Latest news with #DemocraticHouse
Axios
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Axios
Former President Biden joins mourners as Melissa Hortman lies in state
Former President Biden joined a steady stream of mourners who visited the Minnesota State Capitol Friday to pay their respects to slain former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. The big picture: The influential Democratic legislator, who was shot and killed alongside her husband at her home in what officials have called a politically motivated assassination, was the first woman to lie in state in Minnesota. Prosecutors say the attacks, which also left another state senator and his wife injured, were part of a broader plot by alleged gunman Vance Boelter to harm Democratic lawmakers. Zoom in: The line outside the State Capitol stretched the length of the Capitol lawn and around the block Friday afternoon, with hundreds waiting to enter at any given time. Gov. Tim Walz and his wife Gwen, who grew close to the Hortmans over his last six years in office, were among the first to attend the public viewing hours. Many visitors, including legislators from both parties, appeared overcome with emotion as they approached the wooden caskets adorned with flowers in the center of the Rotunda. An urn containing the remains of the Hortmans' golden retriever Gilbert, who was gravely injured in the attack and later euthanized, sat between the couple. Inside the room: Some mourners dressed in tribute to the longtime Democratic House Leader, wearing pins or shirts featuring her "LFG" — "Let's f***cking go — political rallying cry.
Politico
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Politico
Muslim Democrats ask leaders to denounce Islamophobic attacks on Zohran Mamdani
All four Muslim Democratic House members are denouncing 'racist smears' against Zohran Mamdani from lawmakers in both parties since his New York City mayoral primary win, according to a statement provided first to POLITICO. 'The vile, anti-Muslim and racist smears from our colleagues on both sides of the aisle attacking Zohran Mamdani cannot be met with silence. These hateful, Islamophobic, and racist tropes have become so entrenched and normalized in our politics,' said Reps. Andre Carson of Indiana, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Lateefah Simon of California in a statement. The lawmakers said that 'at a time when we are facing increased violence against elected officials, we cannot allow the attacks on Zohran Mamdani to continue' and asked for elected leaders to speak out on them. Mamdani, who would become New York's first Muslim mayor, has faced attacks from GOP lawmakers after his primary win this week. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) tied him to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) called for him to be deported, among others. The left was also concerned about since-clarified comments from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) about Mamdani's rhetoric about Israel. Critics of the democratic socialist have called some of his comments about Israel, including his defense of the phrase 'globalize the intifada,' antisemitic, which he's denied. The Muslim lawmakers have sought a more forceful pushback from their leaders to the GOP attacks and have privately approached Democratic leadership about doing so. Speaker Mike Johnson didn't answer a question from a reporter Friday asking him to respond to the remarks from Mace, Ogles and others.
Miami Herald
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Could political violence have a chilling effect on office seekers in Minnesota?
MINNEAPOLIS - After the shootings of state legislators and their family members, Minnesota DFL Chair Richard Carlbom feared that enthusiasm he was seeing among people interested in running for office would fade. But that wasn't what he found when he attended a DFL fish fry in northern Minnesota the Monday after the attacks. "The room was somber, but resolute," he said, noting one person told the crowd they planned to honor Democratic House Leader Melissa Hortman by running for the Legislature. "I hope that, in this moment, people will think carefully about what service means to them, what it means to their fellow Minnesotans, and ultimately choose to serve in the example that Melissa Hortman served for us all." Across the country, increased threats and harassment in recent years have had a chilling effect on local elected officials' willingness to engage in political activities, from running for re-election to working on controversial issues to attending public events, according to surveys by Princeton University's Bridging Divides Initiative and nonprofit CivicPulse. The assassination of Rep. Hortman and the shooting of Sen. John Hoffman this month was categorically different than threats and harassment. And while the attacks have made some people more determined to serve, it has also prompted officeholders, party officials and community members to wonder: In a state that has long prided itself on civic participation, who exactly will be willing to run for office? Elected officials say harassment has become an unfortunate but predictable part of public service - so common it often goes unreported. There are signs the problem is getting worse. Officeholders and potential candidates increasingly mention political violence and threats when talking to staff at the Center for American Women and Politics, said Kelly Dittmar, the center's director of research. While those issues are not new in the U.S., she said the internet makes divisiveness and danger more "in-your-face." Elected officials also seem to be more willing to talk about threats and harassment, particularly gender or race-focused threats, which is an important step to