Why the feds want the Minnesota assassination case

Signs point to an unexpected power grab by federal authorities.

(Government Services Administration)

After 20 plus years as a state and federal prosecutor, I have seen my share of horrific murders. The assassination of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband and the shooting of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, who were critically wounded, still sent chills down my spine. Investigators say that in the early morning hours of June 14, the suspect dressed to appear like a police officer and targeted these two officials’ homes and others he was unable to reach. Police officers found a hit list with about 70 names in the suspect’s car, also designed to look like a police vehicle. Most of the people on the list are Democrats and/or people who support abortion rights. The suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, was taken into custody Sunday night after incredible coordinated work by local and federal law enforcement that likely prevented more targets from being killed. State and federal charges have been brought against Boelter.

The state complaint, which came first, charges Boelter with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in the second degree. The county attorney in Hennepin County has said she will seek first-degree murder charges from the grand jury (first-degree premeditated murder charges require an indictment by a grand jury, which is why the complaint charges second-degree murder). The statement of probable cause is bare bones.

Federal charges include stalking to commit a murder and federal firearms charges resulting in murder and are accompanied by a much more detailed complaint that extensively lays out the evidence against Boelter. According to the Justice Department’s press release, on June 14 “Boelter put into effect a calculated plan to inflict fear and violence upon Minnesota elected officials and their families” and “equipped himself with firearms and body armor, disguised himself as a law enforcement officer.” At the Hoffman home, the press release says, he knocked on the door claiming to be a police officer and shot the senator and her husband multiple times when they tried to close the door on him; Boelter allegedly then traveled to the homes of two other Minnesota elected officials, still disguised as a law enforcement officer, but was unable to make contact with the families. Next, according to the complaint, Boelter drove to the home of Hortman, the speaker emerita. Meanwhile, local law enforcement, acting out of caution after hearing of the shooting at the Hoffman residence, drove to the Hortman household to conduct a safety check. There, the complaint says, they saw Boelter’s car designed to look like a law enforcement vehicle and saw Boelter near the front door of the Hortman home. Moments later, Boelter fired several gunshots into the home, repeatedly striking Hortman and her husband, the Justice Department says. Officers provided medical aid to the Hortmans and attempted to pursue the shooter, who abandoned the SUV and fled, initially, on foot. Both Hortmans died from their wounds. Boelter was apprehended about 43 hours later.

State and federal charges are not unheard of in high-profile matters, but it is not common for both jurisdictions to charge simultaneously. In most cases—and especially when the victims are state legislators—it would be more common to see the state charges go first, as in the prosecution of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, and federal charges would follow if the full federal interest isn’t vindicated. However, federal prosecutors have jumped in first more often recently, as in the case of Luigi Mangione for the killing of United Healthcare executive Brian Thompson in New York. In fact, DOJ principles of prosecution instruct federal prosecutors, in deciding whether to charge conduct that the state can also charge, to consider whether another jurisdiction (like the state) can effectively charge a crime, the strength of that jurisdiction’s case, the willingness to go forward, and sentencing outcomes. Federal prosecutors are cautioned that they should coordinate with other officials in deciding whether to charge. In addition, the “Petit Policy,” an internal DOJ guideline, generally limits federal prosecutions following state prosecutions for the same conduct and requires a “compelling federal interest” for such cases.

In this case, signs point to an unexpected power grab by federal authorities from the state prosecutor, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. Boelter was scheduled to make his first court appearance Monday, but marshals took him to the federal courthouse to appear on federal charges. At a news conference Monday to announce the state charges, Moriarty acknowledged “there’s a tension.” Meanwhile, Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson told reporters that the federal case “does not nullify the state charges. They remain in place. ... My expectation based on prior cases is the federal case, the federal charges, will be litigated first, but the state charges won’t necessarily go anywhere”—hardly a ringing endorsement of the state’s interest.

Some of my legal commentator friends have been critical of DOJ for jumping in on this case. I agree that the timing and the apparent lack of coordination with the state are problematic and not how crimes like this should be prosecuted. The federal case going first can create problems for an eventual state prosecution because its witnesses are previewed, the evidence is revealed (as the feds have done quite extensively in the complaint already), and there are double jeopardy concerns for the state going second that don't exist if it goes first. However, I do not view the state interest as paramount here. The feds have an interest because this appears to have been an act of targeted political violence. As Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has said, political violence is “an attack on everything we stand for as a democracy.”

There is really no question that political violence is rising across the country. So vigorously pursuing clearly politically motivated killings—especially when officials from other states and federal officials were on the suspect’s target list—can be a strong legitimate federal interest. Thompson, ATF and FBI officials in Minnesota have called the killings rare “[p]olitical assassinations” that “strike at the very core of our democracy.” Further, though many people are opposed to the death penalty, and many states, including Minnesota, abolished it long ago, it can be used under federal law.

Extremely problematic is that while Trump apparently condemned the killings as “horrific” and directed DOJ to prosecute, he also continued to engage in personal and degrading attacks on the governor of Minnesota as he was claiming to want to eradicate political violence. Responsible leadership means critiquing and disagreeing with leaders of opposing parties but in a civil way that doesn’t add fuel to the fire. In other words, walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Right-wing conspirators and even lawmakers tried to paint the shooter as a product of left-wing leaders, including Walz, despite that the evidence so far points to a person possibly fueled by anti-abortion beliefs and views on sexual orientation. But this blame game misses the truly important point: Political violence is never acceptable, no matter who perpetrates it or who the victim is. Period.

Mimi Rocah was the district attorney of Westchester County, New York, from 2021 to 2024 and was a federal prosecutor from 2001 to 2017.

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