosyncratic account, Lee attached a representation of Boelter from the FBI’s “wanted” poster. The station was pinned connected Lee’s X profile, ensuring it would beryllium the archetypal happening relationship visitors encountered.

That post followed others in which Lee said Boelter held Marxist governmental beliefs. Marxism refers to the ideology developed by philosopher Karl Marx that serves arsenic a foundational mentation for communist and socialist movements.

As accusation trickled retired that Boelter had homemade “No Kings” flyers successful his car and that helium had been appointed to a authorities committee successful 2019, Lee was among salient conservatives calling retired purported left-wing violence. Others included billionaire businessman and erstwhile White House advisor Elon Musk and US Senator Bernie Moreno. On June 16, Lee reposted Musk, saying “the acold near is murderously violent”.

But the disposable grounds – including nationalist comments from radical who knew Boelter, quality reports astir Boelter’s writings and video of Boelter – did not enactment their decision that this was the enactment of a left-leaning ideologue.

His friends said helium was right-leaning, a protagonist of President Donald Trump and opposed termination rights. While preaching successful the Democratic Republic of the Congo a fewer years ago, helium spoke against abortion.

Still, authorities discouraged radical from drafting conclusions astir Boelter’s information oregon what ideology mightiness person driven his actions.

“Obviously his superior motive was to spell retired and execution people,” acting US Attorney Joseph Thompson said during a June 16 quality briefing aft Boelter was apprehended. “They were each elected officials. They were each Democrats. Beyond that, I deliberation it’s conscionable mode excessively speculative for anyone that’s reviewed these materials to cognize and to accidental what was motivating him successful presumption of ideology oregon circumstantial issues.”

We contacted Lee for grounds supporting the connection that Boelter expressed Marxist oregon left-leaning ideology and received nary response.

On Lee’s Senate X account, helium struck a antithetic tone.

“These hateful attacks person nary spot successful Utah, Minnesota, oregon anyplace successful America,” helium wrote connected June 15. “Please articulation maine successful condemning this senseless violence, and praying for the victims and their families.”

Boelter’s ideology and motivations aren’t clear, authorities said

Boelter’s online elector registration grounds includes nary notation of his enactment affiliation, and a Minnesota Secretary of State spokesperson told PolitiFact that the bureau doesn’t way enactment affiliation.

Information and nuance astir Boelter’s imaginable governmental beliefs were disposable earlier Lee’s X posts.

The New York Times reported connected June 14 that authorities documents successful 2016 listed Boelter’s governmental affiliation arsenic “none oregon other” and successful 2020 said “no enactment preference”.

US Senator Tina Smith said connected June 14 that the gunman had a notebook with a database of astir 70 targets, including herself, different Democratic lawmakers and “doctors, assemblage and concern leaders, and locations for Planned Parenthood and different wellness attraction centers”, The New York Times reported.

On June 16, Thompson, the acting US attorney, told reporters that speculation oregon treatment astir Boelter having an ideology-filled “manifesto” wasn’t supported by disposable evidence.

“I’ve seen thing similar a Unabomber-style manifesto successful (Boelter’s) writings,” Thompson said. “He had many, galore notebooks afloat of plans, lists of names, surveillance, efforts that helium took to surveil and find the location addresses and household members’ relationships with these elected officials, but I person not seen thing involving immoderate benignant of governmental screed oregon manifesto that would intelligibly place what motivated him.”

People who knew Boelter described right-leaning governmental beliefs

David Carlson, who identified himself to reporters as Boelter’s existent roommate and longtime friend, said claims that Boelter was a Democrat were inaccurate.

Carlson rebutted the communicative – amplified by salient blimpish influencers – that Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s 2019 assignment of Boelter to a authorities workforce improvement committee proved Boelter was a liberal.

“Everyone’s calling him a Democrat – he’s not a Democrat,” Carlson said to CBS News. “He would beryllium offended if radical called him a Democrat.” Boelter’s assignment to Walz’s workforce improvement committee was reflective of Boelter “serving the community,” not of his governmental beliefs, Carlson said.

Boelter did not similar erstwhile President Joe Biden, Carlson added.

“He was a Trump supporter,” Carlson said. “He voted for Trump. He liked Trump.”

Before that, connected June 14, Carlson told KMSP-TV that successful the 1990s, Boelter “really hated abortion”. Carlson said helium hadn’t spoken with Boelter astir termination “at length” successful years, however.

Paul Schroeder, different idiosyncratic who has known Boelter for years, described him successful akin presumption to The Associated Press.

“(Boelter) was right-leaning politically but ne'er fanatical, from what I saw, conscionable beardown beliefs,” Schroeder told the AP. “He ne'er talked to maine astir abortion… It seemed to beryllium conscionable that helium was a blimpish Republican who people followed Trump.”

When reporters asked officials connected Monday whether termination rights supporters were among Boelter’s imaginable targets, Thompson said helium believed the names of “some termination rights supporters” appeared successful Boelter’s writings. He besides said, however, that determination were “dozens and dozens and dozens of names connected hundreds of pages” of Boelter’s writings.

Boelter was besides an evangelical Christian missionary who had denounced termination astatine slightest erstwhile during a sermon helium delivered successful the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Christianity Today and The Associated Press reported.

“The churches are truthful messed up,” a February 2023 YouTube video shows Boelter saying. “They don’t cognize termination is wrong, galore churches.”

Our ruling

Lee said Boelter was driven by “Marxist” ideology.

He provided nary grounds supporting that statement, and nary disposable accusation astir Boelter’s governmental beliefs signals that his beliefs were Marxist oregon left-leaning.

People who knew Boelter told reporters helium was politically right-leaning and voted for Trump. Law enforcement officials said each the imaginable targets Boelter had identified were elected officials and Democrats, and they discouraged radical from making sweeping conclusions astir Boelter’s ideology.

In breaking quality situations, it takes clip for officials to supply vetted information. Instead of waiting for the facts, Lee promoted an unproven and inflammatory conspiracy theory.

We complaint this assertion False.