Sen. Mike Lee deletes social media posts about the Minnesota shootings after facing criticism
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, removed posts on his personal X account about Saturday's fatal attack on a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband after he faced fierce backlash from Democrats.
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., who was friends with the slain lawmaker, told reporters Monday that she confronted Lee about his post. 'I needed him to hear from me directly what impact I think his cruel statement had on me, his colleague,' she said.
Lee had written in one post about the Saturday assassination of Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, that 'this is what happens When Marxists don't get their way.' In another, he posted a photo of the suspect and captioned it "Nightmare on Waltz Street," an apparent reference to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.
Several Democrats had called on Lee to take down the posts, which he'd published Saturday and Sunday. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said at a news conference Tuesday that he asked Lee to remove them and that "he wouldn't listen to me."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told reporters she also spoke to Lee about his posts, but she declined to divulge details of their conversation. 'Sen. Lee and I had a good discussion, and I'm very glad he took it down,' said Klobuchar, who has a relationship with Lee from years of working together on the Judiciary Committee.
Smith said Tuesday she was "glad" the posts were removed, "but I haven't heard anything from him about why he took them down, and I certainly didn't hear an apology."
Some of Lee's posts were still visible Tuesday afternoon, including one from Saturday night that said, 'Marxism kills.'
On Lee's official Senate X account, his posts struck a different tone. "These hateful attacks have no place in Utah, Minnesota, or anywhere in America. Please join me in condemning this senseless violence, and praying for the victims and their families," he wrote.
Prosecutors said the suspect, Vance Boelter, is also responsible for the nonfatal shooting of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said Boelter's car had notebooks with the names of more than 45 state and federal elected officials, and the federal criminal complaint against him says officials named in the notebooks were 'mostly or all Democrats.'
Lee did not answer NBC News' questions about the posts Monday, and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about why they were taken down Tuesday.
Smith spoke to Lee on Monday and later told reporters she'd felt compelled to confront him about the posts.
'I wanted him to know how much pain that caused me and the other people in my state and I think around the country who think that this was a brutal attack,' Smith told reporters in the Capitol.
Smith's deputy chief of staff, Ed Shelleby, also lambasted the posts in an email to Lee's office shared with NBC News.
'Is this how your team measures success? Using the office of US Senator to post not just one but a series of jokes about an assassination—is that a successful day of work on Team Lee?" Shelleby wrote.
Dareh Gregorian
Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News.
Brennan Leach, Sahil Kapur, Gabrielle Khoriaty, Kyle Stewart and Amanda Terkel contributed.
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NBC News
5 hours ago
- NBC News
Sen. Mike Lee deletes social media posts about the Minnesota shootings after facing criticism
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, removed posts on his personal X account about Saturday's fatal attack on a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband after he faced fierce backlash from Democrats. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., who was friends with the slain lawmaker, told reporters Monday that she confronted Lee about his post. 'I needed him to hear from me directly what impact I think his cruel statement had on me, his colleague,' she said. Lee had written in one post about the Saturday assassination of Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, that 'this is what happens When Marxists don't get their way.' In another, he posted a photo of the suspect and captioned it "Nightmare on Waltz Street," an apparent reference to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. Several Democrats had called on Lee to take down the posts, which he'd published Saturday and Sunday. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said at a news conference Tuesday that he asked Lee to remove them and that "he wouldn't listen to me." Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told reporters she also spoke to Lee about his posts, but she declined to divulge details of their conversation. 'Sen. Lee and I had a good discussion, and I'm very glad he took it down,' said Klobuchar, who has a relationship with Lee from years of working together on the Judiciary Committee. Smith said Tuesday she was "glad" the posts were removed, "but I haven't heard anything from him about why he took them down, and I certainly didn't hear an apology." Some of Lee's posts were still visible Tuesday afternoon, including one from Saturday night that said, 'Marxism kills.' On Lee's official Senate X account, his posts struck a different tone. "These hateful attacks have no place in Utah, Minnesota, or anywhere in America. Please join me in condemning this senseless violence, and praying for the victims and their families," he wrote. Prosecutors said the suspect, Vance Boelter, is also responsible for the nonfatal shooting of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said Boelter's car had notebooks with the names of more than 45 state and federal elected officials, and the federal criminal complaint against him says officials named in the notebooks were 'mostly or all Democrats.' Lee did not answer NBC News' questions about the posts Monday, and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about why they were taken down Tuesday. Smith spoke to Lee on Monday and later told reporters she'd felt compelled to confront him about the posts. 'I wanted him to know how much pain that caused me and the other people in my state and I think around the country who think that this was a brutal attack,' Smith told reporters in the Capitol. Smith's deputy chief of staff, Ed Shelleby, also lambasted the posts in an email to Lee's office shared with NBC News. 'Is this how your team measures success? Using the office of US Senator to post not just one but a series of jokes about an assassination—is that a successful day of work on Team Lee?" Shelleby wrote. Dareh Gregorian Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News. Brennan Leach, Sahil Kapur, Gabrielle Khoriaty, Kyle Stewart and Amanda Terkel contributed.
