Politics

Security briefings crash into the once-quiet life of state lawmakers

Published

2 weeks ago

June 16, 2025

State police have advised local lawmakers across the country to be increasingly vigilant about their personal security as those members reel from a politically-motivated shooting in Minnesota that killed Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, and injured Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.

As they mourn one colleague and worry over another, state lawmakers from Pennsylvania to Arizona are receiving security briefings on how to ensure their own safety — and grappling with what it means to be a local public official in a political environment increasingly gripped by violence, according to interviews with nearly a dozen state lawmakers.

“It has all of us on edge,” said Arizona Rep. Alma Hernandez, who experienced a shooting outside her home two days before the Minnesota tragedy. An investigation into that incident is ongoing, but Hernandez said she has been targeted by threats like publication of her address over the last year over her pro-Israel stance and consequently spent thousands of dollars on home security measures like cameras and iron bars on windows.

Hernandez is not alone in her rising concern over the risks associated with serving in state legislatures, positions once viewed as an extension of local community service that have taken on a chilling dimension.

“It is incredibly depressing to see what’s going on in our country, and that political violence is on the rise, and that political violence is being normalized,” said the Tucson Democrat. It’s a scary time that we’re living in.”

Elected officials in multiple states have been advised to assess their home security systems, turn on location services on their devices and refrain from posting on social media in real time. In Wisconsin, House Speaker Robin Vos on Monday called for increased security ahead of an upcoming floor session, after learning that 11 lawmakers were named in a manifesto by the Minnesota shooter, who was arrested on Sunday and is facing federal and state murder charges. North Carolina General Assembly Police Chief Martin Brock told lawmakers on Monday afternoon they were “working on enhanced security plans” to keep members safe.

In Texas, state police arrested one personon Saturday linked to “credible threats” that person made to state lawmakers headed to an anti-Trump rally at the Capitol in Austin. Many Democrats got word of the shooting as they headed to similar demonstrations across the country, adding a layer of deep unease to the events.

“Nobody who has dedicated themselves to public service should ever be worried about that public service being used as a reason to murder or shoot or otherwise intimidate them,” said Michigan Rep. Bryan Posthumus, a Republican. “My hope is that it’s not an issue we’ll have to worry about in Michigan. But you know, that’s also why we have the Second Amendment.”

State police have provided daily briefings to Michigan lawmakers since the shooting, outreach that Rep. Carol Glanville said “is really helpful, because what you see on the news comes out sort of piecemeal.”

Glanville, a Democrat who experienced gun violence several decades ago, said she’s concerned the incident will keep people from running for office or volunteering in politics.

“People could be emboldened and even more motivated to participate and come out, or they might decide that this isn’t something worth risking my life for, and take a step back from their participation,” she said.

For North Carolina Minority Leader Sydney Batch, the shooting was a reminder of how she’s already had to learn how to be cautious in order to protect herself and her family. Over the years, Batch hired private security when threats were made against her, like for a 2020 election night watch party. And she was the target of a longtime stalker, who was recently released on parole after serving nine years in prison.

“You definitely have those days, like this weekend, where you consider whether or not the risk that you take on is worth the benefit and whether you should step back,” Batch said. The Democrat said she has considered leaving public office over those threats, yet “quickly jettisoned it” because she believes the work as a lawmaker is too important.

Other lawmakers expressed that same resolve to stay in the job despite the risks.

“The bad guys want folks to turn away from public service,” said Pennsylvania Sen. Vincent Hughes, a Democrat. “We may take extra precautions to make sure there’s extra security available to us. But … looking around my colleagues, this is not going to drive them away.”

Politics

Biden pays respects as former Minnesota House Speaker Hortman, killed in shooting, lies in state

Published

19 hours ago

June 28, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

ST. PAUL, Minnesota — Former President Joe Biden joined thousands of mourners Friday as former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman lay in state in the Minnesota Capitol rotunda while the man charged with killing her and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, made a brief court appearance in a suicide prevention suit.

Hortman, a Democrat, is the first woman and one of fewer than 20 Minnesotans accorded the honor. She lay in state with her husband, Mark, and their golden retriever, Gilbert. Her husband was also killed in the June 14 attack, and Gilbert was seriously wounded and had to be euthanized. It was the first time a couple has lain in state at the Capitol, and the first time for a dog.

