Fact check: How many US senators have been victims of attempted assassinations?

Executive summary — Short answer up front: The materials supplied do not provide a definitive count of U.S. senators who have been victims of attempted assassinations. Recent reporting in 2025 about targeted political violence in Minnesota concerns state legislators, and a suspect’s unsubstantiated claim that he was ordered to kill two U.S. senators is treated as an unsupported assertion by investigators ^{[1] [2] [3]}. The supplied corpus includes a 2017 historical overview of attacks on members of Congress but does not convert that history into a verified numeric tally of attempted assassinations of U.S. senators ^[4].

1. Why the recent Minnesota attacks do not answer the question directly

Coverage from June–September 2025 focuses on murders and shootings of Minnesota state officials and their families, not on sitting U.S. senators. Reporting documents the killing of a state House leader and shootings of state senators and spouses in a politically motivated spree, and an alleged hit list of officials ^{[1] [3] [5]}. These accounts center on state-level victims, and although the suspect purportedly mentioned U.S. senators in a letter to the FBI, investigators and indictments treat that claim as an apparent attempt to justify or expand motivation, not as evidence of actual attempts on U.S. senators ^[2].

2. The suspect’s claim about U.S. senators and how authorities treated it

The suspect, Vance Boelter, wrote that he had been instructed to kill two U.S. senators; authorities found no corroborating evidence and prosecutors describe the assertion as likely an excuse for his crimes ^{[2] [6]}. Federal indictments in July 2025 charged Boelter with murder, attempted murder, stalking and related counts tied to the Minnesota attacks, yet those filings do not substantiate any attempted assassination of U.S. senators and focus on the proven victims named in the indictment ^{[6] [2]}. The supplied documents therefore separate the suspect’s allegations from verified acts.

3. What the historical review adds — context but not a tally

A 2017 historical piece in the corpus outlines a long history of attacks on members of Congress, including shootings and bombings, highlighting that lawmakers face heightened risk ^[4]. That review offers context showing attacks on federal legislators are not unprecedented, but the supplied analysis does not extract or present a comprehensive count specifically for U.S. senators who survived attempted assassinations. The historical overview therefore helps frame contemporary threats without resolving the numeric question.

4. Gaps and why a precise number is missing from these sources

None of the provided items compile a vetted list or database of attempted assassinations of U.S. senators; the 2025 news reports and indictments document recent violence and prosecutorial actions, while the 2017 review surveys incidents broadly ^{[1] [6] [4] [5]}. A precise count requires systematic review of congressional records, contemporary news archives, and legal outcomes across U.S. history, which the supplied analyses do not perform. The absence of such a compilation is the primary reason the exact number cannot be confirmed here.

5. Multiple perspectives in the sources and possible agendas

The 2025 reporting emphasizes political motive — especially anti‑abortion animus — and the danger of targeted lists, framing the culprit’s actions as politically motivational and terrifying for lawmakers ^{[1] [7] [8]}. Authorities and prosecutors frame the suspect’s extra allegations as self-serving, while historical pieces warn of systemic risks to legislators, creating two narratives: immediate criminal accountability and long-term institutional vulnerability ^{[2] [4]}. These emphases reflect newsroom priorities on recent violent events and public safety rather than historical enumeration.

6. What to do next to get a definitive answer

To produce a verifiable count, researchers must assemble primary-source evidence beyond these summaries: official congressional security records, historical newspapers, FBI and Justice Department case files, and peer-reviewed compilations of political violence. The supplied corpus points to the problem but not the solution; none of the supplied items include the comprehensive review needed to answer “how many” definitively ^{[6] [4] [9]}. Given this gap, the most responsible conclusion from the available materials is that a definitive numeric answer cannot be drawn from these sources alone.