Christian Pastor Charged with Murder
Vance Boelter was a Trump supporter and a lover of Jesus even though no one wants to believe both of those things
June 16: Boelter surrenders to cops this time instead of Jesus … No Kings rallies draw massive crowds uncowed by threats … Israel and Iran escalate war despite Trump being president even though he said that kind of thing wouldn’t happen if he’s president … Teachers union leader skips out on DNC but still delivers a lesson …
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Vance Boelter was saved at 17 and captured at 57. He was saved by Jesus and captured by Minnesota police.
Both times he was on his knees.
Boelter has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. The criminal complaint says police literally saw him kill Mark Hortman, the husband of slain state House Democratic Leader Melissa Hortman.
“I’m going to be gone for a while,” Boelter texted people Saturday morning, to his defense attorney’s dismay. “May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn’t gone this way.” If only he could’ve done something about it going this way.
I spent Father’s Day watching videos of Boelter, in part because newsfucking ain’t no joke. And in part because I knew — and we’re already seeing it — that corporate media would gloss over the religious aspects of a man who called himself a reverend. Who called himself — and was called by others — a pastor.
A man who flew thousands of miles to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to deliver sermons there. And Newsfuckers, having watched them, I gotta tell you, Pastor Vance Boelter wasn’t half bad.
Yes, as has been reported, Boelter’s sermons to a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo had unsurprising, eyerolling stuff from the right-wing playbook:
Feb. 10, 2023: “There’s no sin that God can’t take care of. Nothing. There’s people, especially in America, they don’t know what sex they are, they don’t know how their sexual orientation, they’re confused. The enemy has gotten so far into their heart and their soul. But this word [the Bible] cuts deeper.”
Feb. 12, 2023: “Many churches in America didn’t listen to Jesus. They’re divided. … The churches are so messed up, they don’t know abortion is wrong, many churches.”
But over the course of the videos — hours that felt like the eternity Boelter promises us — that was it. Boelter actually wasn’t a moralizing preacher. He wasn’t fire and brimstone.
Reportedly, Boelter voted for Pres. Donald Trump and was “a strong supporter.” But the same source, Boelter’s roommate, said he “loved his family, loved his friends, loved God.”
And Boelter’s sermons delivered genuinely moving testimony about the power of God’s love. About the offer of salvation and God’s power to forgive everyone of any sin. And how God, Jesus, was all you needed.
Money didn’t matter. Failure didn’t matter. And not only did they not matter, they couldn’t touch, could not diminish one bit the joy of opening the door to Jesus.
This is a very common theme. And we now have pretty good evidence — like, literally, in police evidence lockers — of just how fucking false advertising this message is. (In case all of history — and some theologians! — hadn’t already provided enough evidence that religion is no guarantee of moral behavior.)
Police reportedly interviewed Boelter overnight so we can expect to learn more about what motivated him. (Allegedly, but, c’mon.)
We can also expect his authentic religious journey to get played all the way down. And it matters. Because Boelter in recent years made some very common promises about Jesus that aren’t looking too sturdy this morning.
In his first DRC sermon, Sept. 26, 2021, he talks about what a good, moral kid he was. But he didn’t have God. He felt empty — because he was 17! — and so he turned to Jesus.
(Let the record show he was moral before God and then after finding God did a really, really bad thing. (Allegedly, but, c’mon.))
And it’s pretty clear that Jesus fucked with his life almost instantly. He said he had his story — his testimony — printed up in a pamphlet. Super-normal style. Then he upped the ante. He said he would take 10,000 of the pamphlets — about him and his super-important thoughts…
“…to places people didn’t want to go. …In the Middle East, I went to the West Bank, the Gaza strip, southern Lebanon, and I would give pamphlets to everybody I could. And the only time I would stop is when someone came up with a gun and say, ‘you need to come with me.’ Israeli police stopped me. Israeli army. Palestinian soldiers. UN troops. And private security. But I just wanted to tell people about Jesus and what he did for my life.”
My alleged dude, what Jesus did for your life was put your young ass on a plane to Beirut where no one wanted you, convinced you you could change people who didn’t need you, instead of creating meaning in your own life or doing something positive for the people already around you.
But that, of course, isn’t how Boelter saw it. So what did Jesus do for Boelter?
Religion — Christianity — let Boelter tell himself he was living his life for God. In other words, it gave him what we all crave: Purpose. “What’s important is that every step we take in this life, be they many or few, that every one is done for Jesus.”
Living for Jesus had such power it conveniently rendered everything Boelter did pretty fucking awesome. “[W]e will never go wrong if we do something and attempt something that’s gonna get us closer to Jesus.”
How’s that one looking in the morning light streaming through the bars of the holding cell this morning?
There’s more, and I may write up some more for a TFN Bonus Story, but I should at least note some of his preaching that’s especially très ironique today.
Aug. 7, 2022: “He’s given us eternity with Him. And what does He ask? He says, ‘Life didn’t go the way I wanted it for you, but it wasn’t my fault. Vance, you sidetracked. You messed up your life.’… [Amen!]
“Do you wanna live forever with me? Then get on your face, Vance, and repent of your sins.” [And put your hands where I can see them.]
