Newly filed sentencing memos concur that Vance Boelter should never be free after the ambush shootings of Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses that shattered two families and shook the state.
Memos from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis and Boelter’s attorney were filed Tuesday ahead of a sentencing set for Thursday in federal court. He pleaded guilty in June to killing Democratic Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and severely injuring Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in a second attack the same night.
The document submitted by Boelter’s lawyer said he expresses remorse and asks that he be allowed to serve his time at a high-security prison in Florida.
“He cannot change his actions from June 14, 2025. He is ready to face the consequences,” public defender Manny Atwal wrote.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Yvette Hoffman denounced the request.
“The defendant is worried about his comfort. His victims lost their futures, and countless families will carry the trauma he caused for the rest of their lives,” she wrote. Hoffman said she would deliver a victim impact statement in court Thursday “for those who no longer can and for those of us who will live with the consequences of his choices forever.”
The memo from U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen lays out the crimes in excruciating detail, including some elements that haven’t been mentioned before. It concludes, “the astonishing damage that Boelter caused to his victims and to the state of Minnesota will never be cured. Justice requires that Boelter never be free ever again.”
Boelter assassinated the Hortmans in their home in the early morning of June 14, not long after he shot the Hoffmans multiple times. He visited the homes of at least two other DFL lawmakers as well.
The U.S. attorney’s memo said Boelter extensively researched his targets and had a clear political motivation behind the attacks he planned. Boelter disguised himself as a police officer when he showed up at each lawmaker’s home.
“He used the appearance of lawful authority to bring unsuspecting families to their doors with the intent to kill them,” Rosen’s memo reads. “The resulting harm extends well beyond the number of charges or the number of bullets fired.”
It goes on, “Boelter murdered two loving parents, attempted to kill more, devastated two families, and targeted public officials through violence because of their public service. It was an act of political violence that struck at the core of representative government.”
Prosecutors say Boelter also visited the homes of state Rep. Kristin Bahner of Maple Grove, who wasn’t home at the time, and state Sen. Ann Rest of New Hope. He left Rest’s house after encountering a local police officer approaching her home for a welfare check.
Boelter wrote in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel that he had a pistol aimed at the officer but didn’t fire because he didn’t intend to harm law enforcement.
The memo said the New Hope officer “believed the SUV was likely an unmarked Minnesota State Patrol vehicle conducting dignitary protection detail for Senator Rest.” Boelter had been driving a law-enforcement style squad vehicle equipped with emergency lights; he owned a private security company.
Boelter left that scene as the officer went to check on Rest. The fatal Hortman shootings followed after 3:30 a.m.
Boelter has asked to serve his two life sentences plus 40 years at the U.S. Penitentiary Coleman II outside of Orlando, Fla. Boelter's attorney says that Boelter has had limited access to other inmates and programming while incarcerated in Minnesota.
The prosecution memo knocks down as false Boelter’s assertions that he acted on behalf of anyone in government, stating plainly that he acted alone.
The U.S. attorney’s memo doesn’t identify a preferred prison. But it seeks to hold Boelter accountable to the fullest extent.
“Boelter substituted violence for democratic decision-making. He used violence in an effort to displace the cornerstones of the republic. Violence directed at elected officials does not affect only the people who are attacked,” the memo says. “It sends a message to every person serving in public office, and to anyone considering public service, that political participation may expose an entire family to deadly threats or violence.”
Thursday’s sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge John Tunheim is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Minneapolis.