Slain Democratic state lawmaker Melissa Hortman, her husband, Mark, and their golden retriever, Gilbert, will lie in state Friday at the Minnesota State Capitol, Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday.
The three fell prey to an assassin’s bullets on June 14, when the couple answered a 3:30 a.m. knock on the door by a shooter masquerading as a police officer. Gilbert, a rescue dog, was severely wounded and had to be euthanized, according to family members and friends. Walz immediately termed it a “targeted political attack.”
The House Speaker Emerita “will be the first woman and one of fewer than 20 Minnesotans to lie in state in the Capitol,” Walz’s office said in a short statement. Members of the public can pay their respects at the Capitol rotunda from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. That will be followed Saturday by a private funeral livestreamed on the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s YouTube channel.
Before killing the Hortmans, alleged gunman Vance Boelter, 57, used the same ploy to shoot Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, 17 times. The couple lived and are recovering. Boelter was thwarted from doing the same at two other politicians’ homes before attacking the Hortmans, and left behind a hit list of dozens more, from several states.
He was arrested nearly two days later near his farm in Green Isle, about 50 miles from Minneapolis, after the state’s largest-ever manhunt. In his home, state investigators executing a search warrant discovered and seized 20 rifles, 19 handguns and nine shotguns — 48 firearms in all — plus two tubs of extra magazines and ammunition, $17,940 in cash, and a notecard containing public officials’ names, search warrants unsealed Friday revealed. He has been charged with a host of state and federal offenses, including two federal murder charges that could carry the death penalty.
The Hortmans were remembered at a candlelight vigil in Minneapolis on June 18. On Monday, she was memorialized in a bipartisan tribute by members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation, before a moment of silence.
“She knew how to get things done, and she did it with determination, respect and pragmatism,” Democratic Rep. Kelly Morrison said. “She built bridges across the aisle and she kept her diverse caucus together to usher through some of the most consequential legislation in our state’s history.”
With News Wire Services
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