MINNEAPOLIS/WASHINGTON: A gunman posing as a police officer killed a senior Democratic state assemblywoman and her husband on Saturday in an apparent “politically motivated assassination,” and wounded a second lawmaker and his spouse, said Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and law enforcement officials. A major search backed by the FBI was underway for the suspect, who fled on foot after firing at police and abandoning a vehicle in which officers found a “manifesto” and a list of other legislators and officials, law enforcement officials said. The suspect was identified as 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans told a news briefing.
Boelter should be considered “armed and dangerous” and is believed to still be in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Evans said, adding that it was too soon to determine a motive.
The suspect had links to evangelical ministries and claimed to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa, according to his online postings and public records reviewed by Reuters. Boelter also described himself online as a former employee of food service companies.
Evans said investigators were aware of similar reports of his connections and would be exploring them.
The list found in the abandoned vehicle that looked similar to a police SUV contained about 70 names, including abortion providers, and lawmakers in Minnesota and other states, CNN reported, citing law enforcement sources.
ABC News, also citing law enforcement officials, said the list included dozens of Minnesota Democrats including Walz, US Representative Ilhan Omar, Senator Tina Smith and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

The killings of Melissa Hortman, a former assembly speaker and her husband, Mark, prompted reactions of shock and horror from Republican and Democratic politicians across the country and calls for dialing back increasingly divisive political rhetoric.
The shootings come on the heels of a heated hearing in Congress on Thursday in which Walz and two other Democratic governors defended their states’ policies to maintain sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, drawing attacks from Republicans who support Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.
Minnesota State Patrol chief Col. Christina Bogojevic said that police found flyers in the suspect’s vehicle with “No Kings” printed on them, but he had no direct links to the thousands of nationwide “No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump’s policies taking place on Saturday.
The protests were timed to counter Trump’s long-sought military parade in Washington. The organizing No Kings Coalition canceled all protests in Minnesota, citing a shelter-in-place order and the suspect’s at-large status.
Trump said he was briefed on the “terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota, which appears to be a targeted attack against State Lawmakers.”
“Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!” Trump said in a statement.

Police impersonator
Hortman and her husband were shot dead in their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park, Walz said. The Minneapolis suburb is located in the northern part of Hennepin County, a Democratic stronghold in a state where Republicans have made gains in recent years. Prior to Hortman’s killing, the Minnesota House of Representatives she served in was evenly split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans.
Hortman’s official website says she and her husband have two children.
Walz said that the gunman went to the Hortmans’ residence after shooting Senator John Hoffman and his wife multiple times in their home in the nearby town of Champlin.
They underwent surgery, Walz said, adding that he was “cautiously optimistic” that they would survive “this assassination attempt.”
“This was an act of targeted political violence,” he said. “Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”
Law enforcement officials said the gunman attacked the Hoffmans at around 2 a.m. CDT (0700 GMT) and then drove about five miles to the Hortmans’ residence.
Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said that a “very intuitive” police sergeant who responded to the Hoffman attack asked colleagues to “proactively” check the Hortmans’ residence.
The two officers arriving at the Hortmans’ home saw what appeared to be a police vehicle parked in the driveway with its emergency lights on and an individual dressed and equipped as a police officer leaving the home, he said.
The suspect “immediately fired upon the officers, who exchanged gunfire and the suspect retreated back into the home,” Bruley continued.
The suspect wore a vest with a taser, other police equipment and a badge when he fled the home. The Hortmans and Hoffmans were on the list of names found in the suspect’s car, officials said.
The FBI called the shooting a “deliberate and violent attack on public servants and their families.” It offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.

