► After a weekend manhunt, law enforcement authorities finally caught up with the man accused of killing a former Minnesota House Speaker and her husband and seriously wounding a State Senator and his wife. As The Washington Post reports:
The man suspected of shooting two Democratic lawmakers and their spouses in their homes in what officials describe as politically motivated attacks was arrested and charged Sunday evening after authorities scoured the rural area around where he had a home after a sprawling manhunt involving more than 100 officers.
For nearly two days, authorities had been searching for 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, a resident of Green Isle, Minnesota, a small town in Sibley County about 45 miles southwest of the Twin Cities.
The search began after a gunman opened fire on state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife in the quiet Minneapolis suburb of Champlin early Saturday before driving about 10 miles to the neighboring suburb of Brooklyn Park, home of state Rep. Melissa Hortman, the former speaker of the Minnesota House. Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed, while Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, survived and remain hospitalized in serious condition.
Despite what right-wing media outlets were spinning all weekend, it is abundantly clear that Vance Luther Boelter is a Trump supporter and an anti-abortion advocate who regularly complained about Democrats. President Trump, meanwhile, has not done much to express concern aside from a brief post on social media:
As of Sunday afternoon, Walz had not received a call from Trump about the shootings, a person close to the governor said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Biden and Vice President JD Vance called and spoke with the governor on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Trump told an ABC News reporter that he thought Walz was “a terrible governor. I think he’s a grossly incompetent person.” He then was noncommittal on whether he would offer support. “But I may, I may call him. I may call other people too,” Trump said.
The White House did not respond to questions about whom the president had called about the shootings and search for a suspect. Trump said Saturday afternoon in a Truth Social post that he had been briefed on the shooting and promised the Justice Department would prosecute “anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law.”
As The Washington Post reports in a separate story, Boelter’s attacks could have been a lot worse:
The man charged with shooting two Democratic lawmakers and their spouses this weekend visited the homes of at least two other Minnesota elected officials as he carried out the attacks, authorities alleged on Monday.
Joseph H. Thompson, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, said Vance Luther Boelter stopped at the homes of a state representative in Maple Grove and a state senator in New Hope in between attacks that killed state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and left state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, seriously injured.
Thompson did not identify the other two elected officials.
“Boelter planned his attack carefully,” Thompson said at a news conference Monday. “He researched his victims and their families.”
► Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee is getting hammered for a series of social media posts over the weekend related to the Minnesota shootings that were outright disgusting. From Huff Post:
While the suspected killer was still on the run ― reportedly armed and carrying a manifesto targeting “many lawmakers and other officials” ― Lee fired off a series of messages on X, formerly Twitter.
One suggested the suspect, Vance Boelter, was into “Marxism,” despite reports that he was a religious conservative who had attended rallies in support of President Donald Trump.
Another post included an image of the suspect in a mask knocking on a victim’s door just before one of the shootings, which left two dead and two injured before Boelter was arrested Sunday night.
“Nightmare on Waltz Street,” Lee wrote, likely a reference to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).
Lee’s critics called him out over the message ― and some called for his resignation.
►NPR breaks down the weekend of “No Kings” protests and the military parade in Washington D.C. that coincided with President Trump’s 79th birthday. While a reported (maybe) 250,000 people turned out for the parade on Saturday, the real numbers came from protests across the country:
► Governor Jared Polis has been spending a lot of time warning about Medicaid cuts in the “We’re All Going to Die Act” that is now being discussed in the U.S. Senate. As Meg Wingerter reports for The Denver Post, Polis is also pushing for Congress to reconsider cuts to SNAP:
The Republican tax bill could push food assistance in Colorado into a vicious cycle of funding cuts, increasing mistakes in determining eligibility and further funding cuts to punish those mistakes, Gov. Jared Polis warned in a letter to congressional leaders Friday.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed the House and is currently in the Senate, would require states to pay 75% of the cost to administer the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which offers low-income people a monthly allowance to purchase food.
Currently, the federal government splits the cost evenly with states. If the ratio shifted, Colorado would have to come up with an additional $47 million to fund the workers at county human services departments who determine SNAP eligibility.
The bill, backed by President Donald Trump, would also require states to start paying a share of the food benefits themselves. The state estimates it could have to come up with anywhere from $130 million to $259 million annually to pay its share, depending on the language in the final bill.
Colorado can’t come up with that amount of cash, particularly given the state’s constitutional limits on raising taxes, Polis — a Democrat — and 10 people working in human services and agriculture said in the letter. State lawmakers had to close a $1.2 billion budget hole for the upcoming fiscal year, and warned that Colorado could face an even bigger gap next year, with fewer options to fill it.
“Devoid of purpose, this provision is simply a budget gimmick in Washington, D.C., and a devastating blow to states,” the letter said.
