2 days ago
‘The best of us': Slain Minnesota legislator Melissa Hortman mourned by Harvard Kennedy School classmates
Hortman, 55, was killed along with her husband in their Brooklyn Park, Minn. home in what officials have described as a
John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot in their home about nine miles away, allegedly by the same gunman. Both were left with critical injuries.
Hortman attended from the Kennedy School's Mid-Career Master in Public Administration program while serving in the Minnesota House and graduated in 2018, splitting time between Cambridge, her work in the statehouse and her husband and children in Minnesota.
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Hortman was also an alumna of Boston University. She
graduated in 1991 with a bachelor of arts in philosophy and political science before working as a legislative correspondent for then-Sen. John Kerry. BU President Melissa Gilliam said the university community grieves her loss, describing her as a 'beloved and respected public servant.'
'We send deep condolences to her family, her friends, and to the people of Minnesota on this tragic and saddest of days,' Gilliam said in a statement.
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Kennedy School Professor Richard Parker, who taught Hortman in a class on the presidency and economic growth, said she was a 'everything a Kennedy School professor could want in a student.'
'She was a wonderful young woman,' Parker said.
A Harvard Kennedy School spokesperson described Hortman as a 'dedicated and inspiring public servant' in a statement.
'This is a devasting loss for the HKS community, and she will be missed by faculty, staff, and so many alumni who studied with her during her time on campus,' the statement said.
That sentiment was echoed by Hortman's classmates, who said they were struck by her unpretentious curiosity and warmth. Vermont state Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale recalled meeting Hortman at a welcome gathering for their class. It came at a time when Ram Hinsdale was at a professional and personal crossroads. She had recently lost a statewide race and broken up with a long term partner, she said, and Hortman was an example of what a successful future in politics could look like.
'I couldn't help thinking oh my gosh, this woman has made it through the looking glass of women in politics,' Ram said. 'To me, she was somebody who was finding that impossible balance that women are asked to find in politics and leadership.'
After that meeting, Ram Hinsdale said she remembered seeing a video of Hortman
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'It just struck me just how courageous and unflinching she was,' Ram Hinsdale same. 'This is the kind of leader I want to emulate.'
Morgan Brown, 41, met Hortman at the Kennedy School in 2016. Hortman was a 'relentless advocate' for her classmates and had a gift for talking with people she disagreed with and working things through, he said.
'She was the best of us for the reasons we want people to go into [politics,]' Brown said, his voice breaking. 'It was not self aggrandizing. She didn't run because she liked seeing her name in the paper.'
Hortman's killing has sparked a manhunt for the shooter, who police say remains at large as of Sunday evening. Authorities
have identified the suspect in the shootings as 57-year-old Vance Boelter, and the FBI issued a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
Authorities have not yet given details on a motive, but a list of about 70 names was found in writings recovered from a fake police vehicle that was left at the crime scene, officials said. The writings and list of names included prominent state and federal lawmakers and community leaders, along with abortion rights advocates and information about healthcare facilities, according to the officials. A Minnesota official told the Associated Press that lawmakers who had been outspoken in favor of abortion rights were on the list.
Aschkenasy, who now works for CIRCLE, a youth civic engagement research organization at Tufts University, said Hortman's death has made her reflect on the 'toxicity' and 'threats' she deal with while a select board member — some of which targeted her family, she said.
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'I don't want to make it about me, but I think about why I chose to get out of politics,' Aschkenasy said. 'It's legitimately dangerous
.
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Ram Hinsdale said she first heard of the shooting on social media on Saturday morning, as her kids were napping in their Burlington, Vermont home. She soon learned that Hortman and her husband had not survived. Her first instinct was to stay home and grieve, but that is not what Hortman would have wanted, she said.
Instead, Ram Hinsdale attended one of that day's No Kings rallies, in the rural town of Swanton near the Canadian border. People in attended came up to her crying and shaken over the shooting, and she opened the event with a moment of silence for Hortman and her husband, she said.
'I was able to say their names and honor them as heroes,' Ram Hinsdale said. 'She would have wanted us to be loud and out there.'
This story includes material from the Associated Press.
Dan Glaun can be reached at
