MINNEAPOLIS — In his first court appearance to answer to state murder charges, convicted political assassin Vance Boelter made the bizarre request that Sen. Amy Klobuchar be compelled to testify in his case.

At the Public Safety Facility in downtown Minneapolis on Monday, Boelter asked several questions of Hennepin County Judge Juan Hoyos, most pointedly asking if the court would bring Klobuchar to testify about five trips he allegedly made to Washington, D.C., to meet with elected officials before carrying out his political attacks last year.

“Does this court have the authority to bring her in to testify?” Boelter asked. “Or is she above the law?”

It is unclear whether Boelter has ever met Klobuchar, but his statements are consistent with previous politically based claims in a letter to FBI director Kash Patel, which was found in a car when Boelter was on the run following the June 2025 attacks.

Federal prosecutors called the statements in the letter “delusional.” The Minnesota Star Tribune has reached out to Klobuchar’s office for comment.

Hoyos deflected the questions from Boelter, noting that any arguments he wants to make about his case could be made at future hearings by his attorney.

This was Boelter’s first appearance on state charges and came less than two weeks after he was sentenced to consecutive life sentences plus 40 years in federal prison for killing Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shooting Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

Gasps went up in the courtroom at the question as several of Boelter’s victims looked on, including the Hoffmans and the Hortmans’ son, Colin Hortman.

In an unusual moment for a first appearance, Boelter told Hoyos he had “a couple of questions for yourself on process and just rights.”

Boelter told the judge that “at taxpayers’ expense” he was sent to Washington representing several counties over the span of eight years, and part of those trips was “meeting with Minnesota elected officials, including Amy Klobuchar.”

He asked Hoyos if those trips were relevant to the charges against him and if Hoyos had the authority to bring Klobuchar to court.

“I’m not going to address any legal issues today,” Hoyos said.

Boelter also told Hoyos that his rights had been violated in various ways during the 14 months he has been in federal custody, largely in solitary confinement, including that his health had deteriorated rapidly as he dealt with vertigo, blood in his stool and losing 36 pounds in the first 49 days after his arrest, something Boelter didn’t think “was humanely possible except for surgery.”

He claimed his religious freedoms had also been violated because he has not been allowed to see a pastor or priest for 14 months and that his freedom of speech had been violated because “no Minnesota law enforcement agency has come to talk to me about the things I wanted to address on day one.”

Prior to Boelter’s comments, the hearing had been largely perfunctory, with the most pressing question being where Boelter would be held as his case proceeds through Hennepin County District Court.

Senior Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Krista White argued that Boelter should be held at the county jail in lieu of Boelter’s standing $5 million bail.

Hennepin County Assistant Public Defender Geoffrey Isaacman said there were several concerns with keeping Boelter in Hennepin County, including that the jail is overcrowded. Isaacman said that Boelter had been held with the general population at the Sherburne County jail in an area that worked well for his health.

“Sherburne has something that works for their jail and has worked for Mr. Boelter,” Isaacman said, asking that the court “take advantage of the time and energy they have already expended here.”

Hoyos declined to rule on where Boelter would be held and kept the $5 million bail in place.

Ahead of his federal sentencing, Boelter’s federal public defender, Manny Atwal, noted that it was not until March that Boelter was placed in ”Medium Protective Custody” and able to interact with other inmates. That also gave him access to therapy, and, Atwal noted, the ability to consult with a pastor online and participate in Bible study.

Boelter arrived at the Hennepin County jail over the weekend to face his state charges, which are wider in scope than the federal charges for his politically motivated rampage on the night of June 14, 2025.

He faces two counts of first-degree murder for killing the Hortmans, two counts of attempted first-degree murder for shooting the Hoffmans, one count of attempted first-degree murder for shooting at the Hoffmans’ daughter, Hope, and one count of attempted first-degree murder for banging at the front door of Rep. Kristin Bahner’s home that June night. He also faces one count of felony cruelty to an animal for shooting the Hortmans’ dog, Gilbert, and one felony count of impersonating an officer.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s pursuit of a state conviction of Boelter comes more than a year after then-acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Joe Thompson took charge on prosecuting Boelter. That marked a relatively rare murder case by the federal government in Minnesota.

Thompson argued that Boelter’s crimes could lead to his execution, but that largely fell apart due to charging decisions. The Justice Department under acting Attorney General Todd Blanche abandoned the death penalty — a process that infuriated some members of the Hortman family.

Boelter pleaded guilty to all of his federal crimes and apologized to every person he “caused loss, pain, heartache, confusion, sadness, shame or loneliness.”

If convicted of his state crimes, Boelter would face mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole. At his first appearance, there was no indication that Boelter is pleading guilty to his state charges. His next hearing is set for Sept. 2.

The dual state and federal prosecutions of a crime of this magnitude are not unheard of, as it removes the ability for any potential pardon at either jurisdiction to allow Boelter out of prison.

A similar process played out against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd. He was convicted of murder in state court and of violating Floyd’s civil rights in federal court. Though, in that case, the state prosecution went first.

The Hoffmans released a statement through their attorney after the hearing saying the state “has an obligation just as the federal government to hold him accountable.”

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(Sarah Nelson of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.)

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