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Jessie Ebertz held back tears as she stood in front of a makeshift memorial honouring the slain Democratic politician Melissa Hortman and her husband."Minnesota has felt a little bit like a safe haven," said Ms Ebertz, a government employee who lives in the state capital, "because we have been able to keep our atmosphere of respecting one another here.""This has blown that out of the water."The death of Hortman and her husband has sent a shockwave through the state. They were killed early Saturday morning by an assailant disguised as a police officer, who also injured Democratic state lawmaker, John Hoffman, and his wife. Both are expected to survive. But the attacks, which appear politically motivated, have badly shaken confidence in the state's reputation for politeness, courtesy and respect, an attitude that has its own nickname and Wikipedia page: "Minnesota nice". Prosecutors say the suspect Vance Boelter also visited two other homes early Saturday searching for state's largest-ever manhunt ended late Sunday when Boelter was captured near his home in a rural area dotted with farms, gravel roads and small villages about an hour away from the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul. Many pointed out that Mrs Hortman was known for her ability to work with Republican colleagues, including recently to pass a state budget vote. On Monday local talk radio station WCCO replayed one of her last interviews, jointly done with Republican colleagues, where among other things they discussed what they might do if they spent some off time idea that this friendly state in the Upper Midwest could avoid the political rancour which is more frequently tipping over into violence elsewhere is an illusion, says Jenna Stocker, editor of Thinking Minnesota, a publication put out by the conservative think tank Center of the American centre's office was firebombed last year in what think tank officials called a politically motivated attack. Nobody has been charged with the crime."Some people even here in Minnesota have really let politics guide their thinking and how they feel about their neighbours, their friends and their relatives," Ms Stocker extreme cases, that has led to extreme actions. Several recent studies indicate that political violence is growing across the US, reaching a level not seen since the has tallied more than 300 cases of politically motivated violence since the January 2021 Capitol riot. A 2023 study from the Brennan Center for Justice, a left-leaning institute, found that 40 percent of state legislators had experienced threats or attacks in the three years widespread fears, fuelled in part by two assassination attempts against Donald Trump and the 2021 US Capitol riot, there was no large-scale violence around the time of the November 2024 presidential any supposed détente has been broken - several times over - since that April the residence of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, was set on fire. Politics appear to have motivated the alleged killers of a health-care executive in New York and two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, members of the US Congress were set to get emergency briefings about security this in Minnesota, meanwhile, many people were lamenting what the attacks on the state's politicians mean in a place that prides itself on its openness and ability to avoid the viciousness of national the rawness of the recent attacks, inside the Capitol building there was little visible sign of heavy security – and no metal detectors – on Monday afternoon. Among the mourners, several of Hortman's relatives laid flowers in front of the state House chamber, where a table was laden with bouquets and signs reading "Demand Change" and "Rest in Power".In between the news cameras and flowers, a group wandered around the building on a guided tour and legislative officials went about their work in an eerie as people here mourned, nationally the partisan arguments Trump on Tuesday said he wouldn't be calling the state's governor, Tim Walz – the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in last year's election – calling him "a mess"."The guy doesn't have a clue," he told the wake of the attacks, several of Trump's top supporters and allies - including Utah Senator Mike Lee, Elon Musk, conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer and activist Charlie Kirk - attempted without evidence to link Walz and Democratic lawmakers to the wrote: "This is what happens When Marxists don't get their way" while Musk reposted a message including a line about the attacks with the comment "The far left is murderously violent".Both men, who did not respond to requests for comment, appear to have been sucked in by conspiracy theories floating around pointed to the fact that Walz and a previous Democratic governor had appointed the suspect to a position on a state economic the suspect Mr Boelter was a supporter of President Trump who held conservative views, according to interviews with friends and neighbours. And according to evidence revealed by authorities, his long target list included Democratic and progressive lawmakers, and he had flyers with information about anti-Trump "No Kings" rallies which happened in St Paul and other cities around the country on the exact motive is still under investigation, evidence has indicated that the suspect was targeting the president's opponents and left-wing and Democratic Party politicians. "It's terrifying," said Kameko White, a neighbour who lived near one of the suspect's homes, in north Minneapolis, which was raided by police on Saturday."I saw that man every day in his yard," Ms White said. "The other day I saw him outside smoking and writing something down in a notebook."While the capture of Mr Boelter gave some measure of relief here, discussions on the airwaves in Minnesota have turned towards what can be done to cool the political temperature and prevent future Stocker, the editor of Thinking Minnesota, said "there's good people here" and noted that the vast majority of Minnesotans reject an increase in "othering" and heated rhetoric makes her pessimistic about the chances of peace any time soon."It's going to take a whole generation of people to say we're not going to take this any more and it just needs to stop," she said."I think we need young people to rise up and say we're just not going to stand for it."
