Michigan lawmakers react to Minnesota political shooting

UPPER MICHIGAN (WLUC) – Michigan leaders are calling for unity and reflection after a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband were shot and killed in their home in what investigators call a targeted attack.

“Nobody in this country should have to fear for their safety in their own home, whether they are public officials or not, and nobody should be subject to extremism and violence for just doing their jobs,” 23rd State House Rep. Jason Morgan (D-23rd State House District) said. “We have to make sure that we are not putting people in danger for showing up and serving their communities.”

That was Morgan’s response to the fatal shooting of Minnesota’s former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.

The suspect, Vance Boelter, was captured by police on Sunday. He is also accused of shooting and injuring Minnesota Democratic Senator John Hoffman and his wife at their home.

State House Rep. David Prestin (R-108th State House District) says he’s confident justice will be served.

“To provide punitive punishment to the individual but also send a message to society that this will not be tolerated, and I hope that is conveyed,” Rep. Prestin. “At the end of the day, violence across the board cannot be tolerated.”

Prestin also hopes people will focus less on the suspect and more on legal solutions.

“You wonder sometimes if we didn’t talk about this, how much of this would happen if they really knew they were just going to fade into oblivion and be locked up, and incarcerated for the rest of their life, and no one even knew that they existed,” Prestin said.

Morgan says as a politician, threats of violence can be a scary reality, but he and other legislators refuse to be controlled by fear.

“We cannot let those who want to use fear and violence suppress the democratic process and average people from showing up in their communities,” Morgan said.

Both Republicans and Democrats say we must all make it clear that violence is not a solution.

The video above will feature the TV6 livestream until staff can clip the corresponding story, if available, from broadcasts or other TV6 content. You can subscribe to our YouTube page or download TV6+ to stream the latest local news and weather.

Copyright 2025 WLUC. All rights reserved.