(WXYZ/AP) — Multiple Michigan lawmakers were on the list of the alleged Minnesota shooter, their teams have confirmed to 7 News Detroit.
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Vance Boelter surrendered to police Sunday after they found him in the woods near his home following a massive manhunt that stretched over two days. He is accused of fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs.
Authorities say he also shot Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, who lived just a few miles away.
Officials said the list had dozens of names from several states. Those names included Democratic officials, plus others with ties to Planned Parenthood or abortion rights movements, according to CNN.
Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell was on the list, her aide confirmed to 7 News Detroit.
West Michigan Rep. Hillary Scholten was also on the list, her office confirmed to 7 News Detroit. Scholten was set to host a town hall on Monday evening in Muskegon, but it was canceled out of an abundance of caution.
Dingell chose to hold her planned town hall at Dexter High School on Monday, where there was a heavy police presence.
“Some people wanted me to cancel tonight and I was not going to cancel tonight,” she said during her town hall. “I've got a great chief, and the sheriff from here said to me, 'you just got to be a little more careful.'”
Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer says more than two dozen deputies, along with state and local police, were at the event screening people at the door and keeping a close eye on the crowd.
Armed security accompanied the congresswoman.
"We stand ready to protect all of our elected officials as well as our community in this county,” Dyer said. "It's critical. To be able to participate in democracy without fear of harm is really important.”
Spokespeople for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin and U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar told 7 News Detroit that all three officials' names were also in the suspect's notes.
A source familiar with the matter also confirmed U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib's name appeared on the list.
A spokesperson for U.S. Congresswoman Haley Stevens issued the following statement from her on the list:
My heart is with Rep. Hortman, Sen. Hoffman, and their families in the wake of last week's attacks.
Political violence has no place in our communities. My office is in touch with law enforcement about my being included in the perpetrator's materials, and I am grateful for everything they have done and continue to do in the wake of this tragedy.
Despite the threat, Dingell said it was crucial the town hall event went on as lawmakers call for unity.
“All of us, every single one of us has to help dial down the level of rhetoric. We are normalizing violence and that is not OK,” Dignell said.
Dingell has another town hall scheduled for Wednesday in Belleville.
Thanedar says he was informed Sunday night by Detroit police and state Capitol police but says it didn't appear the threats were credible.
“Certainly, I was concerned, but I was also concerned about my wife,” he said. “There were names of about 80 different members of Congress, but there were no addresses associated with these names and what FBI say to us is there was no follow-up plan.”
In a press conference on Sunday after the suspect, Vance Boelter, was arrested, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said states on the list included Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and more.
Boelter meticulously planned the attacks, carrying out surveillance missions, taking notes on the homes and people he targeted and disguising himself as a police officer just before the shootings, acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said on Monday.
“It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmares,” he said.
Federal prosecutors announced Monday that they charged Boelter, 57, with federal murder and stalking offenses. He already faces state charges, including murder and attempted murder. Hours later at a federal court hearing in St. Paul, Boelter said he could not afford an attorney and a federal public defender was appointed to represent him.
Watch below: Suspect in Minnesota lawmaker shootings visited 4 homes of elected officials
Boelter had many notebooks full of plans that appeared to be months in the making, Thompson said. Underscoring what law enforcement officials said was the premeditated nature of the attacks, Boelter wrote out in one notebook a list of internet-based people search engines, according to court records.
But authorities have not found any writings that would “clearly identify what motivated him,” Thompson said. Though the targets were Democrats and elected officials, Thompson said it was too soon to speculate on any sort of political ideology.
His writings included the names of 45 state and federal elected officials in Minnesota, Thompson said.
Authorities declined to name the two other elected officials who escaped harm. But it was clear the shootings were politically motivated.
“This was a targeted attack against individuals who answered the call to public service,” said Alvin Winston, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis field office.
Watch below: Suspect in shootings of 2 Minnesota lawmakers crawled to officers, surrendered, authorities say
Boelter sent a text to a family group chat after the shootings that said: “Dad went to war last night ... I don’t wanna say more because I don’t wanna implicate anybody,” according to an FBI affidavit.
His wife got another text that said: “Words are not gonna explain how sorry I am for this situation ... there’s gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don’t want you guys around,” the affidavit said.
Police later found his wife in a car with her children. Officers found two handguns, about $10,000 in cash and passports for the wife and her children, according to the affidavit.
The Minnesota shootings have been triggering for other Michigan politicians who have faced political violence themselves. In 2020, then-Michigan Rep. Cynthia Johnson faced a slew of threats while serving on a committee investigating alleged voter fraud in the presidential election.
"I’m sickened by this," an emotional Johnson said as she reflected on the Minnesota assassinations."We just need to pray for our country."
After receiving a voicemail from an angry voter, Johnson posted its contents online. The message called for Johnson to be lynched and referred to her as racial slurs. She says she received thousands more like it.
"I was being attacked for a whole six days," Johnson said. "It was scary. I felt like I was so alone. I didn’t feel like I had any support."
Watch Whitney Burney's video report:
Johnson says it's on lawmakers to calm the rhetoric and narratives that perpetuate said political violence.
"It’s all people’s responsibility but particularly it is the elected officials. It’s our job but everybody is not on the same page," Johnson said. "When you have legislators and you have elected officials who are helping with this narrative, what do you expect the people to do? They are following leaders or so they think they’re following leaders."
Professor Pontus Leander has studied political violence like this for a decade at Wayne State University. He is the director for the university's Center for Peace and conflict studies department.
"I think as a lot of people, I’m shocked as a human but as a member of society is it really that shocking? Or do you get that feeling of 'oh no! Not again,'" Leander said.
Watch below: Pontus Leander, Director, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies at Wayne State University, talks about political violence and its effects
Leander says desensitization to the violence is a contributing factor to it perpetuating.
"People, not only do they process it more quickly, but they have less to process about it because it’s already been processed so many times before and so what gets focused on now is what makes this situation unique or different," the professor added. "Frustration, conflict, dismay: this is all part of life. Helplessness is part of life, not knowing how to move forward in a complex world is part of life. That does not cause shootings, that does not cause political violence. That might energize it, but it's energy potential. What gives that form and shape and direction are the narratives that are coming down from up high and that can be media narratives. That can be public figures, respected individuals. That could be the language that gets used."
Leander says it's important that people continue to denounce the violent behavior and not accept it as normal.
"It is on all of us to do something and what we can each individually do is very simple: we don’t accept this as normal. We don’t let it normalize. Be shocked every time."
