A slain Minnesota lawmaker's beloved dog, Gilbert, stays with her as she and her spouse lie in state
Gilbert was with his family when a gunman murdered two of his family members, a prominent Minnesota legislator and her husband, and the golden retriever was beside them as they lay in state Friday at the state Capitol.
He is all but certainly the first dog to receive the honor, having been put down after being badly injured in the attack. There is no record of any other non-human ever lying in state, and the late state Rep. Melissa Hortman, the state House's top Democrat and a former speaker, is the first woman. The state previously granted the honor to 19 men, including a vice president, a U.S. secretary of state, U.S. senators, governors and a Civil War veteran, according to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.
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CTV News
29 minutes ago
- CTV News
Biden to attend funeral for former Minnesota House Speaker Hortman, who was killed in shooting
Gov. Tim Walz and his wife Gwen Walz walk into the rotunda to pay their respect to former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, who will lie in state with her husband, Mark, and their golden retriever, Gilbert at the Minnesota Capitol rotunda on Friday, June 17, 2025 in St. Paul, Minn. (Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP) MINNEAPOLIS — Former U.S. president Joe Biden and former U.S. vice president Kamala Harris will join the mourners Saturday at the funeral for former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, who was killed in a pair of attacks that authorities have called an assassination and that also left her husband dead and a state senator and his wife seriously wounded. Biden also paid his respects Friday as Hortman, her husband, Mark, and their golden retriever, Gilbert, lay in state in the Minnesota Capitol rotunda in St. Paul, a few hours after the man charged with killing them while disguised as a police officer June 14 made a brief court appearance in a suicide prevention suit. The service The couple's private funeral, at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis, is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday. It will be livestreamed on the Department of Public Safety's YouTube channel. Neither Biden nor Harris is expected to speak. Harris expressed her condolences earlier this week to Hortman's adult children, and spoke with Gov. Tim Walz, her running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket, who extended an invitation on behalf of the Hortman family, her office said. The scene at the Capitol Hortman, a Democrat, was the first woman and one of fewer than 20 Minnesotans to lay in state at the Capitol. It was the first time a couple has been accorded the honor, and the first for a dog. Gilbert was seriously wounded in the attack and had to be euthanized. The Hortmans' caskets and the dog's urn were arranged in the center of the rotunda, under the Capitol dome, with law enforcement officers keeping watch as thousands of people filed by. Many fought back tears as they left. Among the first to pay their respects were Walz, who has called Hortman his closest political ally, and his wife, Gwen. Biden, a Catholic, visited later in the afternoon, walking up to the velvet rope in front of the caskets, making the sign of the cross and spending a few moments by himself in silence. He then took a knee briefly, got up, made the sign of the cross again and walked off to greet people waiting in the wings of the rotunda. Lisa Greene, who lives in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park like Hortman did, but in a different House district, said she came to the Capitol because she had so much respect for the former speaker. 'She was just amazing. Amazing woman. And I was just so proud that she represented the city that I lived in,' Greene said in a voice choked with emotion. 'She was such a leader. She could bring people together. She was so accessible. I mean, she was friendly, you could talk to her.' But, she went on to say admiringly, Hortman was also 'a boss.' 'She just knew what she was doing and she could just make things happen,' she said. A hearing takes a twist The man accused of killing the Hortmans at their home and wounding Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, at their home in nearby Champlin, made a short court appearance Friday for what the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Joseph Thompson, has called 'a political assassination.' Vance Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, surrendered near his home the night of June 15 after what authorities called the largest search in Minnesota history. An unshaven Boelter was brought in wearing just a green padded suicide prevention suit and orange slippers. Federal defender Manny Atwal asked Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko to continue the hearing until Thursday. He agreed. She said Boelter has been sleep deprived while on suicide watch in the Sherburne County Jail, and that it has been difficult to communicate with him as a result. 'Your honor, I haven't really slept in about 12 to 14 days,' Boelter told the judge. And he denied being suicidal. 'I've never been suicidal and I am not suicidal now.' Atwal told the court that Boelter had been in what's known as a 'Gumby suit,' without undergarments, ever since his transfer to the jail after his first court appearance on June 16. She said the lights are on in his area 24 hours a day, doors slam frequently, the inmate in the next cell spreads feces on the walls and the smell drifts to Boelter's cell. The attorney said transferring him to segregation instead, and giving him a normal jail uniform, would let him get some sleep, restore some dignity and let him communicate better. The case continues Boelter did not enter a plea. Prosecutors need to secure a grand jury indictment first. According to the federal complaint, police video shows Boelter outside the Hortmans' home and captures the sound of gunfire. And it says security video shows Boelter approaching the front doors of two other lawmakers' homes. His lawyers have declined to comment on the charges, which could carry the federal death penalty. Thompson said last week that no decision has been made. Minnesota abolished its death penalty in 1911. Boelter also faces separate murder and attempted murder charges in state court that could carry life without parole. Friends have described Boelter as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views. But prosecutors have declined so far to speculate on a motive. Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press
