Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman will be laid to rest alongside her husband on Saturday, weeks after she was killed in what’s been called a politically motivated assassination.
Hortman, a Democrat who served as the speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2019 until her slaying, and her husband, Mark Hortman, were shot and killed in their Brooklyn Park home on June 14.
Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, were also shot at their nearby home the same day. The Hoffmans survived the encounter.
Hortman, 55, her husband and their golden retriever, who was also killed in the attack, lay in state at the Minnesota Capitol rotunda on Friday. Hortman was the first woman to receive the honor at the state’s capitol building, drawing thousands of mourners.
The pair’s funeral brought together some of the nation’s most prominent politicians, including former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The private services will be livestreamed on YouTube.
The services before the burial were held at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis on Saturday morning.
Delivering a eulogy, Walz called the Hortmans personal friends and described Melissa Hortman as “the most consequential speaker in Minnesota history.”
“I know that in these times of this inexplicable, unexplainable tragedy, all of us are searching for some kind of meaning, some kind of lesson that we can learn to help ease our loss,” Walz said. “And maybe it is this moment where each of us can examine the way we work together, the way we talk about each other, the way we fight for things we care about, a moment when each of us can recommit to engaging in politics and life the way Mark and Melissa did: fiercely, enthusiastically, heartily, but without ever losing sight of our common humanity.”
Father Daniel Griffith, who led the proceedings, read an email from another clergyman that said, “Our nation is in need of deep healing.”
“Here in Minnesota, we have been the Ground Zero place, sadly, for racial injustice, the killing of George Floyd just miles from our church today. And now, we are the Ground Zero place for political violence and extremism,” Griffith said. “Both of these must be decried in the strongest possible terms, as they are respectively, of a threat to human dignity and indeed, our democracy.”
The Hortmans’ slayings were part of what authorities described as long list of planned political attacks.
Authorities said Vance Boelter, 57, the man charged in connection with the attacks, impersonated a law enforcement officer to carry out the shootings.
Officials said he approached the lawmakers’ homes wearing a vest, a blue long-sleeve shirt and what appeared to be a badge to gain access to the properties and throw the lawmakers off their guard.
The shootings prompted the largest manhunt in the state’s history, involving more than 200 law enforcement officers.
Authorities found Boelter, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, two days after the shootings occurred, armed and crawling in a field in a sparsely populated stretch of Minnesota, according to officials.
Officials said they found a notebook that belonged to Boelter with a hit list of other politicians, particularly those who have vocally supported abortion. The list included politicians from states beyond Minnesota, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska and Iowa, according to authorities.
Boelter’s wife spoke out about the attacks for the first time on Thursday.
“We are absolutely shocked, heartbroken and completely blindsided,” she said in a statement through her attorney. “This violence does not at all align with our beliefs as a family. It is a betrayal of everything we hold true as tenets of our Christian Faith. We are appalled and horrified by what occurred, and our hearts are incredibly heavy for the victims of the unfathomable tragedy.”
The United States has become more accustomed to acts of political violence in recent years.
In 2020, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was the subject of a kidnapping plot. Last year, President Donald Trump faced two assassination attempts while he was running for office. And in April, an attacker firebombed Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence, allegedly over his position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hortman’s slaying prompted a rare moment of unity among Democratic and Republican leaders, with the top members of both parties, including Trump, condemning the attacks.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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