Minnesota shootings are part of a spiraling of political violence

WASHINGTON The shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers also led to the recovery of a manifesto that law enforcement officers say listed the names of other lawmakers and functionaries from across the country as the nation entered a dangerous phase of political violence State Rep Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were killed in the attack at their Champlin home early Saturday morning after opening their door to the shooter who was dressed as a police officer State Sen John A Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot multiple times at their house in Champlin but remained alive as of Saturday morning Both casualties were DFLers Sen Tina Smith also a Democrat explained she was also on a target list revealed by police Smith s office announced she was in Minnesota after the Humphrey-Mondale Dinner a DFL benefit event that Hortman and Hoffman also attended Friday evening Gov Tim Walz called the shootings an act of targeted political violence as did other society functionaries Let me be clear this act of targeted political violence was an attack on everything we stand for as a democracy U S Sen Amy Klobuchar D-Minn mentioned in an emailed comment The Associated Press identified the shooter as Vance Boelter of Green Isle a small town southwest of the Twin Cities The AP s reporting was from two people familiar with the matter who could not publicly discuss details of the ongoing research and spoke on condition of anonymity Related In act of political violence DFL leader Melissa Hortman shot and killed in targeted shooting U S Rep Tom Emmer R- th District also revealed the shootings were politically motivated No general official or any American should fear for their safety in their own home and we condemn this despicable act of political violence Emmer posted on X The entire Minnesota congressional delegation which is rarely in agreement put out a joint comment condemning the shooting So did a bipartisan group of Minnesota state lawmakers House Speaker Lisa Demuth R-Cold Spring revealed I condemn in the strongest attainable way the violence that took Melissa and Mark from us and I call on every Minnesotan to reject it Political violence is abhorrent and unacceptable and my prayers are with the men and women in law enforcement who are working to stop this evil and bring the perpetrator to justice Demuth revealed All of Minnesota s state lawmakers were given police protection Sen Mark Johnson the Republican minority leader in the Minnesota Senate reported he has had up to three law enforcement cars parked outside his home Johnson described MinnPost that law enforcement in Minnesota is very aware of the risks that are out there As a legislator you are inevitably subject to a certain degree of threats There s invariably the awareness of the possibility he revealed Johnson also disclosed preponderance legislators working on ordinance throughout their career have received threats For the majority of part our Capitol assurance is very good in terms of assessing the exposure he added The contents of the manifesto were not disclosed by police who detected the document in a police-like SUV abandoned at the Hortmans home after Brooklyn Park police decided to check on the lawmaker after they responded to Hoffman s shooting Officers unveiled the shooter still on the scene and exchanged gunfire but the suspect escaped on foot Police commented those identified in the manifesto have been alerted and were providing safety where necessary On Saturday morning Walz activated the Emergency Operations Center as lawmakers across the state including members of Congress have been put on alert The U S Capitol Police also noted it has moved to protect the nation s federal lawmakers The United States Capitol Police is aware of the violence targeting state lawmakers in Minnesota it disclosed in a report We have been working with our federal state and local partners For safety reasons we cannot provide specific details about our assurance posture The shooting took place ahead of nation-wide No Kings protests in response to President Donald Trump s military parade in Washington and after California Sen Alex Padilla also a Democrat was violently wrestled to the ground and handcuffed by assurance personnel at a Department of Homeland Shield press conference in Los Angeles this week A spiraling of political violence Walz explained that out of an abundance of caution his Department of Constituents Safety is recommending that people should not attend any political rallies including No Kings events until the shooter is apprehended Police stated they exposed pamphlets about Minnesota s rally in the suspect s car Trump decried the shootings but didn t say they were politically motivated Our Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI are probing the situation and they will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law the president declared in a comment Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America God Bless the great people of Minnesota a truly great place Robert A Pape a professor of political science at the University of Chicago and an expert on political violence mentioned the shootings in Minnesota are part of a larger national trend America has had low levels of political violence but in the last five years there has been a historical moment in political violence Pape noted We are a tinderbox of a country The professor commented that such escalations happened in the s and s when there were rapid social changes and other factors like a broadening of economic inequality He also explained Trump who has fanned the flames of divisiveness in the nation is a symptom as much as a cause of the increase in political violence This is an era of violent populism Pape disclosed And the behavior of Trump and other politicians are on top of other things Pape mentioned neither Democratic nor Republican representatives are doing enough to condemn violence by their constituents and he included the violence that has broken out at mainly peaceful protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE as actions Democrats should condemn Both sides need to condemn their own constituents he stated MinnPost state establishment reporter Matthew Blake contributed to this account The post Minnesota shootings are part of a spiraling of political violence appeared first on MinnPost