The Hortmans’ caskets and the dog’s urn were arranged in the center of the rotunda, under the Capitol dome, with law enforcement officers keeping watch on either side as thousands of people who lined up filed by. Many fought back tears as they left.

Among the first to pay their respects were Gov. Tim Walz, who has called Hortman his closest political ally, and his wife, Gwen. Biden, a Catholic, visited later in the afternoon, walking up to the velvet rope in front of the caskets, making the sign of the cross, and spending a few moments by himself in silence. He then took a knee briefly, got up, made the sign of the cross again, and walked off to greet people waiting in the wings of the rotunda.

The Capitol was open for the public from noon to 5 p.m. Friday, but officials said anyone waiting in line at 5 would be let in. House TV livestreamed the viewing. A private funeral is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday and will be livestreamed on the Department of Public Safety’s YouTube channel.

Biden will attend the funeral, a spokesperson said. So will former Vice President Kamala Harris, though neither is expected to speak. Harris expressed her condolences earlier this week to Hortman’s adult children, and spoke with Walz, her running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket, who extended an invitation on behalf of the Hortman family, her office said.

Lisa Greene, who lives in Brooklyn Park like Hortman did, but in a different House district, said she came to the Capitol because she had so much respect for the former speaker.

“She was just amazing. Amazing woman. “And I was just so proud that she represented the city that I lived in,” Greene said in a voice choked with emotion. “She was such a leader. She could bring people together. She was so accessible. I mean, she was friendly, you could talk to her.” But, she went on to say admiringly, Hortman was also “a boss. She just knew what she was doing and she could just make things happen.”

A hearing takes a twist: The man accused of killing the Hortmans and wounding another Democratic lawmaker and his wife made a short court appearance Friday to face charges for what the chief federal prosecutor for Minnesota has called “a political assassination.” Vance Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, surrendered near his home the night of June 15 after what authorities have called the largest search in Minnesota history.

An unshaven Boelter was brought in wearing just a green padded suicide prevention suit and orange slippers. Federal defender Manny Atwal asked Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko to continue the hearing until Thursday. She said Boelter has been sleep deprived while on suicide watch in the Sherburne County Jail, and that it has been difficult to communicate with him as a result.

“Your honor, I haven’t really slept in about 12 to 14 days,” Boelter told the judge. And he denied being suicidal. “I’ve never been suicidal and I am not suicidal now.”

Atwal told the court that Boelter had been in what’s known as a “Gumby suit,” without undergarments, ever since his transfer to the jail after his first court appearance on June 16. She said the lights are on in his area 24 hours a day, doors slam frequently, the inmate in the next cell spreads feces on the walls, and the smell drifts to Boelter’s cell.

The attorney said transferring him to segregation instead, and giving him a normal jail uniform, would let him get some sleep, restore some dignity, and let him communicate better. The judge agreed.

Prosecutors did not object to the delay and said they also had concerns about the jail conditions.

The acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Joseph Thompson, told reporters afterward that he did not think Boelter had attempted to kill himself.

The case continues: Boelter did not enter a plea. Prosecutors need to secure a grand jury indictment first, before his arraignment, which is when a plea is normally entered.

According to the federal complaint, police video shows Boelter outside the Hortmans’ home and captures the sound of gunfire. And it says security video shows Boelter approaching the front doors of two other lawmakers’ homes dressed as a police officer.

His lawyers have declined to comment on the charges, which could carry the federal death penalty. Thompson said last week that no decision has been made. Minnesota abolished its death penalty in 1911. The Death Penalty Information Center says a federal death penalty case hasn’t been prosecuted in Minnesota in the modern era, as best as it can tell.

Boelter also faces separate murder and attempted murder charges in state court that could carry life without parole, assuming that county prosecutors get their own indictment for first-degree murder. But federal authorities intend to use their power to try Boelter first.

Other victims and alleged targets: Authorities say Boelter shot and wounded Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin before shooting and killing the Hortmans in their home in the northern Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park, a few miles away.

Federal prosecutors allege Boelter also stopped at the homes of two other Democratic lawmakers. Prosecutors also say he listed dozens of other Democrats as potential targets, including officials in other states. Friends described Boelter as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views. But prosecutors have declined so far to speculate on a motive.