Congressman Joaquin Castro Among Targets of Minnesota Assassin

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said he was on a target list drawn up by alleged political assassin Vance Boelter in Minnesota.

U.S. Capitol Police, which is responsible for protecting members of Congress, told the seven-term representative's chief of staff early Sunday that his boss's name was on the list found in a vehicle abandoned by Boelter, according to the San Antonio Democrat.

Castro, 50, said the San Antonio Police Department stationed a patrol car outside his Northwest Side home, where he lives with wife Anna Flores and their three children, most of Sunday.

At the time, Boelter, 57, was still on the loose after allegedly gunning down Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman, a former Democratic House speaker, and her husband, Mark, in a northern Minneapolis suburb early Saturday.

Authorities say Boelter also shot and wounded Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, at their home in a nearby neighborhood.

Police arrested Boelter late Sunday near his home in Green Isle, Minn., after a nearly two-day manhunt. He's facing murder charges and is being held in the county lock-up in Minneapolis.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson in Minneapolis said a list of about 45 names of Minnesota state and federal elected officials were found in writings recovered from a fake police vehicle left at the crime scene — some names appearing more than once. Authorities also have said the list included community leaders, along with abortion-rights advocates and information about health care facilities, according to the officials.

"There were at least a few other members of Congress on that list," Castro told the San Antonio Express-News.

Elected officials in at least three other states said law enforcement officials have told them they were among Boelter’s targets, as well. They include Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman of Ohio. In Michigan, Democratic U.S. Reps. Hillary Scholten and Debbie Dingell confirmed they were on Boelter’s lists of targets, and Scholten postponed a Monday evening town hall.

"People should rebuke political violence no matter where it falls on the political spectrum," said Castro, who was first elected to Congress in 2012 and currently sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.