Dressed as a cop, he arrived at a politician’s home and rang the doorbell. Then the killing began

Minneapolis: A Minnesota man, who pleaded guilty on Thursday to killing a top Democratic politician and her husband, admitted he spent months identifying elected officials to target, and stalking them before driving to their homes in the middle of the night dressed as a police officer, intending to kill them.

The attacks by Vance Boelter in Minneapolis last summer sparked the largest police search in state history. The shock waves reverberated across the United States, where elected officials feared escalating threats and polarisation could lead to more violence.

Boelter, 58, pleaded guilty so that federal prosecutors would not seek the death penalty; instead, he agreed to serve two consecutive life sentences, plus 40 years.

Boelter, disguised in a tactical uniform and a realistic mask, parked his police-style SUV with emergency flashing lights in the driveway of Melissa Hortman, Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, about 3.30am on June 14, 2025.

He rang the doorbell, shouting: “Police, welfare check,” according to a plea agreement made public on Thursday. Mark Hortman, her husband, answered the door.

Hortman told Boelter that his wife was also in the home, and Boelter said he’d need to see her before he could leave, according to the plea agreement.

When Mark Hortman asked, Boelter gave him a fake name and badge number, and when Hortman followed up about his jurisdiction, Boelter hesitated before naming a different Minneapolis suburb, the agreement states.

Boelter then immediately took out his gun and shot Hortman multiple times, according to the agreement.

Boelter then “rushed forward through the front door into the home” and shot Melissa Hortman repeatedly “as she attempted to flee upstairs”, according to the plea agreement. Both Melissa and Mark Hortman were killed.

Boelter had already been to the home of state senator John Hoffman that night, shooting and critically injuring him and his wife, Yvette, while their daughter was nearby.

There were brief sobs from the courtroom gallery, where family members of the Hortmans sat alongside John and Yvette Hoffman as the attacks were described in detail on Thursday.

Again and again, Boelter simply said “yes” as his lawyer questioned him about his actions, including whether he had pressed a pistol to Melissa Hortman’s head and fired.

US Attorney Daniel Rosen told reporters after the hearing that the death penalty was taken off the table only after Boelter agreed to the longest possible prison sentence for the six federal charges.

“Political violence is a scourge plaguing America,” Ro