Following the tragic shooting in Minnesota on Saturday morning, when a gunman shot and killed Democratic State Sen. Melissa Hortman and her husband while also shooting state Sen. John Hartman, President Trump has issued a statement condemning the violence.
In the statement, Trump stated that he had been briefed, that the Justice Department was investigating, and that the government “will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law.”
Statement from President Donald J. Trump
I have been briefed on the terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota, which appears to be a targeted attack against State Lawmakers. Our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the FBI, are investigating the situation, and they will be…
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) June 14, 2025
While Trump, in his statement, said all the right things, Trump has never shied away from hostile and even apocalyptic language about his political enemies, accusing political opponents of treason, and other such rhetoric.
Trump calls Democrats “the enemy from within” pic.twitter.com/fZcvTJm3yJ
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) June 14, 2025
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Additionally, there was an explosion of conspiracy theories about the shooting across social media within hours of the shooting.
Because the suspect in the shooting, Vance Boelter, was once nominated to a nonpartisan board by Gov. Tim Walz, it launched a series of conspiracies claiming that Boelter was a “leftist” or perhaps even put up to the shooting by Walz himself.
In fact, Minnesota has numerous such boards, most of which do not imply allegiance to the government that appointed their members. Boelter, in his car, had left behind a manifesto as well as a “kill list” consisting of numerous Democratic elected officials, including Walz, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and abortion rights organizations.
Let’s clear up misinformation right now: the alleged suspect in the MN assassination was an appointee of Gov Walz to a Board. That IS NOT the same thing as being staff or ally. An advisory board. In MN, it’s a requirement for most Boards that there are BIPARTISAN appointments.
— sarah (@sarahhinde) June 14, 2025
Some suggested even worse:
hard for me to process this level of brain poisoning https://t.co/36fvs14rX2
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) June 14, 2025
In addition, Elon Musk posted clear misinformation about a “leftist” being responsible for the shooting of two Democratic elected officials.
Elon Musk blames Melissa Hortman’s murder on “the far left.” Shocking, false weaponization of a terrible crime that happened mere hours ago. pic.twitter.com/pNmahdXkuF
— Will Stancil (@whstancil) June 14, 2025
Walz also asked for Minnesotans not to attend Saturday’s political protests for as long as the suspect in the shooting remains at large.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
