Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Colorado's Morning News Chad Bauer in for Gina today alongside
Marty Lenz. Officials have apprehended Vance Bolter, the suspects accused
of killing Democratics State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband
at their home early Saturday morning. In a separate incident,
Democratic state Senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot
and wounded at their home.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Joining us now in the KA Commaspirit of Health hotline.
Longtime political columnist and writer in the Twin Cities and
former colleague of mine at KTOK in Minneapolis, It's Brian Lambert. Brian,
always appreciate catching up with you, but obviously not under
these circumstances. First, what do we know about the suspect,
Vance Boltler? Was he on anybody's radar political radar there
in the Twin Cities before this happened.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Hi, Marty and Chad. Nice to talk to you guys.
The No, apparently not. I mean, he had you know,
a pretty minor offense records, you know, speeding and stuff
like that, and it actually served on a couple of
volunteer government boards, so there were no red flags waving
with this guy.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
So Brian tell us about the manhunt and the arrest
of the suspect.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Well, this was, you know, it's kind of a wild
weekend up here. The you know, most people has always
happened when went about their business, but there was a
constant awareness that this was, as the authorities have said,
the biggest manhunt Minnesota history. I think they said they
had twenty SWAT teams out and you know, moving around
(01:30):
and going about your business, people are constantly checking up
on this, and it was the amount of hardware and
personnel was was pretty impressive. And the you know, and
I think one of the interesting things is he was
finally spotted, you know, off a trail camp that somebody
(01:51):
had set up in the woods near his place out
in rural Minnesota, about an hour and a half out
of Minneapolis, and Paul, you know, just an idea of
the amount of you know, kind of odd idiosocratic technology
that's sitting around everywhere these days.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
A lot has been made about whether or whether or
not to release Bolter's manifesto. Some things have leaked out.
It seems to be that he Brian, he was fixated
a little bit on abortion. Does that at the moment
look like the loan issue for the attackers or something
more there. I understand too. I guess in his car
he had a bunch of flyers for no King's rallies
or are going on in the region.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yeah, apparently from what I've heard, and again from what
the authorities have said, and they have said that they
don't regard this as a you know, as like a
bona fide manifesto, if you will, like a Ted Kaczymski
thing or something, hundreds of pages long with a lot
of ranting, you know, kind of disparate, chaotic thoughts. You know,
the guy had some kind of fixation on abortion rights,
(02:48):
and you know, his his background is really kind of odd.
I think that'll be everybody's glad that they cop captured
him alive. At least now you can we have a
chance of hearing his whole story and figure out some
kind of motivation according to him and on his resume,
if if that's what you want to call it, you know,
he saw himself as some kind of a James Bond
(03:09):
figure or running an international security firm. And yet the
only you know, serious employment record he has is managing
a seven to eleven, you know, but he did somehow
get to Africa and there are videos of him, you know,
giving these anti abortion speeches in Africa. So he's a
(03:30):
curious character. And and he he does have a lot
of connections of one of the local stations said he
was a frequent, frequent participant in the various Trump rallies around.
You know what that means. And you know how far
that goes? Who's going to say, but it is at
least everybody was assuming he would just be found dead,
(03:51):
like so many of these characters often are. It's at
least there's some reason believe that with him alive, you
can hear will eventually hear a bit more of the.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Story of Ran In addition to all the state charges
that this guy who is going to face I understand
because he had some sort of a hit list with
federal officials on it, he could also face federal charges.
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
That's what I hear? That's right here, And you know
it was it was you know, it's pure coincidence. Well,
it was actually a piece of smart police work by
one of the local suburban police people who when they
first found when they found the first victims who would survived,
they said, hey, you know, Melissa Hartman is a short
while away we should check on her. And the police
(04:33):
arrived as the attack was going on, and of course
they interrupted that this guy fled off and then the
manhunt began. But people are wondering, oh my god, if
they had not shown up at that moment, where else
would he have gone? And you know, it really threw
a spook into everybody in public office. You know, I'm
(04:54):
basing that just comments we had from the governor and
other elected officials here town whose names were on the list.
Senator Tina Smith was one of them that was on there,
and it could have been far, far worse.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
We focus a lot on the suspect for obvious reasons,
But Brian, I want to know a little bit more
about Rep. Melissa Hortman. What kind of leader was she?
