Tragedy in Minnesota

From the Gun Violence Archive.

Early Saturday morning, death came dressed as a police officer to the doors of two Minnesota state legislators.

In a hail of gunfire, Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot dead in their Brooklyn Park home. Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were severely wounded and are currently clinging to life after surgery.

Rep. Hortman, 55, had been the top Democratic leader in the Minnesota State House since 2017. According to the Associated Press, in 2023 she used her position to champion gun violence prevention as well as expanded protections for abortion rights, including legislation to solidify Minnesota’s status as a refuge for patients from restrictive states who travel to the state to seek abortions — and to protect providers who serve them. She and her husband had two adult children. Sen. Hoffman, also a Democrat, serves as chairman of the Senate Human Services Committee and was the co-founder of Consumer Credit of Minnesota, a non-profit consumer assistance organization. He and his wife have a daughter.

In New Hampshire, House Minority Leader Alexis Simpson released a statement saying that she was “heartbroken and horrified” by the attack.

“Unfortunately, this tragedy does not exist in a vacuum,” she wrote. “We are living in a time of rising political violence. We need to remain clear-eyed about the forces that enable this kind of extremism. We must continue to create and foster communities of trust and compassion and affirm our commitment to protecting democracy, truth, and the safety of all those who serve the public.”

Political assassination attempts in our country are rare. But unfortunately hate, division, and gun violence are not. According to the Gun Violence Archive, in 2024 16,725 of our fellow Americans died in incidents of gun violence in 2024. The death toll to date for 2025, including the Minnesota assassinations, now stands at 6,541.

While assassinations and assassination attempts may be among the rarest types of gun violence, the consequences can be devastating and life-changing. This is true not only for the elected officials and judges who are killed or wounded, but also for those caught in the crossfire and their loved ones, such as the family of Cory Comperatore who was fatally shot during the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in 2024 as well as the families of the six people who were gunned down during the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in 2011, including 9-year old Christina Taylor Green.

In New Hampshire, we are saddened and stunned—but we are not waiting. Measures have already been taken by Democratic leaders to reach out to us. Our House Clerk, Paul Smith, also posted the following message on Facebook:

“Last night a grave attack was carried out against state legislators in another part of the country and it has left chambers all across the country reeling. I’ve talked with several of my colleagues from around the nation and many of us have scrubbed our websites of addresses of members, increased security and coordinated across multiple agencies.

“I love the state legislative process. It’s so inherently different from national politics and so much more democratic than nearly anything else in which one can ever participate in any facet of life.

“I am heartsick and angry at this senseless attack. Our state legislators are motivated to do what they believe is right and violence has no place in our civic responsibility…Please pray for our lost friends, and our democratic institutions.”

While I join Paul and others in prayer for those we have lost and for those who have been harmed, something else I know is that God helps those who help themselves—and during times like these, sometimes even God can use a little help from each one of us.

As we have seen time and time again, in the absence of meaningful changes in both tone and policy, even the most sincere and heartfelt of prayers amount to little more than empty words.

On June 26, my fellow legislators and I will return to a New Hampshire State House with no metal detectors and where concealed firearms are allowed in the chamber. Between now and then, we will receive much well-intentioned advice about how to stay safe.

But the bottom line is that while public service should never be a hazardous activity, neither should walking in a mall, strolling down the street, watching a movie in a theater, shopping for groceries, or sitting in a classroom.

Until we do more to protect ALL of us from gun violence, we will continue to live with the consequences of brutal and unnecessary tragedies like the one in Minnesota.