Minnesota
Deadly lawmaker ambush in Minnesota raises fears about fake police officers knocking on doors
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Vance Boelter left the state of Minnesota in fear after he allegedly posed as a police officer and carried out the shootings of two state lawmakers, killing one and her husband, at their homes last week.
But what can you do to verify that the person who knocks on your door or pulls you over while you’re in your vehicle is a law enforcement officer?
Mark Bruley, chief of police in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, where Boelter allegedly shot and killed Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, told reporters at a press conference earlier this week that there’s one thing you can do that’s “never wrong.”
“You always can call 911 and verify if the person at your door is a police officer,” Bruley said. “If they are working police officer, they will be connected to a dispatch center that can validate that. So the first thing I would do is, if you’re concerned about it, is call 911. Obviously, there’s a lot of different uniforms, and it’s never wrong to do that.”
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A surveillance photo released by authorities shows a masked suspect wearing police-like tactical gear and carrying a flashlight as officials race to find Vance Boelter, the suspected gunman in the shooting of two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota on Saturday. (Minnesota Department of Public Safety)
Police officers typically wear a visible badge with their identification number and name on their uniform. They often also carry agency-issued photo identification that can include their name, rank and agency information.
Fox News Digital spoke with Brian Higgins, founder of Group 77 and former Chief of Police of Bergen County, N.J., to learn more about what citizens can do in cases where they feel the need to verify that who they’re speaking to is a law enforcement officer.
Higgins said that most verification measures, such as requesting the officer’s photo identification, require the citizen to open the door, at which point it would be too late if the individual is an impersonator.
Police officers wear uniforms and badges to identify themselves to citizens. (kali9 via Getty Images)
“If you’re not sure, don’t open the door,” Higgins said, adding that citizens can stand to the side of their door and speak to officers through the door while calling 911 or the local police department to confirm that an officer was sent to their home.
Higgins said that knowing what police uniforms look like and, if you live in a town with a smaller police force, being familiar with its members helps with verifying.
“If you see an officer not in uniform, not someone you recognize,” Higgins said, “it’s prudent to call police and ask if this person is a police officer.”
Not all situations, however, are the same.
“It’s more difficult when on the road and a police officer pulls you over,” Higgins said of verification during traffic stops.
There are steps you can take to verify a police officer is who he says he is if one knocks on your door or pulls you over. (RyanJLane via Getty Images)
In these situations, Higgins said it’s important to know what law enforcement vehicles look like, adding that sometimes real law enforcement cars can be unmarked.
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Higgins said officers usually call in traffic violations to dispatch, so drivers can still call 911 or the local police to verify that an officer performing their duties initiated the stop.
Higgins advised citizens to always be aware of their surroundings and to pull over in public places, if possible.
If unable to immediately pull over in a public place, Higgins said drivers can lower their window just enough, keep their car in drive and ask the officer if it’s possible to drive to another place that is safer or more public.
Higgins said that police officers understand that citizens may be uncertain or nervous and ask for verification.
“If their answer is anything other than professional, it should raise a concern,” Higgins said. That is, if the citizen didn’t do anything obviously illegal like run a red light, he added as a caveat.
In the case in Minnesota, Boelter allegedly impersonated a police officer, wearing a flesh-colored mask, a black tactical vest and carrying a flashlight before shooting and killing state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their respective homes.
Boelter also drove a black SUV equipped with police-style lights and a fake license plate that said “POLICE,” according to a court affidavit.
Video footage from Hoffman’s home shows a masked Boelter at the front door wearing the black tactical vest and holding a flashlight, according to the affidavit. Boelter then allegedly knocked on their door and shouted repeatedly, “This is the police. Open the door.”
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The Hoffmans answered the door but, since Boelter was shining the flashlight in their eyes, realized too late that Boelter was not a real police officer, the affidavit said.
Minnesota
Wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota pushes further into US, engulfing DC in eerie haze
NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of people in the Great Lakes, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states muddled through another day of unhealthy air from uncontrolled wildfires on Friday, as smoke enveloped the nation’s capital in a gloomy, eerie haze.
