“Beautiful” Minnesota Culture, destroyed by political violence

Jesse Ebert held back tears when she stood in front of the improvised memorial, honoring Democratic politician Meliss Hortman and her husband who died last week.

“Minnesota felt a little as a safe shelter,” said Ms. Ebertz, a civil servant who lives in the state capital, “because we managed to keep the atmosphere here.”

“It blew it out of the water.”

Hortman’s death and her husband Mark sent a strike wave through the state. They were shot dead on Saturday morning a man dressed in the police.

Democratic legislator John Hoffman and his wife also suffered – they are expected to survive.

But the attacks that look politically motivated have greatly shaved the confidence in the reputation of the state for the courtesy, courtesy and respect, the attitude that has its own nickname and the Wikipedia page: “Minnesota.”

Prosecutors say Vens Boel also visited two more houses at the beginning of Saturday, looking for politicians.

The largest in the history of the state ended on the end on Sunday, when Boel was captured near his home in rural areas, strewn with farms, gravel roads and small villages, approximately an hour from the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Many noted that Mrs. Hortman was known for his ability to work with republican colleagues, including recently to vote the state budget.

On Monday, the local spoken radio station WCCO lost one of the latest interviews, together with Republican colleagues, where, among other things, they discussed what they could do if they had spent time together.

The idea that this friendly state in the Upper Middle West can avoid a political rampage, which is more likely to go into violence elsewhere – it is an illusion, – says Jenna Stoker, the Minnesota editor, the edition set out by the Conservative Center for the US experiment.

Last year, the center’s office was launched in the fact that analytical centers were called a politically motivated attack. No one is accused of crime.

“Some people, even in Minnesota, really allow politics to manage their thinking and how they treat their neighbors, their friends and relatives,” says Mrs. Stoker.

As a last resort, which led to extreme actions. A number of recent studies show that political violence has been growing throughout the US, reaching a level that has not been observed since the 1970s.

Reuters unleashed more than 300 cases of politically motivated violence since January 2021 Capitol. In 2023, a study from the left -wing institute of Brannano of the Center for Justice showed that three years before 40% of state legislators had undergone threats or attacks.

Despite the broad fears that were partially caused by two attempts against Donald Trump and 2021 in the Capitol riot, there was no major violence during the November 2024 presidential election.

But the relationship became strained from this vote.

In April, the residence of Governor Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, set fire. It seems that the policy has motivated the alleged killers of the head of health in New York and two Israeli Embassy staff in Washington.

In Washington this week, US Congress members had to get emergencies.

Meanwhile, in Minnesota, many people complained about what the attacks on the politicians of the state in a place that is proud of its openness and the ability to avoid the anger of national politics.

Despite the invaluity of recent attacks, there were few visible signs of heavy safety in the Capitol building – and no metal detectors – on Monday afternoon.

Among the mourning, several Hortan’s relatives put flowers in front of the State House House, where the table was loaded with bouquets and signs that read “Change of Demand” and “Rest in Power”.

Between the news and the flowers, the group wandered the building on the excursion, and legislative officials carried out their work in horrible silence.

But since people were mourning here, the nationally guerrilla arguments continued.

President Trump said on Tuesday that he would not call the Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz, a nominee-Vice-President of Democratic Presidents in last year’s elections, calling him a “riot”.

“The guy has no idea,” he told reporters.

On the eve of the attacks, some of Trump’s best supporters and allies – including Senator Utah Mike Lee, Elon Musk, the Conspiracy Theorist Laur Lumer and activist Charlie Kirk – tried without evidence to bind rolls and democratic legislators with murders.

Lee wrote: “This is what happens when the Marxists do not break through,” while Musk changed the message, including the line about the attacks with the comment “Far from the left is tough.”

Both men who did not respond to comment requests were rushed with conspiracy theories on the Internet.

Many drew attention to the fact that Waltz and the previous democratic governor appointed the suspect for the position of the State Economic Council.

However, Boelter was a supporter of President Trump, who had conservative views, said in an interview with friends and neighbors. According to the data identified by the authorities, his long target list included democratic and progressive legislators, and he had leaflets with information about Trump’s “Without Kings” who took place in St. Paul and other cities across the country on Saturday.

Although the exact motive is still investigated, the data indicates that the suspect is aimed at the opponents of the president and leftist politicians and the Democratic Party.

“It’s awful,” said Kamek White, a neighbor who lived near one of the suspect’s houses, in the Northern Minneapolis, which searched the police on Saturday.

“I saw this man every day in my yard,” said Ms. White. “The other day I saw him on the street that smoking and writing something into a notebook.”

While Mr. Boeellter gave some help here, discussions on the air in Minnesota turned to what could be done to cool political temperature and prevent future attacks.

Ms Stoker, the Minding Minnesota editor, said, “There are good people here,” and noted that the vast majority of Minnesotans reject violence.

However, an increase in “other” and hot rhetoric makes her pessimistic in the rapid chance of peace.

“You will need a whole generation to say that we are no longer going to take it, and it just needs to stop,” she said.

“I think we need young people to rise and say that we just won’t be behind it.”