Reaction to shootings of MN legislators: ‘This is a stunning act of violence,' says Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and her spouse were fatally shot in their home, authorities say; Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlain, and his spouse were also shot in their homes.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Metro Transit also provided logistical updates in this developing situation:
U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., told Minnesota Public Radio that she saw Hortman and Hoffman at the DFL's Humphrey-Mondale dinner on Friday night.
Hours after the dinner, she posted her reaction to the shootings:
'This morning Minnesota woke up to news of a brutal act of violence targeting public servants,' Smith stated on X before the fatalities were announced. 'I am heartbroken to learn that our Speaker Melissa Hortman, Sen. John Hoffman and their spouses have been shot. I've worked closely with these fine legislators for many years. Archie and I are grateful for the incredible response of law enforcement and hope that everyone will be safe today.'
'This is a stunning act of violence,' U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., stated via X early Saturday. 'I'm thankful for all the law enforcement who are responding in real time. My prayers are with the Hortman and Hoffman families. Both legislators are close friends and devoted to their families and public service.'
'I am devastated to hear of the targeted shootings of State Senator John Hoffman and House Speaker Melissa Hortman,' said U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., in a statement on X. 'They are great public servants and friends. And today's news is shocking. I am closely monitoring the situation this morning, and Cheryl and I are keeping their families, colleagues and loved ones in our prayers. I'm grateful to law enforcement and first responders for their ongoing work.'
'This is horrifying,' stated U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach, a Republican, on X. 'As we learn more details, I'm praying for the victims and their families and hope law enforcement is able to find the attacker quickly.'
'I am horrified by the evil attack that took place overnight, and heartbroken beyond words by the loss of Speaker-Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark,' said Minnesota House Speaker Rep. Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, in a statement. 'With the law enforcement response ongoing and details still emerging, I will simply ask all Minnesotans to please lift up in prayer the victims of this horrific attack, as well as the law enforcement personnel still working to apprehend the perpetrator.'
'My heart is broken over the events that unfolded overnight and the loss of life, security, and peace that we are all feeling right now,' said Minnesota State Sen. Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks. 'The families of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and Senator John Hoffman are in my prayers. Senate Republicans are unified in our condemnation of this brazen act of violence. We thank law enforcement and Capitol Security for their coordinated effort responding to the threat and delivering justice.'
'I'm just learning of the events that took place last night due to getting a safety alert for elected officials,' said Mayor Zach Lindstrom of Mounds View via Facebook. 'I cannot emphasize enough that this is not ok. Any type of violence against elected officials is not ok. Any type of violence against other people is not ok … For those going out to protest today please do it safely and if something looks off say something we do not need anyone else to get hurt.'
'I've activated the State Emergency Operations Center,' Gov. Tim Walz stated on X on Saturday morning. 'Local law enforcement in Champlin and Brooklyn Park have the full resources of the State of Minnesota behind them. We are monitoring the situation closely and will share more information soon.'
Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, a Democrat who survived a politically motivated shooting in Arizona in 2011, reacted to the news out of Minnesota on Saturday:
'I am horrified and heartbroken by last night's attack on two patriotic public servants,' Giffords stated on X. 'Melissa, John and their entire families are in my prayers today as we await more information. I hope law enforcement can quickly find those responsible and bring them to justice.
'My family and I know the horror of a targeted shooting all too well. An attack against lawmakers is an attack on American democracy itself. Leaders must speak out and condemn the fomenting violent extremism that threatens everything this country stands for.'
While the Metro Transit's B Line is still making its debut on Saturday, a rapid transit line replacing Route 21, the related festivities will not happen as scheduled.
'METRO B Line opening day festivities have been canceled after receiving reports of an evolving public safety situation,' Metro Transit reported on X on Saturday morning. 'All bus and train service will continue as scheduled. We urge you to rely on the Department of Public Safety for the latest updates.'