Winnipeg Free Press
8 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Biden to attend funeral for former Minnesota House Speaker Hortman, who was killed in shooting
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris will join the mourners Saturday at the funeral for former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, who was killed in a pair of attacks that authorities have called an assassination and that also left her husband dead and a state senator and his wife seriously wounded. Biden also paid his respects Friday as Hortman, her husband, Mark, and their golden retriever, Gilbert, lay in state in the Minnesota Capitol rotunda in St. Paul, a few hours after the man charged with killing them while disguised as a police officer June 14 made a brief court appearance in a suicide prevention suit. The service The couple's private funeral, at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis, is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday. It will be livestreamed on the Department of Public Safety's YouTube channel. Neither Biden nor Harris is expected to speak. Harris expressed her condolences earlier this week to Hortman's adult children, and spoke with Gov. Tim Walz, her running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket, who extended an invitation on behalf of the Hortman family, her office said. The scene at the Capitol Hortman, a Democrat, was the first woman and one of fewer than 20 Minnesotans to lay in state at the Capitol. It was the first time a couple has been accorded the honor, and the first for a dog. Gilbert was seriously wounded in the attack and had to be euthanized. The Hortmans' caskets and the dog's urn were arranged in the center of the rotunda, under the Capitol dome, with law enforcement officers keeping watch as thousands of people filed by. Many fought back tears as they left. Among the first to pay their respects were Walz, who has called Hortman his closest political ally, and his wife, Gwen. Biden, a Catholic, visited later in the afternoon, walking up to the velvet rope in front of the caskets, making the sign of the cross and spending a few moments by himself in silence. He then took a knee briefly, got up, made the sign of the cross again and walked off to greet people waiting in the wings of the rotunda. Lisa Greene, who lives in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park like Hortman did, but in a different House district, said she came to the Capitol because she had so much respect for the former speaker. 'She was just amazing. Amazing woman. And I was just so proud that she represented the city that I lived in,' Greene said in a voice choked with emotion. 'She was such a leader. She could bring people together. She was so accessible. I mean, she was friendly, you could talk to her.' But, she went on to say admiringly, Hortman was also 'a boss.' 'She just knew what she was doing and she could just make things happen,' she said. A hearing takes a twist The man accused of killing the Hortmans at their home and wounding Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, at their home in nearby Champlin, made a short court appearance Friday for what the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Joseph Thompson, has called 'a political assassination.' Vance Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, surrendered near his home the night of June 15 after what authorities called the largest search in Minnesota history. An unshaven Boelter was brought in wearing just a green padded suicide prevention suit and orange slippers. Federal defender Manny Atwal asked Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko to continue the hearing until Thursday. He agreed. She said Boelter has been sleep deprived while on suicide watch in the Sherburne County Jail, and that it has been difficult to communicate with him as a result. 'Your honor, I haven't really slept in about 12 to 14 days,' Boelter told the judge. And he denied being suicidal. 'I've never been suicidal and I am not suicidal now.' Atwal told the court that Boelter had been in what's known as a 'Gumby suit,' without undergarments, ever since his transfer to the jail after his first court appearance on June 16. She said the lights are on in his area 24 hours a day, doors slam frequently, the inmate in the next cell spreads feces on the walls and the smell drifts to Boelter's cell. The attorney said transferring him to segregation instead, and giving him a normal jail uniform, would let him get some sleep, restore some dignity and let him communicate better. The case continues Boelter did not enter a plea. Prosecutors need to secure a grand jury indictment first. According to the federal complaint, police video shows Boelter outside the Hortmans' home and captures the sound of gunfire. And it says security video shows Boelter approaching the front doors of two other lawmakers' homes. His lawyers have declined to comment on the charges, which could carry the federal death penalty. Thompson said last week that no decision has been made. Minnesota abolished its death penalty in 1911. Boelter also faces separate murder and attempted murder charges in state court that could carry life without parole. Friends have described Boelter as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views. But prosecutors have declined so far to speculate on a motive.
