Hundreds gathered at the Minnesota<\/a> capitol on Wednesday night to honor the state Democratic representative Melissa Hortman<\/a> and her husband, Mark, who were killed<\/a> at their home on Saturday night in what authorities have described as a \u201cpolitical assassination\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some mourners reportedly brought flowers to place in front of this memorial, while others held candles. Tim Walz<\/a>, the Minnesota governor, grew teary at the vigil, and consoled attenders, as a brass band from the Minnesota Orchestra performed, according to the Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colin Hortman, Melissa and Mark\u2019s son, hugged Walz and placed a photograph of his parents on their memorial. This is the first of several public vigils planned to memorialize the Hortmans before their funeral, MPR reported.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The vigil also featured a string quartet, as well as a Native American drum circle. Attenders sang Amazing Grace together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mourners, standing \u201cshoulder to shoulder\u201d, also brought \u201cflags, handwritten notes and other mementos to Hortman\u201d. A large blanket, laid out on the ground, allowed attendees to pen messages, per MPR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One message reported by MPR said: \u201cMelissa was a true model of humility. She didn\u2019t do this work to boost her own ego, further her political career or garner fame and glory. She did it to improve people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The vigil\u2019s organizers told attenders not to bring signs and decided not to have a speaking program. Walz said that Hortman should lie in state at Minnesota\u2019s capitol, MPR said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hortmans\u2019 suspected killer, Vance Boelter<\/a>, also stands accused of attempted murder for shooting state senator John Hoffman<\/a> and his wife, Yvette, at their home in nearby Champlin. Boelter, 57, faces state and federal charges for the fatal shootings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hoffmans are recovering from their injuries. Authorities said that Boelter, who allegedly had a list of targets including other Democratic lawmakers and abortion rights advocates, traveled to two other legislators\u2019 homes that evening \u2013 with plans to assassinate them<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Attenders, some of whom knew the Hortmans personally or through her work, came from diverse political backgrounds. As Zack Stephenson, who co-chairs a state house budget committee, prepared to honor Hortman several hours before the vigil, he described their friendship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stephenson said that he met Melissa Hortman when he was 18, volunteering on her campaign. He worked closely with Hortman in the state house and described her as a mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe was a leader who was not afraid to invest in other leaders. It didn\u2019t threaten her,\u201d Stephenson told the Guardian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hortman prioritized kindness in her work and told fellow Democrats in 2023 that they shouldn\u2019t confuse kindness for weakness. They could be strong leaders and still be respectful and kind, Stephenson recalled her saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo one worked harder than her,\u201d Stephenson said. \u201cThose kind of timeless values of, be kind to people, work hard, care about the institution more than partisan politics, those things really matter. People saw that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lynne Billing, of St Paul, Minnesota, told MPR she knew Melissa Hortman \u201cwas special and I knew she really cared about people\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a huge, huge loss and I\u2019m just here to say I\u2019m going to miss her,\u201d Billing said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While remembrances for the Hortmans have come from people of all political stripes, Donald Trump<\/a> said he will not call Walz, adding that calling would \u201cwaste time\u201d, AP said<\/a>. Trump, in ruling out a call to Walz, described Minnesota\u2019s governor as \u201cslick\u201d and \u201cwhacked out\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI could call him and say: \u2018Hi, how you doing?\u2019\u201d Trump reportedly said. \u201cThe guy doesn\u2019t have a clue. He\u2019s a, he\u2019s a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Walz\u2019s office said that the governor hoped Trump \u201cwould be a president for all Americans\u201d. US presidents routinely contact governors, as well as other state and local officials, after tragedies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis tragedy isn\u2019t about Trump or Walz,\u201d Teddy Tschann, a spokesperson for the governor, said. \u201cIt\u2019s about the Hortman family, the Hoffman family, and the state of Minnesota, and the governor remains focused on helping all three heal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Walz did speak with JD Vance as well as former president Joe Biden and former vice-president Kamala Harris, AP said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rachel Leingang contributed reporting<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Candlelight vigil honoring Melissa Hortman and husband at state capitol was attended by Tim Walz and couple\u2019s son Victoria BekiempisThu 19 Jun 2025 Hundreds gathered at the Minnesota capitol on Wednesday night to honor the state Democratic representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were killed at their home on Saturday night in what authorities have described as a \u201cpolitical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16488,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16487\/revisions\/16488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"a](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/f804444237dcf7ff504a08ae2d3a77889fb06e0d\/459_0_4593_3675\/master\/4593.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=24ed6a83831fc1f2a8321035b0c7649d\")
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