How much was she she liked in the community, what
do we what do we know? What do you know
of her? And about her?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Holy met her once. I mean, she was a pretty
effective politician. You know, she was the former Speaker of
the House when the Democrats had the majority, and you know,
I mean, I think like any politician that's kind of
standing she had. She had her friends and foes. But
you know, the reaction is that she was an honest
(05:41):
dealer and in political terms they mean and and uh
and effective as far as you know, the Democrats racer,
I mean, she was greatly respected by the by the
DFL as the Democrats that called here in Minnesota, and
I mean it was just shocking the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Now, Brian, there have been reports that this suspect was
appointed to some job or some board by Democratic Governor
Tim Wallas. Can you shed some light on what exactly
happened there.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Well, there's not a lot of vetting that goes on.
And he was actually appointed to a board by a
previous governor, Mark Dayton. And these are volunteer boards, you know,
the local representatives put out kind of a casting call
for anybody who wants to sit on these things and
advise the government of you know, changes to the laws
and things like that. And he volunteered for it, showed
(06:33):
up to do the work which has mainly his hearings
and sifting through opinions and stuff, and was then reappointed
to a board by Walls. You know, people want to
read in that he was somehow hand selected by the government,
and that's not the way it goes. It is strictly
(06:53):
a volunteer thing, as there are hundreds of these around
any state.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
What is the condition currently of Senator John Hoffman and
his wife? And then you've been covering Minnesota politics for decades,
is it Is it more contentious than it's been, say, five, ten,
twenty years ago since you've been covering. Are things different
now even in the Twin Cities?
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Oh? God, yeah, yeah, I mean it's it's pretty much
the same as it is anywhere else in the country,
you know, I mean, there's I mean, the regrettable part
is that, you know, what used to be just kind
of adversaries political adversaries, you know, you're now hurling really
kind of venomous insults at the people you disagree with.
And apparently, from what we know about this guy's manifesto
and the things he said to others, you know, he
(07:34):
bought into that pretty seriously. He was some kind of
a he thought of himself as some kind of a
you know, a savior for his causes. So, yeah, it's
not good, and you know, you always hope something like this,
I guess, you know, we'll kind of sober people up
and get people to calm down and temper down. The rhetoric.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
He is a friend and former colleague. He's been covering
Minnesota politics for decades. Writer and a former colleague of
mine is Brian Lambert. Brian, thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Good talking to you, Marty.
Colorado's Morning News Chad Bauer in for Gina today alongside
Marty Lenz. Officials have apprehended Vance Bolter, the suspects accused
of killing Democratics State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband
at their home early Saturday morning. In a separate incident,
Democratic state Senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot
and wounded at their home.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Joining us now in the KA Commaspirit of Health hotline.
Longtime political columnist and writer in the Twin Cities and
former colleague of mine at KTOK in Minneapolis, It's Brian Lambert. Brian,
always appreciate catching up with you, but obviously not under
these circumstances. First, what do we know about the suspect,
Vance Boltler? Was he on anybody's radar political radar there
in the Twin Cities before this happened.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Hi, Marty and Chad. Nice to talk to you guys.
The No, apparently not. I mean, he had you know,
a pretty minor offense records, you know, speeding and stuff
like that, and it actually served on a couple of
volunteer government boards, so there were no red flags waving
with this guy.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
So Brian tell us about the manhunt and the arrest
of the suspect.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Well, this was, you know, it's kind of a wild
weekend up here. The you know, most people has always
happened when went about their business, but there was a
constant awareness that this was, as the authorities have said,
the biggest manhunt Minnesota history. I think they said they
had twenty SWAT teams out and you know, moving around
(01:30):
and going about your business, people are constantly checking up
on this, and it was the amount of hardware and
personnel was was pretty impressive. And the you know, and
I think one of the interesting things is he was
finally spotted, you know, off a trail camp that somebody
(01:51):
had set up in the woods near his place out
in rural Minnesota, about an hour and a half out
of Minneapolis, and Paul, you know, just an idea of
the amount of you know, kind of odd idiosocratic technology
that's sitting around everywhere these days.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
A lot has been made about whether or whether or
not to release Bolter's manifesto. Some things have leaked out.
It seems to be that he Brian, he was fixated
a little bit on abortion. Does that at the moment
look like the loan issue for the attackers or something
more there. I understand too. I guess in his car
he had a bunch of flyers for no King's rallies
or are going on in the region.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yeah, apparently from what I've heard, and again from what
the authorities have said, and they have said that they
don't regard this as a you know, as like a
bona fide manifesto, if you will, like a Ted Kaczymski
thing or something, hundreds of pages long with a lot
of ranting, you know, kind of disparate, chaotic thoughts. You know,
the guy had some kind of fixation on abortion rights,
(02:48):
and you know, his his background is really kind of odd.