► Meg Wingerter of The Denver Post also has more data outlining the devastating consequences of making massive cuts to Medicaid:
The health policy nonprofit KFF estimated between 120,000 and 190,000 people in Colorado could lose their insurance, mostly through falling off the Medicaid rolls, over the next 10 years because of the bill. If pandemic-era increased subsidies for individual coverage expire this year, the number of uninsured people in the state could rise by 140,000 to 240,000.
Colorado produced different estimates, finding as many as 110,000 people could leave the individual marketplace because the bill would make insurance harder to get and more expensive. The state hasn’t estimated how many people could lose Medicaid coverage.
About 1.2 million people in Colorado had Medicaid coverage as of April, and about 296,000 bought insurance on the individual marketplace for the current year.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that about 10.9 million people nationwide would become uninsured, with about 72% losing Medicaid coverage, and the rest losing insurance they bought through the individual marketplace because of eligibility changes in the budget bill. Another 5.1 million could lose individual coverage if enhanced subsidies expire this year.
► Taylor Dolven of The Colorado Sun writes about how the Republican budget bill “will make the rich richer and the poor poorer,” sort of like a bizarro Robin Hood.
Meanwhile…
► New polling from Global Strategies Group shows that Secretary of State Jena Griswold enjoys a significant lead in the race for Attorney General because of her strong name ID:
Two-thirds of likely Democratic primary voters in Colorado are familiar with Jena Griswold (name ID of 66%) and she has very strong personal standing at 51% favorable against just 15% unfavorable. She is even more popular among key voting blocs including voters age 55 and over (60% favorability), and registered Democrats (53% favorability).
While much of the electorate remains undecided, Griswold has an overwhelming advantage. She captures 42% of the vote while no other candidate breaks double digits. Griswold is strong across subgroups but is especially so among groups who are more engaged (with fewer undecideds) at this early stage, including voters age 55+ and registered Democrats.
These results don’t come as a huge surprise given Griswold is the only candidate in the race who has served in statewide office. We are also still a year away from the June 2026 Democratic Primary, so there’s plenty of time for things to change.
► Republican members of Colorado’s Congressional delegation seem utterly unconcerned about America’s descent into fascism.
► Grocery workers for Safeway and Albertsons are officially on the picket lines. As Jessica Alvarado Gamez reports for The Denver Post:
Safeway and Albertsons workers in Estes Park, Fountain and Pueblo — and employees at a Denver distribution center — [took] to the picket lines Sunday morning, after nine months of negotiations with the grocers didn’t result in a new contract.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 announced Saturday that, unlike the February strike by King Soopers workers that started at 77 stores, the Safeway/Albertsons walkout will begin on a more limited scale, first impacting locations in just four Colorado cities.
The union, in its announcement, said the strike will expand, but the slow rollout is designed to allow the public time to understand the problems workers are facing, to allow Safeway/Albertsons time to understand the seriousness of the workers’ resolve and to reduce the hardship on shoppers and workers that result from a widespread strike.
UFCW Local 7 rejected the latest offer from Safeway and Albertsons, saying it fails to address key demands for staffing, livable wages and the protection of workers’ health and pension benefits.
Despite a contract extension in January and a strike authorization vote late May and this month, the parties couldn’t come to an agreement.
► Sara Wilson of Colorado Newsline reports on the fallout in Colorado from a Trump administration push to cut federal funding for museums and libraries.
► As Richard Butler reports for Denver7, Colorado small business owners say that steel and aluminum tariffs are killing their profits. It seems like there are a handful of new stories like this every week regarding the negative impacts of President Trump’s Tariff War.
► Via Marianne Goodland of the publication formerly known as the Colorado Statesman, Senator Cleave Simpson of Alamosa has been chosen as the new Senate Minority Leader for Republicans following the recent resignation of Sen. Paul Lundeen.
► The defamation lawsuit between Dominion Voting Services and “MyPillow Guy” Mike Lindellis now in the hands of a jury.
►Vox.com looks at why it is so difficult to understand the true extent of the damage leading to climate change.
Say What, Now?
Boebert: What we’re seeing in LA is an insurrection
Pritzker: You don’t know understand what insurrection is. It is outrageous that you are asking that when you are the one condoning the pardoning of people that attacked police.
Trump visits to sites of natural disasters in 2025: 0
ICYMI
► Congressman Gabe Evans (R-Ft. Lupton) is facing another “oh, shit” moment. Evans has long promised that immigration raids would be focused on “gangsters, not grandmas” — a claim that has not turned out to be true in the slightest. Now, he’s looking for cover:
► Tired of reading? Exercise your ears and listen to the latest episode of the Get More Smarter Podcast, featuring an interview with Greeley Tribune political reporter Tyler Duncan:
June 16, 2025 12:00 PM UTC
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The Colorado Rockies are now the worst professional baseball team 
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