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 agents 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 commented she was also on a target list discovered by police Smith s office mentioned she was in Minnesota after the Humphrey-Mondale Dinner a DFL charity event that Hortman and Hoffman also attended Friday evening Gov Tim Walz called the shootings an act of targeted political violence as did other residents administrators 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 declaration 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 probe 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 declared the shootings were politically motivated No constituents 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 report condemning the shooting So did a bipartisan group of Minnesota state lawmakers House Speaker Lisa Demuth R-Cold Spring noted I condemn in the strongest doable 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 stated All of Minnesota s state lawmakers were given police protection Sen Mark Johnson the Republican minority leader in the Minnesota Senate explained he has had up to three law enforcement cars parked outside his home Johnson stated MinnPost that law enforcement in Minnesota is very aware of the risks that are out there As a legislator you are reliably subject to a certain degree of threats There s reliably the awareness of the possibility he commented Johnson also noted bulk legislators working on statute throughout their career have received threats For the the majority part our Capitol defense is very good in terms of assessing the vulnerability he added The contents of the manifesto were not disclosed by police who discovered 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 revealed the shooter still on the scene and exchanged gunfire but the suspect escaped on foot Police mentioned those identified in the manifesto have been alerted and were providing safety where necessary On Saturday morning Walz activated the Crisis Operations Center as lawmakers across the state including members of Congress have been put on alert The U S Capitol Police also disclosed 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 announced in a comment We have been working with our federal state and local partners For safety reasons we cannot provide specific details about our safeguard 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 prevention personnel at a Department of Homeland Shield press conference in Los Angeles this week A spiraling of political violence Walz revealed that out of an abundance of caution his Department of Citizens Safety is recommending that people should not attend any political rallies including No Kings events until the shooter is apprehended Police noted 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 examining the situation and they will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law the president explained in a report 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 explained 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 mentioned We are a tinderbox of a country The professor explained 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 mentioned 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 mentioned And the behavior of Trump and other politicians are on top of other things Pape stated 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 leadership reporter Matthew Blake contributed to this overview The post Minnesota shootings are part of a spiraling of political violence appeared first on MinnPost