A Minnesota state senator has fiercely criticized actress and socialite Sara Foster for implying a connection between the murder of Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman and the ongoing investigation into alleged fraud within the Somali community.
Earlier this year, Hortman and her husband, Mark, were tragically shot to death in their Brooklyn Park residence by Vance Luther Boelter, who is now the primary suspect in the case.
According to law enforcement, Boelter purportedly had plans to target 45 liberal lawmakers and providers of abortion services.
Despite this, 44-year-old Foster, daughter of Canadian music producer David Foster, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, insinuating a connection between Hortman’s murder and the fraud probe concerning Somali individuals in Minnesota.
The state’s financial practices recently came under heightened scrutiny following a viral video that revealed a seemingly vacant daycare facility in Hennepin County, which reportedly received $4 million in taxpayer funds.
Foster’s controversial message read: “Are we just going to ignore the possibility that her murder is linked to the multi-billion fraud scandal recently exposed? Mmmmkay.”
Foster wrote the comment alongside a video showing Hortman weeping after she had cast the lone Democratic vote in favor of repealing eligibility for undocumented adults to access MinnesotaCare just days before she was killed.
Foster’s remarks were panned by Republican State Senator Julia Coleman, who shut down the ‘conspiracy theory’, stating ‘the fraud had nothing to do with the assassinations’.
Actress and socialite Sara Foster (pictured in September) has claimed the death of Democrat lawmaker Melissa Hortman is linked to the ongoing Somali fraud scandal in Minnesota
Hortman was tragically shot to death alongside her husband, Mark, on June 14 in their Brooklyn Park home
‘I am a Minnesota Republican legislator. I never agreed with Melissa. Not once. But I’m begging people to stop sharing this conspiracy theory,’ Coleman wrote on X on Sunday.
She went on to discuss the video of Hortman, who was visibly emotional following a meeting on her decision to cast a vote that broke with her political party.
In the clip, Hortman said: ‘What I worry about is that people will lose their health insurance. I know that people will be hurt by that vote, and I’m…
‘We worked very hard to try to get a budget deal that wouldn’t include that provision. And we tried any other way we could to come to a budget agreement with Republicans and they wouldn’t have it.’
Coleman said Hortman’s tears were not due to fear and she was only emotional because the vote ‘was incredibly hard for her’.
‘She is not terrified in this video. She’s crying because she had to take this vote to keep the government open, and it was incredibly hard for her,’ Coleman wrote.
‘That’s who she was as a leader. Even though I didn’t agree with her, I could tell her heart was absolutely in it, and the weight of her decisions were worn on her sleeve sometimes.
‘There were people on the hit list that did not take that same vote,’ Coleman continued in reference to the chilling list of names Boelter allegedly planned to take out, according to evidence seized by police from the crime scene.
Boelter, who has been indicted on federal murder charges over the shootings, planned to target 45 liberal lawmakers and abortion providers, investigators said.
Republican State Senator Julia Coleman immediately slammed Foster for sharing a ‘conspiracy theory,’ and that ‘the fraud had nothing to do with the assassinations’
In addition to allegedly killing the Hortmans, Boelter is also accused of shooting State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman. They both survived.
Boelter is also accused of attempting to shoot their daughter, Hope Hoffman.
Coleman added: ‘Tim Walz had nothing to do with the assassinations. The fraud had nothing to do with the assassinations. The assassin was deranged. Completely and utterly deranged. And Minnesota lost a good woman because of it.’
The GOP lawmaker went on to seemingly take a direct hit at Foster, concluding her post with: ‘Please, unless you have evidence, stop trying to get social media clout off the death of a good person that you know nothing about.’
Coleman told the Daily Mail she is especially ‘disgusted’ with the response on the internet to not just to Hortman’s death, but also the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, who was fatally shot at Utah Valley University on September 10, was the senator’s first boss when she ran the Turning Point USA chapter in Minnesota, she said.
When discussing the comments she’s seen online about Hortman’s death, Coleman said: ‘Some of these people posting these things never knew her and never stepped foot in Minnesota.’
The Daily Mail contacted Foster for comment.
Foster’s claim comes as the FBI continues to investigate the alleged financial abuse in the state, with scrutiny intensifying after footage of the fraud accused daycare came to light.
Boelter is accused of fatally shooting the Hortmans (left). He is also accused of shooting State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman (right). They both survived
Independent journalist Nick Shirley shared footage of the apparently empty Minnesota daycare, which reportedly received millions in taxpayer funds.
Footage of the facility, featuring a misspelled sign as ‘Quality Learing Center’, sparked outrage among lawmakers and allegations that state authorities allowed the ‘largest fraud in US history’ to go unchecked.
On Monday, the New York Post reported that staff were seen ‘trucking in’ dozens of children, despite locals admitting they thought the facility had been ‘permanently closed’ because they never saw kids being dropped off.
‘We’ve never seen kids go in there until today. That parking lot is empty all the time, and I was under the impression that place is permanently closed,’ one resident who lives nearby said.
As many as 20 young children and toddlers were seen walking into the facility on Monday morning, prompting Ibrahim Ali, the son of the facility’s owner, to hit back at reports that it is usually a ghost town.
‘Do you go to a coffee shop at 11 p.m. and say, “Hey, they’re not working?”,’ Ali said.
He argued that when Shirley arrived and began filming the near-deserted facility, it had simply not yet opened for the day.
Boelter, who’s been indicted on federal murder charges over the shootings, planned to target more liberal lawmakers and abortion providers, per a list of 45 names found in his possession according to investigators
No charges have been filed against the facility which has denied Shirley’s allegations.
On Sunday, Patel announced that the FBI had already ‘surged personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota,’ even before the alleged daycare fraud came to light.
‘The FBI is aware of recent social media reports in Minnesota,’ Patel wrote, claiming that the bureau has moving to ‘dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.’
‘Fraud that steals from taxpayers and robs vulnerable children will remain a top FBI priority in Minnesota and nationwide.’
