Hours after Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in a “politically motivated” shooting Saturday morning, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is remembering the lawmaker as a friend and a “leader like no other.”
Hortman and her husband, Mark, were fatally shot in their Minnesota home June 14. A second lawmaker, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, were severely injured in a separate shooting. Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson identified the shooting suspect as Vance Boelter.
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WATCH HEREIn a phone interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on Saturday, Klobuchar said Hortman is “someone that I wish the whole nation knew.”
Remembering Hortman, Klobuchar said the state representative previously worked at her dad's auto parts store, was a Girl Scout leader and taught Sunday school.
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SIGN UP “We treasured her in Minnesota," Klobuchar said of Hortman.
“I got to know her when we were both in politics, starting out in local offices and legislature for her, county for me,” Klobuchar added. “She had two young kids at the time. She loved dogs, and she was this leader like no other.”
Minnesota House DFL Caucus
The Minnesota senator said Hortman aimed to fight for women’s rights, family leave and school lunches.
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Klobuchar noted that she was at a dinner with Hortman June 13, the night before the attack, calling her death “a shock.”
In the same interview, Klobuchar said Hoffman, who was shot alongside his wife at their home about 8 miles from Hortman's, is “also loved. We hope he’s going to survive.”
Police responded to Hoffman's home at about 2 a.m., NBC News reported. The lawmaker and his wife were severely injured and hospitalized, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said during a news conference Saturday.
Authorities then went to “proactively” check on Hortman at her home, NBC News reported. Police found what appeared to be bullet holes on the Hortman's front door.
In the news conference Saturday, Walz called the fatal attack “a politically motivated assassination.” Both Hortman and Hoffman were members of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party.
On social media Saturday morning, Klobuchar deemed the shootings “a stunning act of violence.”
“I’m thankful for all the law enforcement who are responding in real time,” she wrote on X. “My prayers are with the Hortman and Hoffman families. Both legislators are close friends and devoted to their families and public service.”
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