Lawmakers on Sunday continued to reel from the shooting of two Democratic Minnesota state legislators in their homes that led to the death of one and her husband, contemplating a previously unthinkable world where democratically-elected representatives need full-time security details to protect them from the public.
“I don’t want to think that I have to a personal security detail everywhere I go, but I think we really have to look at the situation that we’re in,” Democratic Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith said Sunday on NBC News. “This is no way for our government to work when people, any number of us, feel this kind of threat.”
The state’s other U.S. Senator, Amy Klobuchar, directly addressed the increasingly toxic atmosphere around politics as she remembered state Rep. Melissa Hortman, who was killed in the attack.
“These are real people, and before you start ascribing motives or going after them online maybe you should think about Melissa Hortman’s life,” Klobuchar, a Democrat, said on CNN. “This is a person that did everything for the right reasons. Regardless of political parties, look at her face before you send out your next post.”
The attack that killed Hortman, her husband Mark and gravely wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife was a nightmare scenario for the thousands of Americans who serve as legislators across the 50 states and in Washington. They routinely attend public events with little or no security screening and live with their families in communities torn by the nation’s political divides.
The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information on the suspect, Vance Boelter, 57, who was the subject of a massive manhunt Sunday. The attacks amid a recent flurry of political violence that appears to be coming from all ideological corners.
U.S. Capitol Police increased security for Klobuchar and Smith following the attacks, which occurred early Saturday morning. Minnesota’s entire congressional delegation, both Republicans and Democrats, released a joint statement condemning the killings.
“Today we speak with one voice to express our outrage, grief, and condemnation of this horrible attack on public servants,” the statement said. “There is no place in our democracy for politically-motivated violence.”
“Nothing brings us together more than, you know, mourning for somebody else who’s in political life,” GOP Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said on NBC. “Republican or Democrats. You know, we come together about this.”
Paul said that he himself had been the victim of political violence when he was attacked by a neighbor in 2017, as well as at the Republican practice for the Congressional baseball game where a gunman severely injured several people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise.
Associated Press writer Gary Fields contributed reporting.
