The city of MinneapolisAt a funeral on Saturday, former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris joined the more than 1,000 mourners in honoring Democratic former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman for her legislative achievements and her compassion.
Two weeks prior, Hortman was shot dead in two separate assaults by a man impersonating a police officer, which Minnesota’s top federal prosecutor has described as an assassination. Additionally, a state senator and his spouse were gravely injured in the shootings, and her husband, Mark, was killed.
Melissa Hortman will go down in Minnesota history as the most influential speaker. According to Governor Tim Walz’s eulogy, “I get to remember her as a close friend, a mentor, and the most talented legislator I have ever known.” I have had the honor of enacting her agenda for seven years. I am aware that her and Mark’s decision to pursue politics and public service has improved the lives of millions of Minnesotans.
The service
Harris and Biden were in the front row with the governor, Harris’ 2024 campaign partner, but neither of them spoke. More than 7,500 people paid their respects, including Biden. In the Minnesota Capitol rotunda in St. Paul, Fridayas Hortman, her husband Mark, and their golden dog Gilbert laid in state. Gilbert had to be put down after suffering severe injuries in the incident. Biden also paid a medical visit to the injured senator.
Hortman was joined by dozens of state lawmakers from both parties, both past and present, as well as other public authorities.
As the speaker of the chamber during the historic 2023 session, Hortman, who was first elected in 2004, assisted in passing a broad agenda of liberal policies, including greater protections for abortion and trans rights, as well as free lunches for public school kids. She passed up the gavel to a Republican under a power-sharing agreement, assumed the title of speaker emerita, and assisted in breaking a budget standoff that threatened to shut down state government this year, as the House was divided 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans.
The eulogy of the governor
According to Walz, Hortman believed that her goal was to help as many people as she could. And he claimed that her effectiveness stemmed from her attention to people.
She was definitely skilled at getting what she wanted. Without a doubt, Walz stated. However, she never gave people the impression that they had been taken advantage of at a bargaining table. For her, that wasn’t a part of it or her identity. She could win for herself without someone else losing.
According to the governor, the best way to pay tribute to the Hortmans would be to emulate them.
Perhaps now is the time for each of us to reflect on how we collaborate, how we discuss one another, and how we stand up for the causes that are important to us,” Walz added. “A time when we can all reaffirm our commitment to living and participating in politics the way Mark and Melissa did—with ferocity, zeal, and heartiness, but never losing sight of our shared humanity.
The sermon
The nation needs profound healing, according to Rev. Daniel Griffith, the pastor and rector of the Basilica who presided over the liturgy. According to him, the United States appears to be living in the apocalyptic world that is depicted at the opening of William Butler Yeats’ poem, The Second Coming.
Unfortunately, we have been the epicenter of racial injustice here in Minnesota,” Griffith stated. George Floyd was killed today a few miles from our church. We are now the epicenter of political extremism and bloodshed. Since they both pose a threat to human dignity and, in fact, to our democracy, they both need to be denounced as strongly as possible.
However, the priest said that Minnesota might also serve as a ground zero location for healing, justice, and restoration. He went on to say that the large number of attendees was evidence that the work could be successful.
The Hortman family received condolences from Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese.
Later on, there will be a private funeral.
The family of Hortman
The congressman frequently mentioned Sophie and Colin Hortman, the Hortmans’ older children, whom they were proud of.
Colin, speaking in a tearful voice, read the Prayer of St. Francis, which his mother usually carried in her wallet, and remarked that his parents were living examples of the Golden Rule. “It captures her essence,” he added. First, let me be a tool for your peace, Lord.
Walz gave the kids the American and Minnesota flags that were flying over the Capitol on the day their parents were killed after the service.
The suspect
On Friday, the guy who is suspected of killing the Hortmans at their Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, home on June 14 and injuring Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their Champlin, Minnesota, home, made a brief court appearance. His next court date is Thursday.
Following what authorities described as the greatest search in Minnesota history, Vance Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, turned himself in close to his home on the evening of June 15.
Boelter has not pleaded and is still in custody. First, prosecutors must get a grand jury indictment. Regarding the charges, which carry the federal death penalty, his attorneys have refrained from commenting.
Boelter is an evangelical Christian with conservative political beliefs, according to friends. However, prosecutors have refrained from speculating on a motive thus far.
