The man behind a deadly attack on Minnesota lawmakers has learned his punishment. A federal judge sentenced Vance Boelter to two consecutive life sentences plus an additional 40 years in prison, meaning he will effectively spend the rest of his life behind bars. The sentencing brings a formal close to the federal case over one of the most serious acts of political violence the state has seen in recent years.
The judge did not hold back in describing the severity of the sentence. Having overseen a great many cases, he said this was the harshest punishment he had ever handed down, and that it was well deserved. He pointed to what he had heard from the survivors and the families of the victims, whose testimony underscored the scale of the devastation Boelter caused when he set out to attack public officials and their loved ones.
At the heart of the case were the killings of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. Hortman's family said they had waited almost 14 months for this day of judgment to tell the world what had been taken from them. They remembered Melissa for her humanity in a political world that can lose it, and Mark for his smile and creativity, saying the world was a poorer place without them both.
The couple's children delivered some of the most searing statements in the courtroom. Their son, Colin Hortman, said the blood that was spilled is the last thing he sees before he sleeps and the first thing he sees when he wakes. His sister, Sophie, said her entire life had been shattered in 30 seconds, describing how her parents were dead, the family dog had been shot multiple times, and her brother was wrecked, yet they had to stand up and keep going.
The violence extended beyond the Hortman family. State Senator John Hoffman, his wife Yvette and their daughter Hope described both the physical and emotional pain they endured, along with their determination to fight back. The senator said the defendant did not simply decide to take life but attempted to take life, seeking to silence people and to send a message that violence is stronger than democracy.
Others who were targeted spoke of refusing to be broken. Representative Kristen Bonner, who was not at home when the assassin went there, said the attack had only increased her desire to serve. Survivors and family members emphasized how Boelter had failed in his apparent plan, both in the lives he did not manage to take and in his attempt to break the spirit of those he attacked and the political movement they belong to.
Boelter himself said little during the proceedings. He spoke a single sentence in court, saying he was truly sorry for all the pain he had caused. But observers noted that he never once looked at the people whose pain he caused, neither during his own statement nor during theirs, leaving some to question the sincerity of his apology as the long-awaited sentencing finally concluded the federal case.