Feb. 10, 2023: “When I die and go to Heaven, I don’t want to just listen to all the other people tell their stories, I want to have my own stories to tell.”
Let the record show that spending eternity in Heaven listening to the Vance Boelters of the world tell their stories sounds like fucking Hell.
Feb. 12, 2023: “God says don’t be angry with your neighbor, and just by commanding that, he gives us eternal life.”
As an atheist, I don’t believe that. But I do have faith that Boelter will end up being judged and getting life. (Alleged, but c’mon.)
THE PARABLE OF THE PEOPLE When Boelter’s car was found on Saturday morning, it was quickly reported that it had flyers for No Kings rallies in it. Right-wing idiots who jump to the conclusions their feet are always aimed at touted this as proof that Boelter was left-wing and, apparently, planning to attend many No Kings rallies.
The obvious implication to functioning brains was that Boelter might target those rallies. Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and police urged people not to come to the No Kings rallies.
But Boelter hadn’t stopped No Kings from coming. It came! Somehow or other, it came just the same.
Undaunted by Pres. Donald Trump, undaunted by Boelter, they showed up in their thousands:
Speaking of No Kings…
Millions of people turned out for Saturday’s protests against the tyrannical, autocratic, despotic, monarchic policies and tendencies and just general -ness of President but only President Donald Trump.
That’s the conclusion of the Strength in Numbers Substack, which crowdsourced data from the rallies and as of midnight last night had analyzed about 40% of them, counting 2.6 million people. That sampling suggests somewhere between four and six million people turned out total, in line with organizer estimates of five million.
As Strength in Numbers points out, “That means roughly 1.2-1.8% of the U.S. population attended a No Kings Day event somewhere in the country yesterday.” And the number of protests during Trump2.0 is already wildly surpassing the number of protests in 2017:
Saturday’s rallies were overwhelmingly peaceful. But, sadly, not entirely. And yet, the only significant violence came from people allegedly keeping things peaceful.
ONE DEAD Fashion designer Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, a veteran of Project Runway, was shot and killed at a Salt Lake City rally.
He was shot by a man who for some reason the media keep identifying as a peacekeeper and who police for some reason are not identifying and didn’t even arrest.
Reportedly, the shooter saw another man with a rifle and opened fire at him, striking and killing Ah Loo. Police said the shooter was assigned to help protect the crowd and media reports seem to be treating that as the end of the story, when, in fact, what the fuck? Who the fuck “assigned” him?
I’m highly doubtful the No Kings organizers hired armed security for the rallies. So who the fuck was he? Because there’s a non-trivial chance he was just some yahoo —with tyrannical impulses of his own and a craving to be the guy who gets to impose order and so who told himself he’d make the rally safer by bringing a gun — and regardless of their politics such yahoos aren’t peacekeepers.
Also, on the eve of the rallies, U.S. Capitol Police arrested 60 military veterans for unlawfully protesting Saturday’s limp military parade. The night before.
Their demands? Instead of using taxpayer money for Trump to play soldier Saturday and to illegally deploy U.S. troops in Los Angeles, the veterans want it used it to pay for housing, health care, and food. First they fought socialism, now they fight for socialism! Thank you for your service!
The cops responded by rounding them up and seizing dangerous contraband such as a walker.
NOW WHAT Thanks to the Newsfucker who shared that Indivisible is holding a No Kings debrief tonight, discussing Saturday’s rallies and what’s next. You can register to listen in here.
Trump Saves Ayatollah from Israel but Also Might Join the War
The Israel-Iran war continued over the weekend — and over Iraq and Jordan — as the two religious states bombed the shit out of each other in the name of their respective religions of peace. (I’m sensing an Abrahamic theme to today’s TFN.)
Iran began targeting civilian targets, smashing the shit out of a Tel Aviv apartment building and killing civilians.
Which, of course, never would have happened if Pres. Donald Trump were president. (Which he were.)
In fact, Trump intervened over the weekend in a daring mission to rescue Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Associated Press reports that Israel was all set to go with plans to take out Khamanei, when Trump with no heed to his personal safety threw himself into the line of fire over the phone.
A source told the AP that Trump ordered Israel to back down, fearing that killing Khamanei would inflame the conflict beyond its current inflammation, which has left Tel Aviv and Tehran in flames. Israel has sent mixed messages about this reporting, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested there’s a split between the two nations, which is known as antisemitism when college students do it.
“[W]e’ll do what we need to do,” Netanyahu said, “and I think the United States knows what is good for the United States.”
Does it, though?
Because Trump doesn’t seem too sure. After spending a decade claiming to be anti-interventionist — except with drones and missiles — Trump seems open to the idea of joining in the Israel-Iran war.
“It’s possible we could get involved,” Trump said yesterday as if that’s some external decision someone else gets to make that he’d never make if he were president.
The U.S. has been scrambling to distance itself from Israel’s attack, which would count as antisemitism if a college student did it. “We are not involved,” Secretary of State Marcio Rubio said last week, referring to the U.S. ally’s attack that the U.S. was briefed on and was carried about by a military armed and funded by the U.S.
