‘We need to bring the tone down’: Lawmakers respond to attacks on Minnesota officials

The killing of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband sent shockwaves through the political world and appeals from elected officials to turn down heated rhetoric.

Democratic State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed on Saturday by a masked gunman disguised as a police officer. Hours before, Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife had been both shot multiple times at their home.

The back-to-back attacks are part of a disturbing trend of violence against public officials at the state and local level.

The tragedies prompted swift condemnation from Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill and around the country.

The entire Minnesota delegation, led by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, released a joint statement in response to the targeting of Hortman and Hoffman.

“Today we speak with one voice to express our outrage, grief, and condemnation of this horrible attack on public servants,” they said. “There is no place in our democracy for politically-motivated violence. We are praying for John and Yvette’s recovery and we grieve the loss of Melissa and Mark with their family, colleagues, and Minnesotans across the state. We are grateful for law enforcement’s swift response to the situation and continued efforts.”

Klobuchar, on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, said political violence “is a rampant problem that the public and all of us have to deal with.”

On PBS News on Sunday, the Minnesota senator added, “This is a very bad environment, and we need to bring the tone down.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he requested increased protection for Klobuchar and Sen. Tina Smith, another Minnesota Democrat. Schumer, a New York Democrat, said he urged “everyone to stay safe, stay vigilant, and reject political violence in all its forms.”

“But condemning violence while ignoring what fuels it is not enough,” Schumer added in a statement. “We must confront the toxic forces radicalizing individuals and we must do more to protect one another, our democracy, and the values that bind us as Americans.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries similarly said he’s asked the Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police to “ensure the safety” of the Minnesota delegation and members of Congress “across the country.”

“Our country is on edge like never before. We need leadership that brings America together, instead of tearing us apart. Violence is never the answer,” Jeffries said in a statement.

Republican leadership, too, spoke out against the shootings.

“Such horrific political violence has no place in our society, and every leader must unequivocally condemn it,” House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband was struck in the head with a hammer in their California home in 2022, called the Minnesota shootings “a shocking and abhorrent manifestation of political violence in our country.”

“Unfortunately, we know the tragedy of when political violence hits home very well. All of us must remember that it’s not only the act of violence, but also the reaction to it, that can normalize it. This climate of politically-motivated violence must end,” Pelosi wrote on X.

Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday said “coarsening of the political dialogue” and “the flirtation with violence” has to stop.

“We all have to acknowledge on both sides of the aisle the need to bring about a more civil discourse, but the need to condemn political violence no matter who the target is,” Schiff said.

State lawmakers, too, said this could not become the new norm in American society.

In California, state Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Assembly Leader James Gallagher — a Democrat and Republican, respectively — issued a joint statement calling on “everyone to take down the temperature, respect differences of opinion and work toward peace in our society.”

Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis and Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who lead the National Governors Association, called on all Americans to reject political violence and “recommit to the values of civility, respect, and peaceful democratic discourse.”

“Now more than ever, we must come together as one nation to ensure that our public square remains a place of debate, not danger,” Polis and Stitt said in a statement.

In Minnesota, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said America is “not a country that settles our differences at gunpoint.”

“We have demonstrated again and again in our state that it is possible to peacefully disagree, that our state is strengthened by civil public debate,” Walz wrote in a statement.