据司法部称，万斯·波尔特(Vance Boelter)被控在明尼苏达州袭击民主党议员，周四他在联邦案件中改变了认罪态度。
据美国广播公司明尼阿波利斯分公司KSTP报道，当博尔特承认他向明尼苏达州众议员梅丽莎·霍特曼开了几次枪，然后用枪指着她的头并杀死她时，法庭上爆发了抽泣。
DOJ说，波尔特对所有六项指控供认不讳:两项跟踪指控，两项谋杀指控和两项联邦枪支射击罪。
美国明尼苏达州检察官丹尼尔·罗森(Daniel Rosen)周四在新闻发布会上说，“我们向博尔特先生提出的条件是:如果你认罪并接受连续无期徒刑，我们将取消死刑。”
本周，司法部发言人表示，联邦检察官不会寻求死刑，因为今年早些时候，一名联邦法官在一起不相关的谋杀案中裁定，州际跟踪指控没有上升到支持死罪的水平。
“政治暴力是我们国家的祸害，”罗森在一份声明中说。“我们现在预计万斯·波尔特将在监狱度过余生，不得假释。”
“今天的认罪不能归还从这些家庭手中夺走的东西，但它清楚地表明，任何选择将这种暴力带到我们社区的人都将为这种选择负责，”ATF圣保罗场区特别探员乔·珀塞尔在一份声明中说。
根据检察官的说法，罪行发生在2025年6月14日，当时博尔特伪装成一名警察，在梅丽莎·霍特曼和她的丈夫马克的家中开枪打死了他们。
根据检察官的说法，当天他开车到明尼苏达州参议员约翰·霍夫曼的家中，开枪打死了这位议员和他的妻子伊维特，并试图开枪打死他们的女儿。
据《明内索塔》的主演论坛报透露，当波尔特承认向他们开了多枪时，约翰和伊维特·霍夫曼坐在法庭的前排。
霍夫曼家庭在周四的一份声明中说，“当我们的家庭和我们的国家永远不会真正愈合时，就没有正义。虽然法律程序可能会追究责任，但真正的治愈需要我们所有人做更多的事情。”
“我们做出的选择是继续为公众服务，为我们的社区做贡献，”这家人说。“正义的机会是给明尼苏达州人和美国人的，是以尊重的态度对待人们，停止互相贬低，停止用仇恨和言论分裂我们的国家。”
袭击发生后，警方表示，他们在博尔特被遗弃的假警车中发现了一个笔记本，里面有一份当选官员的名单，调查人员怀疑这是明尼苏达州美国检察官当时称为“噩梦”的阴谋的目标
检察官说，波尔特去了另外两名州议员的家，却发现那些地方没有人。
波尔特也对州政府的指控不认罪。亨内平县检察官办公室周四表示，将继续推进该州的案件。官员们说，他面临的指控包括:两项一级预谋杀人罪、四项一级谋杀未遂罪、虐待动物重罪和冒充警察罪。
Vance Boelter, suspect in Minnesota political killings, pleads guilty in federal case
Vance Boelter, the man charged in theattacks against Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, changed his plea to guilty in his federal case on Thursday, according to the Department of Justice.
When Boelter admitted that he shot Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman several times and then put a gun to her head and killed her, sobs broke out in the courtroom,ABC Minneapolis affiliate KSTP reported.
Boelter pleaded guilty to all six counts: two stalking counts, two murder counts and two federal firearm-shooting offenses, the DOJ said.
"The terms of our offer to Mr. Boelter were: if you plead guilty and take consecutive life sentences, we will take the death penalty off the table," U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Daniel Rosen said at a news conference Thursday.
This week, a Justice Department spokesperson said federal prosecutorswould not seek the death penaltybecause a federal judge ruled earlier this year in an unrelated murder case that interstate stalking charges do not rise to the level to support a capital crime.
"Political violence is a scourge in our nation," Rosen said in a statement. "We now expect Vance Boelter will spend the rest of his natural life in prison without parole."
"Today's guilty plea cannot return what was taken from these families, but it makes clear that anyone who chooses to bring this kind of violence to our communities will answer for that choice," ATF St. Paul Field Division Special Agent in Charge Joe Persails said in a statement.
The crimes unfolded on June 14, 2025,when Boelter disguised himself as a police officer and fatally shot Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home, according to prosecutors.
That same day he drove to the home of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and shot the lawmaker and his wife, Yvette, and attempted to shoot their daughter, according to prosecutors.
John and Yvette Hoffman sat in the front row of the courtroom as Boelter admitted tofiring multiple shots at them,according to theMinnesota Star Tribune.
The Hoffman family said in a statement on Thursday, "There is not justice when our family and our state will never truly heal. While the legal process may provide accountability, true healing requires something more from all of us."
"The choice we've made is to go forward with public service and being present for our community," the family said. "The opportunity to justice is for Minnesotans and Americans to serve is to treat people with respect, to stop de-humanizing each other, and to stop dividing our country with hate and rhetoric.”
Following the attacks, policesaid theyfound a notebookin Boelter's abandoned, fake police car containing a list of elected officials who investigators suspect were targeted in a plot that the Minnesota U.S. attorneydescribed at the timeas the "stuff of nightmares."
Prosecutors said Boelter traveled to the homes of two other state lawmakers only to find no one at those locations.
Boelter has also pleaded not guilty to state charges. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office said Thursday that it will move forward with the state case. He faces charges of: two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder, felony cruelty to an animal and impersonating a police officer, officials said.
