A Twin Cities community gathered in grief on Friday as they tried to find a way forward. At Champlin Park High School, the community chose unity over fear at a healing event to mourn Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark.
Melissa and Mark Hortman were shot and killed in their Brooklyn Park home on June 14.
In Champlin, the pain feels personal for many because it’s home to state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.
John Hoffman was shot nine times while Yvette Hoffman was hit eight times around 90 minutes before Mark and Melissa Hortman were shot. As of Friday, the senator is still in the hospital, and his wife has since been released.
The shock is still real, yet many came together in a powerful show of unity while seeking safety and answers from police, local leaders and Gov. Tim Walz.
“These are public servants that raised their hands and said they would serve, and they were doing their job,” Walz said.
He also told the crowd the hard worker Melissa Hortman was, and that she believed meeting people halfway was the answer to getting the job done for Minnesotans.
“We are not going to be the same after this, but we can certainly strive to be better,” Walz told the crowd.
As grief hung in the air, people paused to breathe through the pain as a therapist led an exercise.
Before Walz left, he reminded the crowd to take care of one another.
