(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 state, adding that the suspect was on the run and actively sought.
President Donald Trump quickly denounced a “terrible” attack, his Minister of Justice insisting that “this horrible political violence will not be tolerated”.
Melissa Hortman and her husband “were killed by early shots this morning in what seems to be a politically motivated assassination,” said Tim Walz at a press conference.
Photo taken from Melissa Hortman’s Facebook page
Melissa Hortman
“It was a deliberate act of political violence,” added Tim Walz, visibly moved.
The two elected officials, both Democrats, were the target of fire at their home in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis, in the middle of the night, said the police.
The shooter first targeted around two in the morning the local senator John Hoffman and his wife. Both have been affected by many shots, “were operated in the hospital, and” we are reasonably optimistic about the fact that they will survive this assassination attempt, “said the governor.
Photo taken from John Hoffman’s Facebook page
Senator John Hoffman
Then, around 3:30 a.m., by going to check, as a precaution, the home of Melissa Hortman nearby, the police fell on the shooter, who “immediately shot them,” Drew Evans, boss of the Minnesota investigation office, told the press.
“The individual managed to escape during this shooting exchange,” he added.
A “manhunt involving hundreds of police officers” is underway, according to Mark Bruley, the police chief of Brooklyn Park, in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis.
Photo Ellen Schmidt, Reuters
The police are still trying to find the shooter.
Melissa Hortman was an elected representative of the Minnesota House of Representatives and was her former president.
“A peaceful political discourse is at the foundation of our democracy. We do not settle our conflicts with pistol, “said Governor Tim Walz, former package of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the presidential election in November 2024.
This attack on two elected officials comes in a particularly tense political climate in the United States.
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 his policy, when he owes him later in the day a rare military parade in Washington, the first for more than 30 years in the American capital.
The United States has also recently undergone several targeted attacks on its political leaders. Donald Trump escaped 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.
