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.
PEN America warns of rise in books ‘systematically removed from school libraries’
A new report says that the number of books being challenged or removed from public schools across the country has risen exponentially in the past two years. A Clockwork Orange tops their list.
Greetings from Kyiv, where you might stumble across Zelenskyy taking a stroll
Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.
Where things stand with Trump’s National Guard deployments
The Trump administration has deployed or threatened to deploy National Guard troops in more than half a dozen American cities that it says are crime ridden.
Kimmel and Colbert appear as guests on each other’s shows
On Tuesday night, in New York City, they united in a special talk show crossover of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS.
A GOP push to restrict voting by overseas U.S. citizens continues before 2026 midterms
Republican officials are pushing for more voting restrictions on U.S. citizens who were born abroad and have never lived in the country, after unsuccessfully challenging their ballots in 2024.
Poll: Agreement that political violence may be necessary to right the country grows
On hot button issues, a majority say children should be vaccinated; controlling gun violence is more important than gun rights; and Epstein files should be released, in a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.
