Minnesota lawmaker and husband shot dead in 'politically motivated assassination,' Walz says
A Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were shot and killed in what appears to be a 'politically motivated assassination' on Saturday morning, state officials said.
Someone impersonating a police officer fatally shot state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, in the early hours of Saturday morning, officials said at a news conference.
Earlier, around 2 a.m. local time, the suspect opened fire on state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in neighboring Champlin, according to officials. They were transported to a hospital and are expected to survive, authorities said.
Police are searching for the suspect, who officials said was dressed as a police officer wearing a badge and vest, equipped with a stun gun, and drove an SUV resembling a police squad car. The suspect is believed to be on foot, officials said.
Brooklyn Park police have issued a shelter-in-place order as authorities search for the gunman.
Both Hortman and Hoffman are Democrats. Hortman was the leader of the state House's Democratic caucus and served as the state House speaker from 2019 until January 2025.
The Minnesota Legislature is closely divided along party lines, with the state House evenly split between 67 Democrats and 67 Republicans. The state Senate has a one-seat Democratic advantage, with 34 Democrats and 33 Republicans.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz described the shootings as 'targeted' in a social media post on Saturday. At a news conference later Saturday morning, he called Hortman's death a 'politically motivated assassination' and 'an unspeakable tragedy.'
'Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy,' Walz said at the press conference on Saturday. 'We don't settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.'
President Donald Trump said in a statement on Saturday that he has "been briefed on the terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota, which appears to be a targeted attack against State Lawmakers."
"Our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the FBI, are investigating the situation, and they will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law," Trump said. "Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!'
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Memorial of flowers and notes left outside Minnesota State Capitol for Melissa Hortman and husband
A memorial of flowers, candles, and handwritten notes lined the steps of the State Capitol in Minneapolis on Sunday in tribute to former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark after they were killed in a shooting at their home. (AP Video: Obed Lamy)
San Francisco Chronicle
39 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump directs ICE to expand deportations in Democratic-run cities, undeterred by protests
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday directed federal immigration officials to prioritize deportations from Democratic-run cities, a move that comes after large protests erupted in Los Angeles and other major cities against the Trump administration's immigration policies. Trump in a social media posting called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials 'to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.' He added that to reach the goal officials 'must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America's largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside.' Trump's declaration comes after weeks of increased enforcement, and after Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and main architect of Trump's immigration policies, said ICE officers would target at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump's second term. At the same time, the Trump administration has directed immigration officers to pause arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels, after Trump expressed alarm about the impact aggressive enforcement is having on those industries, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter who spoke only on condition of anonymity. Protests over federal immigration enforcement raids have been flaring up around the country. Opponents of Trump's immigration policies took to the streets as part of the 'no kings' demonstrations Saturday that came as Trump held a massive parade in Washington for the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. But police in Los Angeles used tear gas and crowd-control munitions to clear out protesters after the event ended. Officers in Portland, Oregon, also fired tear gas and projectiles to disperse a crowd that protested in front of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building well into the evening. Trump made the call for stepped up enforcement in Democratic-controlled cities on social media as he was making his way to the Group of Seven economic summit in Alberta, Canada. He suggested to reporters as he departed the White House for the G7 on Sunday evening that his decision to deploy National Guard troops to Los Angeles was the reason the protests in that city went peacefully. 'If we didn't have the National Guard on call and ready, they would rip Los Angeles apart,' Trump said. The shift also come as Trump is grappling with the impact his mass deportation effort is having on key industries that rely on workers in the country illegally. Trump posted on his Truth Social site Thursday that he heard from hotel, agriculture and leisure industries that his 'very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them' and promised that changes would be made . That same day Tatum King, an official with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations unit, wrote to regional leaders telling them to halt investigations of the agriculture industry, including meatpackers, as well as of restaurants and hotels, according to the U.S. official.
Bloomberg
40 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Man Suspected of Shooting Minnesota Lawmakers Taken Into Custody
By Updated on Save BELLE PLAINE, Minn. (AP) — The man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another has been taken into custody, two law enforcement officials said, bringing an end to a nearly two-day search that put the state on edge. Vance Boelter was arrested Sunday evening. The arrest was confirmed to The Associated Press by law enforcement officials were who were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. Former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed in their Brooklyn Park home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were injured at their Champlin home, about 9 miles (about 15 kilometers) away.
