Inclusion on Boelter’s ‘hit list’ chills Minnesota abortion providers and abortion rights activists

WASHINGTON Suspected assassin Vance Boelter listed names of abortion providers and activists in a series of notebooks unveiled at his home and threats to doctors and clinics are on the upswing but Republicans in Congress are trying to repeal the only federal law designed to protect abortion providers from violence On Jan the first full day of President Donald Trump s new term Rep Chip Roy R-Texas introduced a repeal of the FACE Act a federal law approved by Congress more than years ago with strong bipartisan assistance after a Florida OB-GYN was fatally shot by an anti-abortion extremist Roy s effort is supported by a large number of fellow hard-right Freedom Caucus members but Rep Pete Stauber R- th District is also an original co-sponsor of the rule And Sen Mike Lee R-Utah has introduced a similar FACE Act repeal in the U S Senate Lee says legal scholars have long questioned the constitutionality of the FACE Act and that the Biden administration used it as a tool to harass and prosecute pro-life activists Neither Roy s nor Lee s offices responded to requests for comments On Wednesday Lee deleted posts on his personal X account about the fatal attack on former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and the wounding of state Sen John Hoffman and his wife In one post Lee commented the assassination of Hortman is what happens when Marxists don t get their way and another that featured a photo of Boelter was captioned Nightmare on Waltz Street apparently in reference to Gov Tim Walz The posts were deleted after Sen Tina Smith D-Minn confronted Lee about them On Tuesday Sen Amy Klobuchar D-Minn also disclosed she spoke with Lee Smith a former Planned Parenthood official noted the FACE Act has acted as a deterrent to those who would do harm to doctors and clinics that provide abortions The FACE Act allows the Justice Department to pursue both criminal and civil actions against violators The law makes it a federal crime to use violence threats or physical obstruction to prevent someone from accessing or providing abortion services Penalties for violations of the act include fines and imprisonment I worked at Planned Parenthood I know all too well that receiving credible death threats is a fact of life for people who work in reproductive strength care Smith reported in a text I knew physicians who regularly traveled around wearing bulletproof vests and I know people who had to fortify their homes against attacks It s a reality that s been around for a long time Smith also mentioned it s unspeakable to me that these leaders whose job is to kind of bring us together and stand up for people would use this moment to just kind of fuel the fear and the hatred that is causing this political violence Related What a new abortion law says about changing DFL politics in Minnesota The National Abortion Federation which tracks violence against abortion providers alleges that since the U S Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade three years ago attacks against doctors and clinics have skyrocketed However Trump has pardoned individuals prosecuted under the act Actively fearful According to the federal complaint against Boelter law enforcement recovered notebooks that contained the names of Minnesota agents mostly or all Democrats as well as the names of abortion clinics and providers and abortion rights activists in the Minneapolis home the suspect lived in part of the time Police have not revealed what the alleged killer s motive might have been but there s bipartisan agreement in Minnesota that Boelter s actions were politically motivated When Boelter conducted missionary work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo particular years ago he announced American churches had gone soft on the issue of abortion Related What we know about Vance Boelter so far In any incident the suspect s listing of abortion providers and well-known activists has put a chill in Minnesota s abortion-rights neighborhood A Minnesota media site has published a partially redacted list of Boelter s hit list that was provided to law enforcement That has concerned Smith I talked to one of my longtime friends who s been a leader in the reproductive rights movement for decades who is actively fearful for her personal safety because her name was on the list and she s lived through this her entire working career Smith declared Boelter captured after a massive manhunt near his home in Green Isle Sunday evening is in federal custody charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder and other federal crimes His preliminary hearing is scheduled on June Vance Luther Boelter went on a violent rampage against our elected authorities reported Acting U S Attorney Joe Thompson for the District of Minnesota in a comment These were targeted political assassinations the likes of which have never been seen in Minnesota It was an attack on our state and on our democracy We will not rest until he is brought to justice The post Inclusion on Boelter s hit list chills Minnesota abortion providers and abortion rights activists appeared first on MinnPost