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Rep. Melissa Hortman and husband killed; Sen. John Hoffman and wife also shot
St. Paul woman asks help to find ex missing while climbing Andes in Peru
Judge acquits former Bethel football player in 2018 university sexual assault case
Minnesota's election safeguards stopped a voter fraud scheme in its tracks, secretary of state says
St. Paul police: Driver who struck three officers arrested
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
5 minutes ago
- New York Post
GOP blasts ‘fearmongering' Ocasio-Cortez for mocking Stefanik at North Country stop: ‘AOC is beyond parody'
PLATTSBURGH, NY – Republicans are accusing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of 'fearmongering' during a stop in Rep. Elise Stefanik's upstate district — where she said the congresswoman is 'not welcome here anymore.' The lefty Big Apple pol quickly jumped into politics at a Plattsburgh town-hall event advertised as a response to President Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' mocking Stefanik for taking a farewell tour of the district when she thought she was about to become the US ambassador to the United Nations. 4 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaking at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago at the United Center on August 19, 2024. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post Advertisement 'Elise did her farewell tour, and I think it's time to finish the job,' AOC yelled to a cheering crowd at the historic Strand Theater. 'Let's show her the door. She's not welcome here anymore,' AOC said on the stage nearly 300 miles away from her own district in The Bronx and Queens. Stefanik — whose ambassador nomination was yanked by President Trump because he was worried a Dem could fill her House seat — is now running for governor. Advertisement 4 Rep. Elise Stefanik leaving a House Republican Conference meeting with President Donald Trump on the budget reconciliation bill. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images 'AOC and [Dem North Country Rep.] Paul Tonko may love trying to tax and spend their own constituents to death, but that doesn't mean they should come to the North Country and peddle the same, tired failing Democrat agenda,' Plattsburgh state Sen. Dan Stec (R-Warren) told The Post. 'Rather than continuing to spread disinformation and fearmongering over President Trump's historically significant legislative achievement, they should be telling Kathy Hochul and legislative Democrats to rein in Albany's bloated state budget,' he said. Other top GOPers laughed off Ocasio-Cortez's visit. Advertisement 4 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a House Committee meeting on Capitol Hill on May 13, 2025. Getty Images 'As usual, AOC is beyond parody. Unlike AOC, a suburbanite cosplaying as a girl from The Bronx, Elise Stefanik is actually from her district,' a rep for the New York Republican Committee told The Post — taking a jab at Ocasio-Cortez for famously claiming to be a 'Bronx girl' in a recent spat with Trump even though she grew up in Westchester County. 'The North County is Elise Country, and it's Trump Country – and it'll stay that way,' the GOP representative said. AOC, dressed in a white button down shirt and black cuffed pants for the event, professed to love the Adirondacks and claimed she was an avid backpacker. Advertisement 4 Rep. Elise Stefanik speaking at a House Committee hearing at Capitol Hill on July 15, 2025. AP 'The Republican Party will never recover from this,' Erie County GOP Chair Michael Kracker quipped on X. A rep for Stefanik, asked by The Post if she had any response to AOC saying she's not welcome in her own district, said in a statement, 'Thank you for the political gift of a radical Far Left Socialist's visit to the North Country. 'It's like pouring jet fuel on Elise Stefanik's strong support in Upstate New York,' the statement read. The event was co-hosted by Tonko, who hailed his colleague 'Alex' as a figurehead of the Democratic party. 'They say, 'Well, she's the future of the party.' I say, 'She's the today of the party,' ' Tonko said.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
State Sen. Omar Fateh endorsed for mayor by Minneapolis DFL
The Brief The Minneapolis DFL endorsed Minnesota State Senator Omar Fateh for mayor. There are a total of five candidates currently running for Minneapolis mayor. Mayor Jacob Frey's campaign criticized the "extremely flawed and irregular conduct" of the convention. MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - State Senator Omar Fateh won the Minneapolis DFL endorsement for mayor, challenging Mayor Jacob Frey, who has served as mayor since 2018. Minneapolis race for mayor Big picture view Fateh won the endorsement over four other candidates at the DFL convention on Saturday night, including current Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. The convention was initially planned to happen at North High School, but organizers moved it to Target Center to make space for the 800 delegates and the 800 alternates. This won Fateh the party's symbolic vote of confidence, as well as volunteer power, to put toward his efforts to win the race. DFL endorses State Sen. Omar Fateh What they're saying State Sen. Fateh released the following statement: "This endorsement is a message that Minneapolis residents are done with broken promises, vetoes and politics as usual. It is a mandate to build a city that works for all of us." Mayor Frey responds What they're saying Mayor Jacob Frey's campaign released a statement after the vote that said, "This election should be decided by the entire city rather than the small group of people who became delegates, particularly in light of the extremely flawed and irregular conduct of this convention. Voters will now have a clear choice between the records and leadership of Sen. Fateh and Mayor Frey. We look forward to taking our vision to the voters in November." If successful, this would be Mayor Frey's third term in office. The Source This story uses information gathered at the Minneapolis DFL convention, statements from State Senator Omar Fateh and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Solve the daily Crossword
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
