On June 14, 2025, Vance Boelter allegedly left his home with a list of 45 state politicians, their personal information, and enough ammunition to kill dozens of people. An FBI affidavit documented what was found in his abandoned vehicle, notebooks listing 11 separate people-search and data broker services used to compile home addresses, phone numbers, and personal details of his targets.
He also wrote, in his own hand, that most property records in America are public.
He was right.
Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state representative, was killed along with her husband. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot at their home and survived. The addresses that put Boelter at the right doors were not obtained through hacking. They were purchased or pulled for free from services that operate legally and openly.
The business owner who registered a company at their home address, whose name appears in a county filing, whose domain registration lists a residential contact, sits in the same infrastructure Boelter used to build his target list.
The mechanism doesn't require a political motive. It requires a name and a search bar.
What is the structural difference between a public official whose address is in a data broker database and a small business owner whose is?
RuleDraft