Vance Boelter, the man accused of shooting and killing Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband, preached against abortion at one point, according to newly discovered video clips.
“Many churches in America, didn’t listen to Jesus,” Boelter said during a church service in Africa, according to the Daily Mail. “The devil comes through and rips everything apart. The churches are so messed up they don’t know abortion is wrong, in many churches.”
Early Saturday morning, 57-year-old Boelter, allegedly dressed as a police officer, and shot Hortman and her husband in “what appears to be a politically motivated assassination,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said at a news conference.
Boelter is also suspected for the shootings of Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife, Yvette, who both had to undergo surgery.
After Boelter ran away on foot when confronted by police, police found a hit list inside his car with nearly 70 names of people, mostly pro-choice Democratic politicians and activists, according to CNN. Hortman was outspoken about abortion rights and Hoffman was pro-choice.
In another clip, Boelter is seen preaching about prophets in America correcting the church.
“God is going to raise up apostles and prophets in America to correct his church, and those that are connected to the body, they will come through this mess and they will be strong again,” he said in the clip.
In another video dated February 2023, Boelter is seen preaching about sin and how people in America “don’t know what sex they are.”
“They don’t know how their sexual orientation, they’re confused,” he said. “The enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul.”
As of Saturday evening, police said it’s too early to comment on the motive behind the shootings and whether or not Boelter personally knew the victims.
Boelter also reportedly worked in local government. In 2019, Walz’s office appointed Boelter to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board, and in 2016, he worked under then-Gov. Mark Dayton on the Governor’s Workforce Development Council, according to the New York Post.