address the problem, Dittmar said. She pointed to congresswoman Pramila Jayapal - who had been threated by an armed man outside her Seattle home - sharing threatening voicemails in 2022 and U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley's staff talking about putting mugshots from Capitol police on their office wall so they knew the faces. But Dittmar worries those considering a bid for office may say, "It's not worthwhile." Already, politicians are operating in an environment where national and state polarization has made serving in local offices throughout Minnesota -which are nonpartisan and often come with low pay - more fraught. "We used to say all politics are local, but increasingly, we're starting to say that all politics are national," said Luke Fischer, the executive director of the League of Minnesota Cities. At the same time, local officials can sometimes find themselves the subject of withering national scrutiny, said Shannon Hiller, executive director of the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University, which studies political violence. In the last presidential election cycle, false claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, became a flashpoint, including in a presidential debate. In that environment, a "consistently high" baseline of threats has consequences for representative government, Hiller said. In fact, local officials - Democrats and Republicans report that threats affect their behavior in similar ways - are changing the way they interact with constituents because of the current political environment. Before the shootings of Hortman and Hoffman, there was little evidence that increased toxicity had dampened people's desire to seek office in Minnesota, said Cassondra Knudson, with the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office. "We haven't noticed any fewer candidates," she said, noting uncontested races are very uncommon and there are usually candidates from multiple parties running for seats in the November general election. And though it remains to be seen how the attacks will affect Minnesotans' willingness to run, there is little doubt it shifted the landscape for political hopefuls. While difficult to quantify, "it's hard not to to expect that this is going to have a deterring effect on people deciding to serve, and we do, of course, need people to serve in these roles," said Patricia Nauman, executive director of the Association of Metropolitan Municipalities, a group that represents cities in the seven-county metro. "It's the underpinnings of our government and our democracy." House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, echoed that sentiment: "I would say that this situation is going to cross everyone's mind." In addition to potentially affecting the number of people willing to run and serve, the violence could also affect the type of candidates, some officials said. Candidate recruitment, even at the most local level, is already a challenge for Greg Davis, chair of the Le Sueur/Scott County DFL who also serves on the board for Washington Township, a deep-red area where DFLers often get just over 30% of the vote. In the current environment, people who are willing to run sometimes fall on the "political fringes," both on the left and right, rather than representing the majority, Davis said, something he worries will only get more common going forward. Sen. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, shares that concern, saying the shootings could broaden partisan divides. "Now when it comes to people that are going to run, some people that are just regular citizens are now going to be disinclined to even think about it," he said. "That's going to bring in more of the people on the extreme side, and we desperately need more people with regular life experience." ------------ -Allison Kite and Nathaniel Minor of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story. ------------- Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Minnesota GOP leader slams activists for ‘too soon' protest against violent rhetoric outside of party's state headquarters
The Minnesota Republican Party has hit out at protesters picketing their state headquarters in Edina on Monday to accuse it of inflaming political violence and hatred with irresponsible rhetoric. The demonstration came just over a week after Democratic House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were shot dead inside their own home by a masked gunman, who went on to wound state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette before sparking a massive two-day manhunt that ended with the arrest of suspect Vance Boelter. Against that disturbing backdrop, Donna Bergstrom, Deputy Director of the Minnesota GOP, called the protesters 'reckless' and called on the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Governor Tim Walz to 'take responsibility for the climate their allies are creating.' 'I think it's just really disrespectful to be doing this at a time that comes so close to such horrific political violence,' Bergstrom said, appearing to blame the activists for the same toxic atmosphere they accuse her party of fostering. She further warned that their conduct risked making the GOP a target, claiming that someone had recently slashed the tires of her car. 'In recent weeks, the Minnesota GOP office has experienced vandalism and an alarming rise in online threats. Even interns have faced harassment from individuals physically showing up at the office,' a spokesperson told CBS News. Bergstrom acknowledged that the protesters had a First Amendment right to express their views, but suggested it was too soon after the slaying of the Hortmans for their current action and said it was wrong to picket a building in which local Republicans were not the only occupants. 