‘I Did What Leaders Do’: Minnesota Lawmaker Hortman Broke Down Hours Before She Was Shot

Last Updated:June 15, 2025, 11:48 IST

Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed after she sided with Republicans to cut health care for adult illegal immigrants.

Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman reportedly broke down in tears in front of cameras after siding with Republicans. (X)

Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman reportedly broke down in tears in front of cameras after siding with Republicans just hours before she and her husband were killed on Saturday.

Hortman voted against a bill providing healthcare access to adult illegal immigrants, making her the only Democrat to side with Republicans on this issue.

This decision was emotionally taxing for Hortman, as evidenced by her tearful press conference where she expressed the difficulty of her choice but emphasised her commitment to leadership and the people of Minnesota.

“I did what leaders do… I stepped up and I got the job done for the people of Minnesota," she had said.

Hortman and her husband were killed shortly after this video was taken in their home. According to the police believe it was politically motivated.

Senator John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were injured at their Champlin address. Hoffman and Hortman, as well as their spouses, were shot by someone posing to be a police officer.

The suspect identified as Vance Luther Boelter, 57, in the Minnesota shooting had ties to evangelical ministries and claimed online to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa.

Authorities released a description of the suspect, who was last seen wearing a light-colored cowboy hat, dark-colored long-sleeved shirt or coat, and carrying a dark bag. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for tips that could lead to his capture.

Although Boelter lived in the small town of Green Isle about an hour outside Minneapolis, he often stayed in the rented home of his longtime friend in the city, David Carlson.

Carlson, 59, spoke to reporters outside his home Saturday night, having just returned from a trip to the lumber store to purchase plywood to board up windows that were broken by a SWAT team earlier that day.

“He wasn’t a hateful person," Carlson said, adding that he and Boelter have known each other since attending fourth grade together in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota.

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News world ‘I Did What Leaders Do’: Minnesota Lawmaker Hortman Broke Down Hours Before She Was Shot