Every day is a week-long newscycle right now. Today, more so than most. Before the No Kings Marches today got underway, there was horrific news from Minnesota: the politically motivated assassination of Melissa Hortman, a Democratic representative in the Minnesota Legislature since 2004, and her husband Mark. About an hour and a half earlier, state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot repeatedly, but survived. They are still hospitalized. My heart goes out to their friends, families, and communities. It is a long route to recovery. The entire country should be there for them, regardless of the ideology or goals of the person responsible. So, instead of celebrating the true patriotism on display across the country today, it has been a somber moment. There is profound sadness and concern about what it means to live in a country where political violence is becoming increasingly common. In a way, this tragedy has made stories from today's protests even more inspiring. Americans protested on the conservative “Redneck Riviera” and in Los Angeles, despite the newly installed federal presence. And also everywhere else. American has a solid political core that loves democracy and has no intention of letting go of it. I’m so grateful to those of you who sent pictures, and I’ll be sharing them throughout the week. Courage is contagious, and we need all of it we can get right now. Law enforcement has identified a suspect in the Minnesota shootings. He is 57-year-old Vance Luther Boeltler. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Boelter texted two roommates, who it sounds like he may have lived with part-time, that he was “going to be gone for a while” and “may be dead shortly.” In the message, he reiterated that he wanted to make sure they didn’t get caught up in the investigation because they didn’t know anything about what he was up to.
A list of more than 50 additional possible targets, including abortion rights advocates and abortion facilities, and officials from outside of Minnesota, was recovered from Boelter’s mock-up police vehicle after he fled. It will take interviews with people who know Boelter and a review of other evidence to discern his true motive. As I’ve warned before, fog of war is a real problem early in an investigation like this, and it’s important to wait for authoritative information to emerge. But, there are echoes here of the Birmingham abortion clinic bombing in 1998, where Eric Rudolph, a Christian Nationalist, killed a police officer and seriously injured a nurse. He was ultimately convicted of that bombing and of others in Atlanta, including one at Olympic Park. It’s difficult to understand how people justify taking innocent lives in the name of their supposed pro-life views. Rudolph too successfully fled the scene of his crimes. He hid in Western North Carolina for years before he was arrested and prosecuted. I’m told by folks in the state that abortion has become an increasingly divisive issue in the last decade. Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s attorney general, has this on his website: “In its 1995 decision in Doe v. Gomez, the Minnesota Supreme Court found that the Minnesota Constitution guarantees the right of every Minnesotan to terminate a pregnancy. The Court explicitly found that the Minnesota Constitution offers broader protection than the United States Constitution of a person’s fundamental right to make reproductive healthcare choices without state interference. This remains the case despite the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Minnesotans' rights continue to be protected.” Doe v. Gomez recognized that Minnesotans have a privacy right that is characterized as one to choose for themselves between childbirth and abortion. In January 2023, Governor Walz signed Minnesota’s Protect Reproductive Options Act into law, affirming Minnesotans’ fundamental right to make independent decisions about their own reproductive health, including the right to use or refuse reproductive health care, continue a pregnancy and give birth, or obtain an abortion. The Act specifically prohibits local governments from restricting a person’s ability to freely exercise their fundamental right to reproductive health care. Minnesota also protects individuals who travel into Minnesota for reproductive health care and the individuals and entities that provide reproductive health care to out-of-state travelers. Whether some or all of the shooter’s motive is wrapped up in that is something we’ll learn more about in the next few days, most likely. While the FBI is on the scene, Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the lead state law enforcement agency, is taking the lead, at least for now. They have an excellent reputation. Federal and state prosecutors will join forces to work with police officers and federal agents. This is a difficult stage in an investigation, where the top priority has to be the safety of the community and apprehension of the perpetrator, but prosecutors have to make sure evidence is collected in a manner that is consistent with constitutional principles so it will be admissible in court. Minnesota does not have the death penalty. That will only be available if there is a federal prosecution in addition to the state one. It’s possible that there could be a federal charge under a civil rights statute, and there is some early chatter about that, but it’s not at all clear to me at this point that those laws will apply. That will depend in large part on what we learn about the killer’s motive. The Minnesota statutes found in Chapter 609, the state's criminal code, cover homicide and murder. There isn't a specific charge titled "murder of a public official," like there would be for federal officials, but there are aggravating factors likely to apply here that mean any charges will carry severe penalties. That’s a fast lay of the land on a difficult, troubling day in our already troubled country. But despite Trump’s charade military parade, it’s clear that Americans aren’t giving up on democracy. “You are not our king and we are not your subjects….all of us are citizens,” Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin said at a No Kings rally in Philadelphia today. Trump’s parade, on the other hand, was a dud. Happy birthday to a president who is increasingly unbeloved in all 50 states, even by some people who previously supported him. We are living at a pivotal moment for our democracy. So many people around us still seem unaware. Many Americans went about their business today, not knowing about the No Kings rallies (as hard as that is to believe with the ever-present coverage this past week) and unconcerned that there are Marines on the streets of Los Angeles detaining American citizens. This is going to be one of those “don’t look away” weeks—a time when having clear, trustworthy information really matters. If you’re finding Civil Discourse helpful, it’s a good moment to become a paid subscriber. You can share the newsletter, free of charge, with friends who could also use a little clarity. We’re in this together, Joyce
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Saturday, June 14, 2025
Political Violence in Minnesota, Powerful Protests, and a Dud of a Birthday Parade
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