POLITICAL MOTIVATION?
Melissa Hortman, a 55-year-old mother of two who had served 20 years in the Minnesota House of Representatives, was remembered by Walz as someone with “grace, compassion and tirelessness.”
Walz, who was Kamala Harris’ Democratic vice presidential running mate in last year’s election, said the gunman went to the Hortmans’ residence after shooting the Hoffmans multiple times in their home in the nearby town of Champlin.
The Hoffmans underwent surgery, Walz said, adding that he was “cautiously optimistic” that they would survive “this assassination attempt”.
“This was an act of targeted political violence,” he said. “Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”
The shootings prompted reactions of shock and horror from Republican and Democratic politicians across the country and calls for dialling back increasingly divisive political rhetoric.
The incident comes on the heels of a heated hearing in Congress on Thursday, in which Walz and two other Democratic governors defended their states’ policies to maintain sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, drawing attacks from Republicans who support Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.
The Minnesota State Patrol chief, Colonel Christina Bogojevic, said police had found flyers in the suspect’s vehicle with “No Kings” printed on them but that he had no direct links to the thousands of nationwide “No Kings” protests on Saturday against President Donald Trump’s policies.
The protests were timed to counter Trump’s long-sought military parade in Washington. The organising No Kings Coalition cancelled all protests in Minnesota, citing a shelter-in-place order and the suspect’s at-large status.
Trump said he was briefed on the “terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota, which appears to be a targeted attack against State Lawmakers.”
“Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!” Trump said in a statement.