Air quality warnings were expected to remain in effect through Saturday across a wide swath of the U.S., but there’s potential for temporary relief with rains and storms forecast over a chunk of the affected region over the weekend.
The smoky conditions won’t be gone anytime soon, though, as fires burn unchecked across a remote region of Canada, cautioned Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster at the National Weather Service based in Maryland. Wildfires in a wilderness area in Minnesota are also contributing to the smoke.
“The source of the smoke is going to continue on for certainly a week, probably,” he said. “So in some form, there’s going to be smoke that gets transported from the fires downstream, and it’s just going to depend upon which way the wind’s blowing as to where the smoke is going to affect the most.”
On Friday, communities in Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois closest to the Canadian border and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota again registered some of the worst air quality in the world, according to IQAir, an air quality monitoring website.
Not far behind them was Washington, D.C., where the thick smoke created eerie scenes. The Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and other national landmarks could be seen enveloped in a thick, orange-hued haze in the morning.
“Wow that Canadian smoke haze is no joke,” Stewart Verdery, a former assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, wrote on X as he shared a panorama of D.C. at sunrise. “Almost nothing visible – no sun, no monuments, no Reagan Airport.”
Air in and around Washington was expected to go from bad to worse as the day progressed, reaching “very unhealthy” and potentially “hazardous” levels on the air quality index, regional officials said.
People, particularly those with heart or lung disease, older adults and children, were urged to limit or avoid going outside as much as possible until air quality improved.
There was also concern in the New York City area about how the foul air might impact the World Cup final match between soccer powerhouses Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday.
Oravec said winds will continue pushing the wildfire smoke east in the U.S., though conditions should be better on game day Sunday than on Saturday.
Just a day earlier, a thick haze tinged with orange and yellow darkened skies across several states and partly obscured Manhattan’s skyline.
Officials from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other Northeast states distributed free K95 face masks, canceled outdoor programming and opened libraries and other public buildings as cooling centers where people could get a respite from the sooty air.
As Friday progressed, air quality measures improved from “unhealthy” to “moderate” in some places in and around New York City.
A strong sun broke through a thin veil of smoke, and large chunks of clear blue sky were visible across much of the region by Friday afternoon.
Saturday brings a high chance of thunderstorms across much of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, which will help dampen the bad air.
How long the reprieve lasts depends on what happens hundreds of miles north, as some 100 wildfires burn without end in sight, largely in the Ontario area in Canada. In the U.S., officials have closed the Boundary Waters while battling multiple fires.
Long-term exposure to smoky conditions can complicate existing health problems and lead to chronic and deadly issues, including respiratory illness, cardiovascular and neurological diseases and premature death.
See how the bald eagle’s story shows its enduring symbolism
As the U.S. celebrates 250 years, the bald eagle endures as North America’s native sea eagle and national bird.
The common loon, Minnesota’s state bird, is more closely related to a penguin than a duck.
Despite loons predominantly living in the northern hemisphere and penguins mostly living in the southern hemisphere, researchers consider them to be genetic cousins. Taxonomic analyses placed them in an evolutionary cluster tracing back 40 million to 50 million years ago, along with herons and pelicans.
While loons and ducks share habitat on Minnesota lakes, they aren’t close relatives. Ducks are closer cousins to geese and swans.
After sharing a common ancestor, penguins and loons developed distinct characteristics. Loons can fly, but struggle to move on land; penguins can’t fly, but waddle on land. Penguins use flipper-like wings to swim; loons use webbed feet for underwater propulsion.
They have some similar features, however, including dense bones to help dive underwater and their tuxedo coloring.
MinnPost partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
Fires in the past burned more frequently in western Canada, but recent years have seen that trend migrate eastward, with large fires now burning in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic provinces, Prof Chasmer said, leading to more noticeable smoke in densely populated cities like Toronto and New York.
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