(Washington) A local elected representative of Minnesota and her husband were killed, and another elected official was injured on Saturday morning in an “act of political violence”, announced Tim Walz, the governor of this northern United States, adding that the suspect is on the run and actively sought.
Melissa Hortman and her husband “were killed by early shots this morning in what seems to be a politically motivated assassination,” said the governor in a press conference, adding that a second elected official and his wife, also targeted, were injured.
“It was a deliberate act of political violence,” added Tim Walz.
Photo taken from Melissa Hortman’s Facebook page
Melissa Hortman
The suspect, who appeared at their home dressed as a member of the police, is actively sought.
A “manhunt involving hundreds of police officers” is underway, announced at this press conference Mark Bruley, the chief of the Brooklyn Park police in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis.
Melissa Hortman was an elected representative of the Minnesota House of Representatives and was her former president.
A second elected official, the local senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, “were affected by many shots”, were operated on, and “we are reasonably optimistic about the fact that they will survive this assassination attempt,” said Tim Walz.
Photo taken from John Hoffman’s Facebook page
Senator John Hoffman
“A peaceful political discourse is at the foundation of our democracy. We do not settle our conflicts with pistol, “said the Governor, the Governor, a former package of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the November 2024 presidential election.
This attack on two elected officials comes in a tense political climate.
President Donald Trump, rare, mobilized thousands of soldiers from demonstrations against his migration policy in Los Angeles. And this Saturday, major demonstrations are organized to oppose the policy of the Republican president, when he owes him later in the day a rare military parade in Washington, the first for more than 30 years in Washington.
The United States has also recently undergone several targeted attacks against its political leaders. Donald Trump resumed an assassination attempt last July during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
In 2022, Nancy Pelosi’s husband, then Democratic head of the House of Representatives, had been attacked with a hammer at his home in California.