'This just really is not the time and place for this to happen, and that people can certainly exercise their First Amendment rights, but really be respectful of other people and their rights also,' she said. Making the counter-argument, Drew Harmon of the political organization MN 50501 said of the shootings of which Boelter stands accused: 'What happened that day was not shocking because it's the culmination of decades of violent rhetoric finally being turned into action by somebody.' Dieu Do of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee agreed that the GOP had questions to answer over the tragedy: 'The background that we have on Vance and the alleged shooter of these incidents, it's very clear that his political views were Republican leaning and he was very anti-choice.' Right-wing news outlets and social media influencers were quick to allege that the suspect in the Hortman and Hoffman shootings was a liberal, despite his targeting Democrats, because a flyer for a nearby 'No Kings' protest against Donald Trump was found in his car and because he had been appointed to a non-partisan Workforce Development Board by both Walz and his predecessor, Mark Dayton. However, Boelter's roommate, David Carlson, told the press, 'He's not a Democrat. He would be offended if people called him a Democrat. He was a Trump supporter, he voted for Trump.' Do rejected Bergstrom's criticism of Monday's demonstrations, responding: 'If they think that our group of protesters, who are completely peaceful, are fanning the violence, then I would ask them what their party is doing.'
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Shontel Brown on list of suspected Minnesota shooter
(AP/WJW) — From a legislator in downtown Minneapolis to a veteran Ohio congresswoman, many lawmakers included in the suspected Minnesota gunman's list of targets have vowed not to bow down. Vance Boelter, 57, has been charged with federal murder and stalking, along with state charges, following a nearly two-day search that culminated in his capture in the woods near his home. Lawmaker killings prompt security increase in Ohio He is suspected of shooting and killing former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday. He is also accused of wounding Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. The dozens of politicians included in Boelter's writings were Democrats, according to acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson. About 45 were state and federal officials in Minnesota, while elected leaders in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin said they were also mentioned in the writings. Authorities have not provided a motive for the shootings. Manny Atwal, Boelter's lead attorney, declined to comment, saying the office just got the case. Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman's beloved dog also shot during attack, euthanized Ohio's own U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur's office said in a statement that her name was included in Boelter's writing but that it will not get in the way of her work 'to make life better for families across Northwest Ohio.' Here's what the statement said in full: Congresswoman Kaptur is exceedingly grateful to law enforcement for keeping our Great Lakes communities safe on several occasions over these past few years and for their work around the clock this weekend in Minnesota. Political extremism in America is cause for serious reflection and concern. The inclusion of Congresswoman Kaptur's name in the Minnesota suspect's writings is a matter better left for law enforcement and investigators — but it will not deter her work to make life better for families across Northwest Ohio. Uplifting those who she has the honor to serve has been her sole focus every single day she has served and nothing will deter her from doing so now. At this time out of respect to law enforcement working around the clock locally, and nationwide to keep law makers safe, we will not be providing further public comment on this matter. Additionally, U.S. Representative Shontel Brown said in a statement that her name was also recovered from the suspect's notes. She released the following statement: The politically motivated attacks targeting Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota were a horrific assault on our democracy and a heartbreaking tragedy for the families affected. My thoughts are with them—and with all who are shaken by this act of violence. I have been informed that my name appeared in evidence recovered from the suspect's notes. At the request of the U.S. Capitol Police, local law enforcement provided increased security at my home. I'm deeply grateful for their swift response and continued commitment to keeping public officials—and our communities—safe. This is a grim reminder of the growing threat public officials face—one that puts not just us, but our families, staff, and constituents at risk. I was swatted last year. Now my name is linked to another violent act. No one should feel unsafe simply for serving their community. The rise in violent rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and personal attacks is having real and dangerous consequences. Every leader—regardless of party—must speak out and stand against political violence in all its forms. On Wednesday, Brown spoke with FOX 8 News and said she is hopeful for the future. 'I am hopeful that because this incident occurred that we will be able to move forward with some standard policies and procedures on how to move forward with this without this escalating to a point where someone else's life is going to be lost,' Brown said. See more about the legislators included on the list right here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