I think that'll be everybody's glad that they cop captured
him alive. At least now you can we have a
chance of hearing his whole story and figure out some
kind of motivation according to him and on his resume,
if if that's what you want to call it, you know,
he saw himself as some kind of a James Bond
(03:09):
figure or running an international security firm. And yet the
only you know, serious employment record he has is managing
a seven to eleven, you know, but he did somehow
get to Africa and there are videos of him, you know,
giving these anti abortion speeches in Africa. So he's a
(03:30):
curious character. And and he he does have a lot
of connections of one of the local stations said he
was a frequent, frequent participant in the various Trump rallies around.
You know what that means. And you know how far
that goes? Who's going to say, but it is at
least everybody was assuming he would just be found dead,
(03:51):
like so many of these characters often are. It's at
least there's some reason believe that with him alive, you
can hear will eventually hear a bit more of the.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Story of Ran In addition to all the state charges
that this guy who is going to face I understand
because he had some sort of a hit list with
federal officials on it, he could also face federal charges.
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
That's what I hear? That's right here, And you know
it was it was you know, it's pure coincidence. Well,
it was actually a piece of smart police work by
one of the local suburban police people who when they
first found when they found the first victims who would survived,
they said, hey, you know, Melissa Hartman is a short
while away we should check on her. And the police
(04:33):
arrived as the attack was going on, and of course
they interrupted that this guy fled off and then the
manhunt began. But people are wondering, oh my god, if
they had not shown up at that moment, where else
would he have gone? And you know, it really threw
a spook into everybody in public office. You know, I'm
(04:54):
basing that just comments we had from the governor and
other elected officials here town whose names were on the list.
Senator Tina Smith was one of them that was on there,
and it could have been far, far worse.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
We focus a lot on the suspect for obvious reasons,
But Brian, I want to know a little bit more
about Rep. Melissa Hortman. What kind of leader was she?
How much was she she liked in the community, what
do we what do we know? What do you know
of her? And about her?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Holy met her once. I mean, she was a pretty
effective politician. You know, she was the former Speaker of
the House when the Democrats had the majority, and you know,
I mean, I think like any politician that's kind of
standing she had. She had her friends and foes. But
you know, the reaction is that she was an honest
(05:41):
dealer and in political terms they mean and and uh
and effective as far as you know, the Democrats racer,
I mean, she was greatly respected by the by the
DFL as the Democrats that called here in Minnesota, and
I mean it was just shocking the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Now, Brian, there have been reports that this suspect was
appointed to some job or some board by Democratic Governor
Tim Wallas. Can you shed some light on what exactly
happened there.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Well, there's not a lot of vetting that goes on.
And he was actually appointed to a board by a
previous governor, Mark Dayton. And these are volunteer boards, you know,
the local representatives put out kind of a casting call
for anybody who wants to sit on these things and
advise the government of you know, changes to the laws
and things like that. And he volunteered for it, showed
(06:33):
up to do the work which has mainly his hearings
and sifting through opinions and stuff, and was then reappointed
to a board by Walls. You know, people want to
read in that he was somehow hand selected by the government,
and that's not the way it goes. It is strictly
(06:53):
a volunteer thing, as there are hundreds of these around
any state.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
What is the condition currently of Senator John Hoffman and
his wife? And then you've been covering Minnesota politics for decades,
is it Is it more contentious than it's been, say, five, ten,
twenty years ago since you've been covering. Are things different
now even in the Twin Cities?
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Oh? God, yeah, yeah, I mean it's it's pretty much
the same as it is anywhere else in the country,
you know, I mean, there's I mean, the regrettable part
is that, you know, what used to be just kind
of adversaries political adversaries, you know, you're now hurling really
kind of venomous insults at the people you disagree with.
And apparently, from what we know about this guy's manifesto
and the things he said to others, you know, he
(07:34):
bought into that pretty seriously. He was some kind of
a he thought of himself as some kind of a
you know, a savior for his causes. So, yeah, it's
not good, and you know, you always hope something like this,
I guess, you know, we'll kind of sober people up
and get people to calm down and temper down. The rhetoric.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
He is a friend and former colleague. He's been covering
Minnesota politics for decades. Writer and a former colleague of
mine is Brian Lambert. Brian, thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Good talking to you, Marty.
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