National Observer
12 hours ago
- National Observer
Eby says explosive 'deliberately' set outside BC minister's office
An explosive device damaged and blasted open the front door of British Columbia Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma's office on Friday morning, police said, and they are investigating whether the "jarring incident" was linked to an earlier blast nearby. While politicians decried the explosion at Ma's constituency office in North Vancouver — with interim federal NDP leader Don Davies calling it a "blatant act of terror"— neither Ma nor Cpl. Mansoor Sahak with North Vancouver RCMP gave any indication of the possible motive. "I don't know if it's politically motivated. We're not calling it that, but we're investigating all possible avenues at this point," Sahak told a news briefing. Sahak said the 4:15 a.m. blast "breached the door and damaged the door frame." He said the blast was "indicative of an explosive device detonation" and no one was injured. 'This was a jarring incident that undoubtedly startled sleeping residents in the area,' said Sahak. Scorch marks were visible on the door at the office where there was a heavy police presence Friday afternoon. Ma said in statement that she was "grateful for the outpouring of support from community members and people across B.C., including MLAs from all sides of the House." "My staff, my family, and I are okay," Ma said. She said police are taking the incident seriously, and she had "full confidence in their ability to conduct a thorough investigation." Ma's constituency office on West Esplanade Street, not far from the Lonsdale Quay Seabus station, was cordoned off with police tape as investigators examined the damaged door. People who work in the building said Friday afternoon they were unaware of what occurred, and building management sent out an email about media coverage of the reported explosion without any additional information. Sahak said a previous explosion had been heard in the nearby 100 block of West 1st Avenue at 2:45 a.m. and police were looking into whether the blasts were connected. But no residue of the earlier explosion was found and Sahak said it wasn't known "if it was an explosive device or a firecracker or anything." Premier David Eby said police told him an explosive device had been "deliberately set" at Ma's office. He said the incident was "profoundly concerning" and struck at the heart of how elected officials performed their duties. "I am deeply concerned about trend lines, which basically mean an increasing separation of elected officials from the people they're meant to serve, which doesn't benefit anybody at all," Eby told an unrelated news conference. Eby said a "routine safety review" was being conducted for all MLA offices across the province, through the legislature's Sergeant-at-Arms. Sahak said police were seeking witnesses who were in North Vancouver near West Esplanade Avenue or who may have captured dashcam or CCTV footage from 2:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. on Friday. Ma said all meetings and appointments at the office had been cancelled for the day. "Thankfully, nobody was injured, but incidents like this can be quite frightening," she wrote. Ma didn't describe the incident and said that due to the active police investigation, she would not be able to provide more details about what happened, although she wanted to thank the officers who responded. "I appreciate the concern expressed by community members and am grateful to serve such a caring and compassionate community," she said. NDP leader Davies said on social media that he was "deeply alarmed" by the incident. "This blatant act of terror is an affront to democracy and has no place in our nation. We are grateful no one was hurt and hope those responsible are apprehended as soon as possible," Davies wrote. B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said on social media that all members of the legislature "must stand with NDP MLA Bowinn Ma and her constituency office staff." "The idea that someone would set off a device to damage or somehow threaten an MLA's (constituency) office is deeply concerning," he said. City of North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan said in a statement that the explosion "understandably caused concern in our community and I know residents may feel alarmed and uneasy. " She said the city is working with police as they investigate "all possible avenues," and said she is grateful to people who called police to report the blast.
