(Bloomberg) — A manhunt was under way Saturday for a suspect who shot two Democratic Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses and carried a manifesto listing other politicians and abortion providers in the state.
“No King” protests against the Trump administration starting around the rest of the US were canceled across Minnesota and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle condemned the eruption of political violence.
Democratic House leader Melissa Hortman, 55, and her husband, Mark, were both shot and killed at their home by a man impersonating a law-enforcement officer, down to a vehicle that looked like a cruiser with lights and sirens, state authorities said. The suspect fled the Hortmans’ house on foot.
State Senator John Hoffman, 60, and his wife, Yvette, were wounded in an earlier shooting, also at their home, authorities said.
Police were searching for Vance Luther Boelter, who left a suspected hit list in his car that included several Minnesota politicians and abortion providers in the state, according to a government background document obtained by Bloomberg News. The politicians on the target list now have extra security, Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley told reporters. Abortion is legal in Minnesota.
President Donald Trump said he had been briefed. “Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America,” he said in a social post.
“An unspeakable tragedy has unfolded in Minnesota,” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told a news conference.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI were investigating and will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law, Trump said.
Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2024, called on Americans to settle their differences peacefully.
“We must all, in Minnesota and across the country, stand against all forms of political violence,” he said.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer condemned political extremism.
The shootings, Schumer said, were “acts of political extremism and an assault on our democracy itself.”
Republican US Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota also expressed horror at the attack.
“No public official — or any American — should fear for their safety in their own home, and we condemn this despicable act of political violence.”
Political tensions across the US have increased with Trump scheduled to hold a large military parade in Washington on Saturday evening.
–With assistance from Billy House.
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