Democrats In Disarray, Right Where We Want Them
American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten, whose union represents 1.8 million members and who has been a Democratic stalwart, is stepping down from the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
In her letter to DNC Chair Ken Martin, Weingarten said,
“I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and I do not want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent and actively trying to engage more and more of our communities.”
In other words, she did the exact thing she said she doesn’t want to continue doing and will absolutely continue doing: Questioning why the DNC isn’t enlarging its tent and engaging more of its communities.
Weingarten has defended former DNC Vice Chair David Hogg, who promised to fund primaries against shitty incumbents in safe Democratic districts. And in a scary sign for the DNC’s future, an AFT spokesperson told Politico that when Weingarten told union leaders she was leaving the DNC, they clapped. And not just their erasers.
Meaning, even one of America’s biggest, most influential unions has had it with the DNC.
While it’s understandable to fret about a weakened, fractured DNC, your optimistic TFN sees it as a good thing when the DNC is, ahem, Hogg-tied. Many of the party’s shittiest decisions and approaches of the past decade have come from the DNC.
With the DNC weakened, Democratic and non-batshit Independent voters have a better chance of grassrootsing something towering and strong. And if the DNC wants to get on board and support it, great.
With luck, new DNC officers will help foster rather than squelch those efforts as they emerge…
SEGUE! State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-PA) won last week’s uncontested contest for DNC vice chair. The second vice-chair position is being voted on by DNC members this week. The Hill rounds up the three candidates:
Shasti Conrad, chair of the Washington state Democratic Party and an appointee of Martin’s. She’s worked for campaigns including those of Pres. Barack Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Kalyn Free, a DNC member and former prosecutor. Free touts her commitment to the party and work on hundreds of campaigns.
Jeanna Repass, chair of the Kansas state Democratic Party, and the first Black woman and first Latina woman to run it. Repass is running on her experience in a red state with a focus on rural counties.
Unless they’re DNC members, Newsfuckers don’t get a vote. But what the DNC does going forward will have a lot to do with how much pressure the people put on them and the DNC members who elected them.
Three Quickies
In case you had plans today, Newsfucker, today is the LAST day to submit comment on a proposed new Trump administration rule to let new buildings be constructed that are not accessible to people with disabilities. You can find more info here on the proposed rules and how to submit your furious comment with civil language masking your fucking fury. (h/t)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) just backed down on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as scheduled. Paul is still saying there’d have to be major changes, but whatever dude, you just crossed the rubicon by saying you might cross the rubicon so whatever. Paul had said he’d never vote for increasing America’s debt but now he’s saying okay to doing it in tiny pieces so they can debate it forever. Here’s a look at the Politico story, which apparently captured Paul in the process of peeing on his principles:
I’m getting pretty fucking sick of the media-political complex’s psychics. Lately, they’re claiming to know what Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) really intended when he challenged Homeland (sic) Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s vow to usurp state and local leaders in California. Namely, that he wanted to make a scene. He was even asked about it on CNN yesterday, because, y’know, nothing else to talk about. So, one last time, for the geniuses out there: Padilla began speaking when he was not on camera. So according to the bigshot, thought-leader, media-political-psychic complex, Padilla walked into a room full of cameras in order to make a scene and then did so in a position where he wasn’t in front of a single camera. Did he want his challenge to get attention? Yes, of course — but he was trying to draw attention to the anti-democratic, authoritarian substance of what Noem was saying. (Which The Fucking News need not be psychic to tell you was naive as fuck. I mean, which outlets actually led with her substance instead of his interruption? Other than The Fucking News, of course!)
TCB
I KNOW, I KNOW I made all kinds of promises about stories coming this weekend and then totally broke my vow. In my defense, a Christian pastor assassinated a top Minnesota Democrat, so there went my weekend.
Also, TFN did preview Trump’s lame-ass birthday party in a special TFN Extra Saturday morning. And then Sunday morning posted a TFN Bonus Story inventorying the various hilarities associated with the $45 million faceplant parade.
The promised stories are still coming, I, um, promise. Including a deeper dive into The Gospel of Vance Boelter as a TFN Bonus Story today. (I pray.)
SUPPORTING TFN Please know that I can only do deep dives — watching endless Boelter videos at 1.5x speed to surface information and context the corporate media don’t — thanks to the strength of your support. The more people upgrade in response to a single post, the more time I have to work on the next one.
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RESOURCES
Go get ‘em, kids! Keep the side-by-side images of Saturday’s parade and rallies in your hearts because that’s the real picture of where we are today…
TFN creator and writer Jonathan Larsen co-created Up w/ Chris Hayes and wrote for Countdown with Keith Olbermann at MSNBC, helped launch CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° and Air America Radio, and has also worked at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Young Turks.
Jesus needs a lawyer. These evangelicals are really trashing his brand.
Boelter has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
I'm fucking sorry but SECOND degree??? They are trying to give Luigi the chair and he shot one guy. This asshole cold bloodedly murdered two people and a dog, shot another two people a total of 17 times, including a mother shielding her daughter and they charge second degree? Are you fucking kidding me?
ETA: So the answer is that a first degree charge needs to be brought by a grand jury and will likely be coming.