Political violence surge
The pre-dawn Minnesota killings come amid a surge in US political attacks in recent years, underscoring the dark side of the nation’s deepening political divisions.
These include the attempted 2020 kidnapping of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and a man who broke into Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence in April and set it on fire.
In July last year, then-candidate Trump escaped an assassination attempt by a gunman while speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said it arrested a person in connection with a threat against state lawmakers who had planned to attend a protest at the state capitol in Austin, which it evacuated. There was no indication of a direct link to the Minnesota killings.
Trump has faced criticism from some opponents over his handling of incidents involving political violence.
In one of his first moves in office earlier this year, Trump pardoned nearly everyone criminally charged with participating in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO: President Donald Trump’s long-sought military parade rolled though the streets of downtown Washington on Saturday, but the celebration of the US Army’s 250th anniversary was marred by a day of violence and discord.
In the hours before the parade began, hundreds of thousands of Americans marched and rallied in streets in cities from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles, protesting Trump’s actions while in office, in the largest such actions since his return to power in January.
Earlier in the day, a gunman assassinated a Democratic lawmaker and wounded another in Minnesota and remained at large.
Meanwhile, Israel on Saturday pounded Iran with a second barrage of strikes in a bid to destroy its nuclear program after Iran retaliated with strikes the evening before, stoking fears of a mushrooming conflict between the two nations.
All of it followed a week of tension in Los Angeles, where protests over federal immigration raids resulted in Trump calling in National Guard troops and US Marines to help keep the peace, over the objections of the state’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
The parade, which falls on Trump’s 79th birthday, kicked off earlier than expected with thunderstorms forecast in the Washington area.
Tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery rumbled down the parade route along storied Constitution Avenue, an unusual sight in the US where such displays of military are rare.
“Every other country celebrates their victories, it’s about time America did too,” Trump told the crowd following the parade.

Thousands of spectators lined up along the route. Trump watched the proceedings from an elevated viewing stand behind bulletproof glass.
Some of the president’s opponents also managed to find a spot along the parade route, holding signs in protest. Other demonstrators were kept separate from the parade crowd by local police.
The US Army has brought nearly 7,000 troops into Washington, along with 150 vehicles, including more than 25 M1 Abrams tanks, 28 Stryker armored vehicles, four Paladin self-propelled artillery vehicles, and artillery pieces including the M777 and M119.

Army's history
The parade traced the history of the Army from its founding during the Revolutionary War through modern day. Trump frequently stood and saluted troops as they marched by.
Members of Trump’s cabinet including Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio looked on.
Trump had first expressed interest in a military parade in Washington early in his first 2017-2021 term in office.
In 1991, tanks and thousands of troops paraded through Washington to celebrate the ousting of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s forces from Kuwait in the Gulf War.
The celebrations were expected to cost the US Army between $25 million and $45 million, US officials have told Reuters. That includes the parade itself as well as the cost of moving equipment and housing and feeding the troops.
Critics have called the parade an authoritarian display of power that is wasteful, especially given Trump has said he wants to slash costs throughout the federal government.
Bryan Henrie, a Trump supporter, flew in from Texas to celebrate the Army’s anniversary and did not see any issues with tanks rolling down the streets of Washington.
“I don’t see a controversy. I will celebrate safety and stability any day over anarchy,” 61-year-old Henrie said.

‘Shame! shame!’
Earlier in the day, thousands marched in Washington and in other cities in protest of Trump’s policies. The demonstrations were largely peaceful, and marked the largest outpouring of opposition to Trump’s presidency since he returned to power in January.
In Los Angeles, however, police, some on horseback, used flash-bang grenades and tear gas to push back a crowd of protesters around the federal building that has been a focus of much of the demonstrations.
Earlier, the crowd had yelled at the Marines guarding the facility, “Shame! Shame!” and “Marines, get out of LA!”
Anti-Trump groups planned nearly 2,000 demonstrations across the country to coincide with the parade. Many took place under the theme “No Kings,” asserting that no individual is above the law.

Thousands of people of all ages turned out in and around Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan, many carrying homemade signs that played off the “No Kings” theme. “No crown for a clown,” said one. Actor Mark Ruffalo was among the demonstrators, wearing a hat that read “immigrant.”
“We’re seeing dehumanizing language toward LGBT people, toward people with autism, toward people with other disabilities, racial minorities, undocumented people,” said Cooper Smith, 20, from upstate New York. “Somebody’s got to show that most Americans are against this.”
Protesters in downtown Chicago stood off against police on Saturday, with some waving upside-down American flags and chanting: “Who do you protect? Who do you serve?” and “No justice, no peace.”
Members of the far-right Proud Boys, ardent Trump supporters, appeared at an Atlanta “No Kings” protest, wearing the group’s distinctive black and yellow colors.
About 400 protesters, organized by a group called RefuseFascism.org, marched through Washington and gathered for a rally in a park opposite the White House. Trump had warned people against protesting at the parade itself, saying that “they’re going to be met with very big force.”
Sunsara Taylor, a founder of RefuseFascism, told the crowd, “Today we refuse to accept Donald Trump unleashing the military against the people of this country and in the streets of this country. We say, ‘hell no.’”