Crime: Shots on US politicians – large -scale search for perpetrators

After fatal shots on a democratic politician and her husband, a major search for the fleeting perpetrator is running in the US state of Minnesota. Melissa Hortman, deputy in the Minnesotas parliament, and her husband Mark Hortman were attacked in the early morning (local time) in her house in the city of Brooklyn Park, as governor Tim Walz announced. Neither survived the attack. Walz spoke of a presumably politically motivated act.

In another attack in the nearby Champlin, a democratic senator from the parliament of the state, John Hoffman, and his wife shot down and seriously injured, as Walz said. One is “carefully optimistic” that they survive. There is concern that other people could be in danger.

Walz paid tribute to his party colleague Hortman as a “close girlfriend”, who “woke up every day with the goal of making this state a bit better”. Hortman was once the chairman of Minnesota’s parliament, which she had belonged to since 2004.

How the alleged perpetrator was doing

The alleged perpetrator was also fleeting hours after the bloody deed. A 57 -year -old man who is employed by a security company is suspected. “Don’t approach him. He is to be classified as armed and dangerous,” said a representative of the authorities. So far, it is unclear whether other people were involved. The population was asked for help.

The police had become active after the attack on the Hoffman couple and had checked the Hortman residential building as a precaution – there the emergency services then met a person who was a police officer.

In the entrance there was a vehicle with blue lights on, a person in a police uniform came from the house. When the officials confronted the man, he opened the fire according to the authorities; There was a change of shooting. The suspect withdrew and was able to flee. The police then discovered Hortman and her husband in the house.

“It wasn’t a real police officer,” said the authorities. Rather, it is someone who pretended to be a police officer and took advantage of the trust in the service brand and uniform to get into the house. During the later search of the vehicle, investigators found a manifesto in which several officials are named. The security authorities then initiated additional protective measures for people on the list.

According to information from the US broadcaster CNN, there were almost 70 names on the list – including politicians from Minnesota and other states, also supporters of the right to abortion. A larger amount of ammunition was also found in a pocket in the car – in it also a card addressed for Father’s Day on the alleged perpetrator.

How violence against politicians in the United States is

The fear of politically motivated violence has grown in the United States in recent years. The concern is also fired by the simple access to firearms. Again and again authorities and politicians warn of a heated mood in the country where confrontational rhetoric and hatred can turn into violent acts on social networks. Threats against officials are now part of everyday life.

At the end of 2022, the husband of the democratic US top politician Nancy Pelosi was seriously injured in a hammer attack in her house in San Francisco California. A few months ago, the residence of the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, was laid out. According to the investigators, the alleged arsonist acted on the democratic politician.

Republicans are also affected: In the presidential election campaign last year, US President Donald Trump was injured at an attack during an event during an event in the state of Pennsylvania. Trump himself always uses a sometimes radical language.

The Republican now condemned the fatal shots in Minnesota. He spoke of a “probably targeted attack on state employees”. The federal police FBI and Minister of Justice Pam Bondi were entrusted with the investigation, it said in a statement from the White House. “Such cruel violence is not tolerated in the United States,” said Trump, and announced that it was pursuing all possible parties “with the full hardness of the law”.

Trump’s democratic predecessor Joe Biden also spoke up. “As a nation, we all have to merging against politically motivated violence,” wrote Biden on the X. Hate and extremism platform should not find any place in the United States.

Anti-trump demos canceled in Minnesota

Due to security concerns, planned protest events against Trump in Minnesota were canceled for the day. Governor Walz had previously recommended that the demos stay away until the fleeting suspect is caught. The organizers then canceled all events that had not yet started.

The nationwide protests under the motto “No Kings” (no kings) are planned on the day of Trump’s military parade in Washington. In the car that the alleged shooter in Minnesota left while escaping from the police, a stack of “No Kings” flight leaves was found. What he was going to do with it remained unclear at first.