Tragedy Struck Early Saturday
As of this writing, the manhunt just ended in the greater Minneapolis area (not far from where I live across the border in Wisconsin) for suspected gunman Vance Boelter. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, Boelter first visited the home of Democratic State Senator John Hoffman where he shot and wounded both he and his wife. Following this shooting, he traveled about a ten-minute drive south to the home of DemocraticCongresswoman Melissa Hortman. Hortman was tragically shot and killed (presumably by Boelter) as well as her husband. Regionally, this is a significant event for several reasons.
Congresswoman Hortman was a high-profile lawmaker in Minnesota. From 2019 to 2025, she served as the Speaker of the Minnesota House. What took place in Minneapolis in the early morning hours on Saturday appears to have been a political assassination. By all accounts, it was performed by a man disguised as a police officer wearing an eerie Halloween mask. When police officers suspected that Hortman might be a target, they drove to her home where they found the disguised police officer. The gunman and the police officers exchanged fire, after which the gunman ran, retreating out the backdoor, commencing a manhunt.
Coincidence or Not?
The obvious question is one of motive. A logical thinker would ask the question: What is the common denominator between these two lawmakers that would make them targets for a political assassination? This past week in St. Paul, Minnesota lawmakers were working to pass the budget as the legislative session came to a close. In Minnesota, there is a fifty-fifty split in the House and a one-lawmaker advantage for the Democrats in the Senate. The governor of Minnesota is Tim Walz the Vice-Presidential candidate for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. To pass the budget two lawmakers, Melissa Hortman and Senator Hoffman, cast the deciding votes in their respective bodies to stop healthcare funding for illegal immigrants over the age of eighteen. Hortman was the only Democratic lawmaker in the House and Hoffman was the only Democratic lawmaker in the Senate to vote to end these benefits. Hortman said following the vote, “I did what leaders do, I stepped up and I got the job done for the people of Minnesota.” Then she stated the anger directed at her from her fellow Democrats, “They’re right to be mad at me. I think some of them are pretty, pretty angry.”
The timing of the shooting is also interesting. Of course, we don’t know for sure that this vote dissenting from their fellow Democrats led them to be targeted. More evidence would need to be provided for this conclusion to be reached. However, at this point, this is a plausible motive for the shooter. What is interesting about Boelter is that in his car “No Kings” flyers were discovered in his fabricated police vehicle left in Hortman’s driveway. He was also appointed to a state advisory board position by Governor Tim Walz in 2019. While this at first looks like he was a deranged Leftist, his roommate and friend did present a different story that he was a Trump supporter, and on the list of targets found in his car was a long list of Democrats, including Governor Walz.
We don’t know the full truth right now. With recent history as our guide, we know how the Left in America operates. Leftist politicians along with their propaganda arm in the media will do whatever they can to set their preferred narrative. We need to look no further than what happened in this same area only five years ago.
In late May 2020, the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis received a prepared, catastrophic narrative immediately. Only selected details were brought forth to build the narrative that a white cop killed a black man. The Left would love people to think that a MAGA extremist hunted down two Democratic lawmakers. This would continue to stoke the flames (literally and figuratively) against Trump and his supporters. While that is in the realm of possibility (Republicans are capable of murder) I have skepticism that this man was on the political right. Once again, we go back to what stands out about these two lawmakers in their defection from the Democratic vote and that plausibly made them targets for political violence.
But we cannot deliver an official verdict on this until more facts come forth.
Destroy Arguments Not People
There is one important lesson that I want to highlight. When we see a cold-blooded murder take place we wonder how anyone can sink to the point of ending the life of a fellow human being. But the Bible teaches that the human heart is sick (Jeremiah 17:9). After Adam and Eve sinned, Cain killed his brother Abel right out of the gate. Cain was unable to rule over his desires (Genesis 4:7). Out of jealousy he developed a deep hatred for his brother over his accepted offering. This excessive hatred led Cain to end the life of his brother.
Hatred that develops in the heart that is not kept in check can lead to the unthinkable. Murder starts in the wickedness of the human heart. As Jesus said, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery” (Mark 7:21). Presumably, Vance Boelter murdered Congresswoman Horman and her husband. In this apparently politically charged murder he held a deep hatred toward them for some reason. This hatred led to murder.
The important lesson in this for Christians is we are not to be the ones resorting to either character assassination or physical violence. The Lord Jesus calls Christians to a much different way. Christians are called to love their enemies which is entirely unique from how the rest of the world operates (Matthew 5:43-48).
I was talking to a Christian politician recently who told me that Leftists angrily get up in his face as they disagree with him. He told me that in response he is kind to them as he calmly responds to them. In so doing, he is not being “overcome by evil but overcoming evil with good” (Romans 12:21). As we love our enemies, we have the responsibility to speak the truth. The apostle Paul wrote, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Christians do not destroy people, whether by destroying one’s character or through physical harm. Rather, Christians destroy arguments. They do this by shining the light into the darkness (John 3:19-21). Christians can both love their enemies and destroy their arguments at the same time. It may be that those in darkness will be brought out of it and into the light as the truth is clearly communicated (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
In this toxic political climate, Christians have a grand opportunity to stand out. This does not mean we deify “niceness,” but we ought never to become like our enemies who go to the lowest of lows to push their cause, but rather speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). In a political world where cities burn and politicians are assassinated; Christians can truly be the salt and light that Christ has called us to be (Matthew 5:13-16). In so doing, we truly do make a difference.