GOP push behind Trump agenda has Congress in an uproar
Advertisement And that was just last week. Veteran lawmakers said that the level of vitriol and dysfunction in the Capitol had reached a fever pitch. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'It is bad — really bad,' Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said when asked to assess the mood on Capitol Hill. 'There's a level of frustration. How do we get back to doing our jobs?' Republicans have achieved hard-won legislative victories, but those have come at a cost, setting the stage for a meltdown that has, among other things, raised the prospects of a government shutdown this fall. Some GOP lawmakers are feeling squeezed, while Democrats, outraged that the White House is shredding funding agreements and doling out money however it wants, are threatening to abandon a tradition of bipartisan spending deals. Advertisement 'I want to warn my colleagues once again: If you keep going down this path, you are going to further undermine our bipartisan process,' said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. 'The more bridges you burn, the fewer paths you leave to get things done.' Her comments came as all but two Republicans banded together to push through legislation around 1 a.m. Friday allowing the Trump administration to cancel $9 billion in previously approved spending on foreign aid and public broadcasting. Murkowski, one of the two opponents in her party, said the measure was an unacceptable breach of congressional spending power. It was not just the spending divide that was inciting tumult on Capitol Hill. In a lengthy session Thursday evening, Democrats and Republicans on the powerful House Rules Committee engaged in nasty back-and-forth over the rising clamor for Congress to vote on releasing criminal files in the investigation of Epstein, who died by suicide in a federal jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. That morning, Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee had stormed out of a meeting in protest after Senator Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who leads the panel, cut off debate and forced a committee vote on the disputed judicial nomination of Emil Bove. Bove, a Justice Department official and former defense attorney for Trump, is up for an influential post on a federal appeals court that encompasses Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. He has been accused by a former Justice Department colleague of declaring a willingness to defy court orders on immigration, a charge Bove has disputed. Advertisement Democrats wanted more time to examine the nomination. But Grassley forged ahead despite those demands, ramming the approval through in one of a series of Republican-only votes. Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, implored him to stop, accusing the chair of 'an abuse of power.' The two had worked closely in the past on criminal justice issues. 'To me, it is a president who has such a thrall over the Republicans in the Senate that he could get them to surrender not just their power, but their constitutional obligations,' Booker said after the blowup, adding that Republicans were relinquishing their ability to provide a check on White House nominees. Grassley dismissed the complaints, claiming Democrats had executed 'a political hit job' on Bove. He said Democrats had shut down Republican members of the committee in the past, when they held the gavel in the majority. 'This is not unprecedented — either the walking away or what we did as a majority,' Grassley said. 'It has happened before, and we have to move things along.' Russell T. Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget and the chief architect of a campaign to pry spending power away from Congress, exacerbated tensions on Capitol Hill. He told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast that there needed to be less bipartisanship around federal spending — not a sentiment typically heard on Capitol Hill. He also reiterated his contention that spending levels set by Congress were an advisory ceiling, not a floor. His commentary infuriated Democrats already bristling at the $9 billion in added cuts — the first approved by Congress in decades under a special procedure that allows the president to cancel spending. Advertisement 'He wants to destroy,' Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, the minority leader, said as he called for Trump to fire Vought. 'Destroy the way that Congress works, destroy the balance of power and upend our entire Constitution. Russell Vought doesn't believe in this democracy.' Vought's comments could complicate efforts by Republicans and Democrats to work out spending levels for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Democrats said that his argument destroyed any incentive for them to strike deals, since he made clear the White House would seek to unravel them later with an assist from Senate Republicans. A test vote in the Senate on the first of the annual spending bills is scheduled for Tuesday. 'That just profoundly undermined the stability and purpose of a bipartisan appropriations process,' Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, a member of the Appropriations Committee, said of Vought's comments. Some lawmakers attributed the congressional edginess to lawmakers being wrung out from repeated all-night sessions to push through the Republican tax cut and domestic policy bill, and from late-night Senate debate over the additional cuts sought by the administration. 'A lot of this is people are just tired,' said Senator John Boozman, Republican of Arkansas. 'Hopefully this all blows over soon.' Some of the fights have occurred within Republican ranks. On Wednesday, an internal House Republican dispute over cryptocurrency legislation led to a usually routine process vote being held open for more than nine hours as leaders toiled to secure the necessary support. It was just the latest in a series of congressional records being set with extended floor fights and speeches. 'I am tired of making history,' Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Wednesday night. 'I just want a normal Congress.' Advertisement Given the intensity of the divisions so far and the potential momentous clashes ahead, normal seems out of the question. This article originally appeared in
