On June 14, 2025, a man impersonating a cop walked up to the homes of sitting lawmakers in Minnesota, rang their doorbells, and started shooting. By the end of the night, the Speaker of the Minnesota House, Democratic Representative Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, were dead. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were in critical condition. The gunman had a hit list of nearly 70 people—Democratic lawmakers, abortion rights advocates, and health care providers.
This was a politically motivated assassination. And somehow, it didn’t dominate national headlines.
We live in a country where the shooting of a right-wing commentator like Charlie Kirk generated non-stop cable coverage, think pieces, TikTok reaction videos, and hours of televised outrage. But when two elected Democratic officials were shot in their own homes—with one killed—it barely registered outside of Minnesota. No wall-to-wall panels. No public reckoning. No major shift in national dialogue about domestic extremism or political violence.
So let’s be clear: We haven’t forgotten. A Cold-Blooded Attack on Democracy
It started just after 2 a.m. on June 14. A man later identified as Vance Luther Boelter, 57, knocked on the door of Senator Hoffman’s Champlin, MN home, pretending to be a cop. When Hoffman questioned him, Boelter replied, “this is a robbery,” and opened fire. John Hoffman was shot nine times, Yvette eight. Miraculously, they survived.
Their daughter, Hope Hoffman, escaped by inches. “My parents saved me,” she later said.
Boelter didn’t stop there. According to federal prosecutors, he then drove across the suburbs, targeting multiple Democratic lawmakers one by one—Kristin Bahner, Ann Rest, and finally, Melissa Hortman, Speaker of the Minnesota House.
At around 3:30 a.m., Boelter pulled into the driveway of the Hortman residence in Brooklyn Park. Disguised with a silicone mask, full police uniform, badge, and body armor, he knocked on the door and told Mark Hortman he was there for a “welfare check.” He shined a flashlight into Mark’s eyes—classic cop tactic.
Within minutes, police—already on alert after the Hoffman shooting—arrived. They saw what looked like a patrol vehicle in the driveway. Boelter opened fire on Mark and the officers, who returned fire. Then Boelter charged into the house.
Inside, Melissa Hortman tried to flee upstairs. Boelter allegedly shot her dead. A drone later found her body.
Mark Hortman died at the scene. Their golden retriever, Gilbert, was also shot and had to be euthanized.
SWAT eventually arrived, but Boelter slipped away on foot, even after exchanging gunfire with police. Officers didn’t enter the home for over an hour—a move that defied standard active shooter policy.
A Political Hit Job — and a Media Shrug
Boelter was captured the next day in Green Isle, MN. The federal indictment couldn’t have been clearer: he acted “with the intent to kill, injure, harass, and intimidate Minnesota legislators.” Inside his car was a hit list of almost 70 names, including elected Democrats and abortion rights activists.
Governor Tim Walz called it what it was: “an act of targeted political violence.”
And yet, that’s not how the national media treated it. The coverage was muted. Balanced to a fault. Lost in the churn of summer politics and influencer outrage cycles.
Now contrast that with what happened just a few months later when Charlie Kirk was shot during an event in Utah. The incident dominated cable news. Politicians across the aisle lined up for soundbites. Fundraising appeals were drafted before the stretcher even left the scene.
No one excused the attack on Kirk. No one should. But the response showed, in real time, how selective our outrage has become.
Melissa Hortman Deserved More Than a Blurb
Let’s not forget: Melissa Hortman wasn’t a backbencher. She was the sitting Speaker of the Minnesota House. She’d been in office for 20 years and helped lead the state through massive legislative shifts on climate, health care, and reproductive rights. Her death should have been a moment of national mourning. It wasn’t.
John Hoffman, a longtime senator and former minority whip, barely survived. His wife was nearly killed. His daughter witnessed it all.
These weren’t “local officials.” These were high-ranking lawmakers, deliberately targeted for their politics. And they were hunted down in their homes.
We Know Why This Got Quiet
The shooter wasn’t a foreign terrorist. He wasn’t a left-wing radical. He was a white, right-wing man with a fake cop uniform and a gun, targeting Democrats.
If this had been the reverse—if a liberal gunman dressed up as law enforcement had ambushed Republican lawmakers in their homes—we’d still be talking about it. But political violence against Democrats? Somehow, that gets filed under “regional news.”
We’re Bringing It Back
We’re not writing this for the clicks. We’re writing it because it matters.
Political violence doesn’t just threaten lives—it corrodes democracy. When elected officials are assassinated for doing their jobs, and the country shrugs, we lose something foundational.
