A North Dakota man has been accused of threatening a federal official in an email that refers to the shooting of two lawmakers in Minnesota.

In the email, Charles Dalzell, of St. Thomas, said he was ignored by multiple government officials when he tried to get help with a legal issue, according to a criminal complaint filed June 17 in federal court.

”Now I’m going to be honest with you I don’t want this situation to end up like Minnesota over the weekend,” Dalzell wrote, the complaint said.

Dalzell sent the email shortly after 5 p.m. June 15 to a person identified in the complaint as “J.P.” at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota.

Dalzell also said he was owed money after a court victory and that “police were attempting to silence him so public officials could engage in corruption,” the complaint said.

“I want to avoid any more problems and don’t want North Dakota to end up like Minnesota and no that is not a threat [J.P.] it’s a fact and a statement that it’s a bad situation and I wouldn’t want any part of it,” he wrote, according to the complaint.

Dalzell was previously warned by law enforcement that another email sent Feb. 26, 2024, to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota was “borderline threatening,” according to the complaint.

Minnesota shooting suspect Vance Boelter appears in federal court, will remain in custody

“He was also notified that it was a violation to threaten people over the internet and his communications were being perceived as threats,” the complaint said.

Dalzell was arrested June 16 and is charged with one count of making threats against a federal official and one count of making interstate threats. His initial court appearance is scheduled for June 18, according to court records.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man charged with killing a prominent Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another could face something that is a rarity for Minnesota but could become more common under the Trump administration: the death penalty.

Minnesota abolished capital punishment in 1911, and the state’s last execution was a botched hanging in 1906. But federal prosecutors announced charges against Vance Boelter on Monday that can carry the death penalty.

It’s not unheard of for state and federal prosecutors to both pursue criminal cases for the same offense, especially in high-profile matters.

In this case federal authorities essentially grabbed the lead from the state prosecutor, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. Boelter had been scheduled to make his first court appearance on state charges Monday, but instead marshals took him from the county jail to the U.S. courthouse in St. Paul, where he appeared on the more serious federal charges.

Boelter is accused of fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Before that, authorities say, he also shot and wounded another Democrat, Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, who lived a few miles away. He surrendered Sunday night after what authorities have called the largest search in Minnesota history.

The federal case

Two of the six federal counts can carry the death penalty, something federal prosecutors have not sought in a Minnesota-based case since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.

“Will we seek the death penalty? It’s too early to tell. That is one of the options,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said Monday at a news conference where he revealed new details of what he described as a meticulously planned attack. They included allegations that Boelter also stopped at the homes of two other lawmakers that night and had dozens of other Democrats as potential targets, including officials in other states.

Boelter’s federal defenders have declined to comment on the case, and he has not entered a plea.

On her first day in office in February, Attorney General Pam Bondi lifted a moratorium on federal executions that was imposed under the Biden administration in 2021. Only three defendants remain on federal death row after Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison.

Bondi has since authorized federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in at least three cases, including against Luigi Mangione for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. In the other two cases, the Justice Department has said it is seeking the death penalty against defendants charged with killing fellow prison inmates.

President Donald Trump’s first administration carried out 13 federal executions, more than the administration of any other president in modern history.

The state’s case

The federal intervention in Boelter’s case appeared to irritate Moriarty, the county’s former chief public defender, who was elected on a police reform and racial justice platform in 2022 after the police killing of George Floyd.

At a news conference Monday to announce the state charges, Moriarty gave only vague answers in response to questions about the interplay between the federal and state investigations. But she acknowledged “there’s a tension” and said federal officials “can speak for themselves.”

Moriarty said she intends to press forward in state court regardless and to seek an indictment for first-degree murder for the killings of the Hortmans, which would carry a mandatory sentence of life without parole. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for further comment Tuesday.

As evidence of the tensions, the county attorney refused to clarify how Boelter’ first hearings would play out. Court records show that Boelter was called for a first appearance in Hennepin County on Monday and that because he was not there as he was in federal custody, the judge issued a bench warrant as a formality, as requested by prosecutors.

“Usually murder cases are overwhelmingly handled in state courts,” said Mark Osler, a death penalty expert at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. “Clearly this is something of national interest. And that seemed to play a role in the decision that the Justice Department is making here.”

Osler, who formerly served as Moriarty’s deputy county attorney and head of her criminal division, as well as assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit, acknowledged that there are often tensions between state and federal prosecutors.

“There’s no doubt that it’s complicated,” Osler said. “And it’s hard to avoid the sense of the older sibling grabbing something away from the younger sibling.”

What’s next

If federal officials do pursue the death penalty, Osler said, they will face an unusual challenge: “a jury pool drawn from the citizens of a state that has rejected the death penalty for over 100 years. It’s not the same as choosing people in a state where there’s a history of support for the death penalty, such as Texas.”

After his federal court appearance, Boelter was taken to the Sherburne County Jail in suburban Elk River, where federal prisoners are often held.

Thompson told reporters that the federal case “does not nullify the state charges. They remain in place. … My expectation based on prior cases is the federal case, the federal charges, will be litigated first, but the state charges won’t necessarily go anywhere.”

Boelter’s next federal court appearance is June 27. He does not have any further appearances scheduled in state court.

“There’s a natural competitiveness that occurs sometimes between jurisdictions, but you have to hope that in the end, they’re all facing the same way where there’s something as important to public safety as this case is,” Osler said.

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Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed.

Police interaction with alleged Minnesota lawmaker shooter Vance Boelter likely prevented the loss of more lives, Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said on Monday.

Bruley said an off-duty sergeant had heard that there was a shooting at Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman’s home and sent two officers to check on the home of Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman.

When officers arrived, Bruley said they found Boelter’s car in the driveway. 

“Had they not foiled the plan, you know, essentially took his vehicle away from him, which involved all his maps, all his names, all his weaponry. I would be very scared what it would look like over the next few hours that had we not done that,” he said during a media conference where federal charges were announced against Boelter. 

FAKE COP SUSPECTED IN LAWMAKER ASSASSINATION HAD EXTENSIVE SECURITY TRAINING BEFORE ‘TARGETED’ ATTACK

Federal prosecutors released images they said were from Minnesota lawmaker shooting suspect Vance Boelter’s notebooks in a criminal complaint on June 16, 2025. (Department of Justice)

Boelter allegedly fled on foot, prompting a two-days-long manhunt that ended with him being taken into custody without incident. 

Boelter is accused of killing Hortman and her husband Mark, and shooting Hoffman and his wife Yvette in separate incidents early Saturday morning. 

Boelter allegedly arrived at both lawmakers’ homes dressed in a law enforcement-like uniform and driving a black SUV with flashing emergency lights and a license plate that read “police.” 

MINNESOTA SHOOTING SUSPECT VANCE BOELTER TO FACE FEDERAL CHARGES IN LAWMAKER ATTACKS

Vance Boelter allegedly wore a “hyper-realistic” silicon mask while targeting victims on Saturday. (DOJ)

He is charged with two counts of stalking, two counts of murder and two counts of firearm-related crimes in federal court.

In addition to the federal charges, Boelter is facing second-degree murder charges filed in Hennepin County.

A mugshot of Minnesota lawmaker shooting suspect Vance Boelter in custody at Hennepin County Jail. (Hennepin County Jail)

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office on Monday announced that it intends to file first-degree murder charges against the suspect.

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Brooklyn Park Police did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita, Audrey Conklin, Peter D’Abrosca and Sarah Rumf-Whitten contributed to this report.