Minnesota Lawmakers Killed in Politically Motivated Assassination

What Happened?

Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were shot and killed in their homes in an apparent politically motivated assassination. Also shot was Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, though they survived and are being treated for their wounds. 

Law enforcement officials said they had reason to suspect the shootings were politically motivated. They issued an all points bulleting for Vance Boelter, a suspect whom the police believe may have posed as a law enforcement officer before carrying out the shootings. Police also said they found a list of other political targets belonging to the suspect. 

Why it Matters

The shootings continue a recent trend of escalating political violence in the United States, which included the attempted assassination of President Trump in 2024. All four of the victims in this weekend’s shootings in Minnesota were Democrats, and police indicated the suspect had expressed far right political views online prior to the assassinations. 

Political violence has a long history in the United States. From the assassination of President Lincoln just after the Civil War, to the bombing of U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer’s house in 1919, to the assassination of JFK, political officials have long been targets for domestic terrorists.  Political violence isn’t limited to any one political ideology, as violent attacks have been carried out for a variety of different political reasons throughout U.S. history.

In 2017, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) was shot during a Republican baseball practice in Virginia by an attacker motivated by anger toward Trump and other GOP lawmakers. In 2020, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Michigan) was the target of a kidnapping plot by anti-government extremists.

The Minnesota shootings are only the most recent examples of politically motivated violence, and it will likely not be the last. According to the Brookings Institute, nearly a quarter of Americans believe that ‘true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.’ President Trump issued a statement from the White House saying, ‘such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America.’

Two days after the Minnesota lawmakers were targeted, the manhunt for the suspect continues. As of Sunday, law enforcement indicated they had located a vehicle belonging to the suspect just a few miles southwest of Minneapolis, but by Sunday afternoon no arrests had been made. 

How it Affects You

Political violence is more than just an attack on elected officials, it is an attack on the entire democratic process. Killing individuals does not usually kill the ideas those individuals believed in; if anything, political assassinations usually make fellow supporters believe in those ideas even more. So not only are such acts illegal and immoral, they also tend to be ineffective.