Ontario Premier Doug Ford has reached out to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to offer his condolences after a tragic weekend where two state lawmakers were shot.
Melissa Hortman, a former Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, and her husband Mark were killed in their home on Saturday. Police say the suspect dressed up as an officer and drove a vehicle that looked like a police car.
Another lawmaker, Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette were also shot at their home, which was about 15 kilometres away. Both survived but had multiple gunshot wounds.
Governor Walz has called the shooting of Hortman a “politically motivated assassination.”
The suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boelter from Green Isle, Minnesota, was found in a field near his home after a manhunt that lasted nearly two days. He later turned himself in and now faces serious federal and state charges, including murder, attempted murder, and stalking.
On Monday, Governor Walz thanked Premier Ford, saying Ford personally called to show support for the victims’ families and the people of Minnesota.
“In times of tragedy, I’m heartened when people of different views and even different nations can rally together around our shared humanity,” Walz wrote on social media.
Ford also posted online, saying: “All of Ontario is thinking of the Hortman family and our friends in Minnesota.”
These shootings are part of a troubling trend of violence targeting U.S. political figures. In April, someone set fire to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home during Passover. Last year, former President Donald Trump was grazed by a bullet at a campaign rally. And in 2022, the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was attacked in their home.
