Two Minnesota Democrats and spouses were shot by a man posing as a police officer early Saturday morning. The gunman is still at large.
Police issued a shelter-in-place alert after a Democratic Senator, Representative, and their spouses were shot in what Governor Tim Walz called “politically motivated assassinations.”
Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were both killed and Senator John Hoffman and his wife injured.
Governor Tim Walz expressed his condolences during a press conference, where he called the shootings “politically motivated attacks.”
From reporting by The Guardian:
The gunman is still at large, law enforcement said on Saturday, and the city of Brooklyn Park still on a shelter-in-place order. The shooter was impersonating a police officer, dressed in a uniform that would appear to be real to most people, police said.
“They did drive a vehicle that looked exactly like an SUV squad car,” Brooklyn Park’s police chief, Mark Bruley, said at a press conference. “It was equipped with lights, emergency lights, that looked exactly like a police vehicle, and yes, they were wearing a vest with taser, other equipment, a badge very similar to mine, that no question, if they were in this room, you would assume that they are a police officer.”
The man had a list of other lawmakers and officials in the vehicle police searched, and alerts were sent out to take action and provide security to others, Bruley said.
“There was a list of individuals, and the individuals that were targeted in this situation were on that list,” said Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Minnesota bureau of criminal apprehension. He added that it was “far too early in the investigation” to provide a motive or assess whether the victims were targeted for their political affiliation, but that he believes the state will be able to provide more information on the motivation behind the attacks as the investigation unfolds.
“We’re here today because an unspeakable tragedy has unfolded in Minnesota,” Walz said. “My good friend and colleague, Speaker Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed early this morning in what appears to be a politically motivated assassination. Our state lost a great leader, and I lost the dearest of friends.”
This is a developing story that will be updated as the investigation unfolds.
Let’s hope this jars Republicans in Congress and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem enough to tone down the rhetoric. Comments the Secretary made during hervoress conference in Los Angeles were extremely troubling.
She told the press they were there to “liberate” the citizens from the “Socialist” Governor and Mayor.
There have been far too many death threats and violent assaults carried out by far-right extremists at this point that something needs to change immediately, the Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro and his family were almost killed recently when a man set fire to their home as they slept.
