Tim Walz Takes Coded Swipe at Trump After MN Murder Suspect’s Arrest: ‘It’s Not About Mean Tweets’
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz took a coded swipe at President Donald Trump in a call to “decency” Sunday night after the arrest of a suspect accused of shooting two state lawmakers, killing one, and targeting a third in what he called a devastating breach of democratic norms.
Vance Boelter, the alleged gunman, was apprehended in a wooded area near his home in Green Isle, Minnesota, following a two-day manhunt on Sunday night. Authorities say Boelter posed as a police officer before fatally shooting State Rep. Melissa Hortman, the former Speaker of the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark Hortman, at their Brooklyn Park home early Saturday. Hours later, State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, were shot and wounded at their residence.
“This cannot be the norm,” Walz said at a press conference following the arrest. “It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences.”
Walz urged a return to political decency, linking the attack to a national climate of rhetorical hostility and calling out “mean tweets”:
A moment in this country where we watch violence erupt, this cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences. Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country. And each and every one of us can do it. Talk to a neighbor rather than arguing. Debate an issue. Shake hands. Find common ground. This is who Melissa Hortman was. In the first negotiating session that I had a chance to work with her, she got all the partners in the room, and she provided each and every one of us a copy of a book called Getting to Yes. And the whole premise was debating with a sense of goodwill, a sense to come to compromises that serve everyone. And because of her, we did that. Because of her we did that year after year after year.
That’s the embodiment of how things are supposed to work.
It’s not about hatred. It’s not about mean tweets. It’s not about demeaning someone. It’s leading with grace and compassion and vision and compromise and decency. That was taken from us in Minnesota with the murder of Speaker Hortman. So for each and every one of us to truly honor, and we will, we will continue to honor that spirit, but we will need to do it in just more than actions in a memorial. Conducting ourselves in the spirit that Melissa Hortman did her work is what the country needs to heal.
The killings have rocked the political establishment. The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, which coordinated the search effort, posted an image of Boelter’s arrest on Facebook, calling him “the face of evil.”
“Thanks to the dedication of multiple agencies working together along with support from the community, justice is one step closer,” the post read.
Hoffman and his wife remain hospitalized. The shootings have reignited concerns about the rising threat of violence against public officials and the combustible state of American political discourse.
Watch above via X.
