Here's What We Know About the Political Beliefs of the Minnesota Shooting Suspect

After a particularly emotionally charged shooting occurs, it has become commonplace for people to seek out the alleged shooter's political affiliation. This information is typically weaponized by the opposing party, thus ignoring the victims of the crime. If the person involved in the shooting is a registered Republican, the topic of gun control is trotted out. If the responsible individual is a registered Democrat, the discussion usually turns to mental illness.

The truth of the matter is that this is a nuanced conversation that goes beyond political parties. Perhaps one of the more depressing aspects of these discussions is the fact that there is seemingly no end in sight to gun violence. In June 2025, another story hit the news after a man dressed as a police officer entered the homes of two Minnesota politicians and opened fire. Two people were killed while two survived. A man named Vance Boelter has been arrested in connection to these crimes.

In the state of Minnesota, voters are not required to declare a political affiliation when they register to vote, per The New York Times. In 2016, former Minnesota governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat, appointed Boelter to a bipartisan state economic board. He was later reappointed by Governor Tim Walz, who is also a Democrat. There were reportedly only a handful of meetings each year, which involved little direct interaction between members.

A state report connected to the workforce board listed Boelter's political party as "none or other" in 2016. Four years later, he changed it to "no party preference." The X account @KellyScaletta shared a screenshot of Boelter's voter registration from the state of Oklahoma. In September and November 2004, he registered as a Republican. Beyond an actual paper trail, there is anecdotal evidence that Boelter was a Conservative.

Boelter lived with a man named David Carlson who told The Times that his former roommate voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Carlson, who has known Boelter since the two were in the fourth grade, also claimed that his friend was extremely anti-abortion. Although Carlson was aware that Boelter owned guns, he said he couldn't recall a single time when his longtime friend said anything about the lawmakers who were attacked.

A video of Boelter preaching in the Democratic Republic of Congo has circulated online. In it, he appears to be spreading anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ messaging about "people in America who don't even know what sex they are." He goes on to say that they are "confused" because they "don't know their sexual orientation." Boelter claims that an unnamed enemy has infiltrated their minds, but the words of the Bible cut deeper.

According to federal tax forms obtained by The Times, Boelter and his wife Jennifer previously led a Christian nonprofit called Revoformation Ministries. A description of the group found on an archived version of their website says Boelter "sought out militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn’t the answer."