ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA — The shooting deaths of State House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, have pierced Minnesota’s long-standing image as a civil and politically moderate state. The couple was gunned down early Saturday by a man dressed in a police uniform, in what investigators describe as a politically motivated attack.
Two others, including State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, were also shot multiple times during the same rampage. They are recovering.
Authorities have identified the suspect as Vance Boelter, who was taken into custody Sunday night after a statewide manhunt. Boelter was captured near his home in a rural area west of the Twin Cities. According to prosecutors, Boelter had a hit list and attempted to locate additional state officials on Saturday morning before being intercepted.
“This has blown that out of the water,” said Jessie Ebertz, a state employee, reflecting on Minnesota’s fading reputation for civil discourse. She stood outside the state Capitol, where mourners placed flowers and handwritten signs that read “Rest in Power” and “Demand Change.”
Officials confirmed that Boelter had ties to far-right ideology and had collected flyers related to anti-Trump demonstrations across the country. Evidence recovered from his home indicated that he was targeting Democrats and left-leaning lawmakers. He had previously been appointed to an economic board by a Democratic administration, but investigators say his political leanings had since aligned with hardline conservatism.
“I saw that man every day,” said Kameko White, a neighbor who lived near Boelter’s Minneapolis residence. “Just a few days ago, he was outside, smoking and scribbling in a notebook.”
Minnesota has avoided much of the intense political unrest seen in other parts of the country. But this attack has ignited questions about how far the nation’s partisan divide has stretched. Inside the Capitol building, the usual bustle had quieted. Tourists wandered past silent offices while security remained visibly light. No metal detectors were installed at the building’s main entrance by Monday afternoon.
Hortman, remembered for her cooperation with Republican colleagues, had recently helped broker the state’s budget deal. A local radio station replayed one of her last interviews Monday, where she joked with Republican peers about spending time together outside work. That spirit of bipartisanship, many said, now feels lost.
“We’ve been living under the illusion that Minnesota is immune,” said Jenna Stocker, who edits a Minnesota political publication. “But we’ve watched the national tone drift into something darker and it’s clearly here now.”
The attack joins a growing pattern. According to a tally, the United States has experienced over 300 politically motivated violent incidents since the 2021 Capitol riot. A 2023 study found that 40% of state lawmakers nationwide had reported threats or attacks within three years.
Despite this trend, the 2024 presidential election came and went without mass violence. Still, tension has steadily escalated. In April, Pennsylvania’s governor’s home was set on fire. In separate cases, a health-care executive in New York and two Israeli embassy employees in Washington were murdered in attacks believed to be politically driven.
In the aftermath of the Minnesota killings, President Donald Trump dismissed any call to unity. Speaking Tuesday, he criticized Governor Tim Walz, saying, “The guy doesn’t have a clue.” Prominent supporters of the former president took to social media to accuse Democrats of fueling the violence, despite no evidence linking the victims to any wrongdoing.
“The far left is murderously violent,” Elon Musk posted, amplifying a conspiracy theory. Senator Mike Lee called the killings “what happens when Marxists don’t get their way.” Neither responded to requests for comment.
As the nation’s political climate remains heated, many in Minnesota are calling for calm.
“There are good people here,” Stocker said. “But more and more, people are seeing their neighbors not as fellow citizens but as enemies.”
She believes that breaking the cycle will take time. “It’s going to take a generation that says enough is enough.”
