Slain Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman to be laid to rest in private funeral service

Mourners will gather on Saturday for the funeral of Melissa Hortman, the Minnesota lawmaker who was slain in a display of political violence that shocked the nation.

The private ceremony will be livestreamed on the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s YouTube page at 10:30 a.m. CT.

Hortman, a former Democratic speaker of the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed in their Brooklyn Park, Minn., home earlier this month in what law enforcement says was part of a planned string of attacks against dozens of state Democratic elected officials. The family dog, a golden retriever named Gilbert, was also gravely injured in the attacks and was later euthanized.

The three were laid in state at the Minnesota Capitol on Friday for members of the public to pay their respects.

Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot at their Champlin, Minn., home just miles away by the suspected gunman, but the pair survived, despite sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.

The man suspected of carrying out the killings, Vance Boelter, has been charged with stalking and murdering the Hortmans, and stalking and shooting the Hoffmans. Boetler is being held in federal custody.

In a statement on Thursday, Boelter’s wife, Jenny, sent her condolences on behalf of herself and her children to the Hortman and Hoffman families.

“We are absolutely shocked, heartbroken and completely blindsided. This violence does not at all align with our beliefs as a family,” Jenny Boelter said in a statement through her attorney.

“It is a betrayal of everything we hold true as tenets of our Christian faith,” she said.

Hortman’s assassination is one of the latest attacks on political figures in recent years. In April, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion was set ablaze while he and his family slept inside.

Last summer, President Trump was the target of two apparent assassination attempts during his run for the White House.

Research shows that Americans are more polarized today than they have been in decades, and threats against members of Congress have seen a spike.

To honor the Hortmans’ legacy, the couple’s two children, Sophie and Colin, suggested the community connect more with the people around them.

“The best way to honor our parents’ memory is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else,” they said.