<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1750269288982.png" alt="President Donald Trump speaks as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday-image courtesy CSPAN" />
                        <figcaption>President Donald Trump speaks as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
                    </figure><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Urgent notice! American citizens wanting to leave Israel- US Embassy in Israel <a href="https://twitter.com/usembassyjlm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@usembassyjlm</a> is working on evacuation flights &amp; cruise ship departures. <br>You must enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) (<a href="https://t.co/rXymPRTQJJ">https://t.co/rXymPRTQJJ</a>) You will be alerted w/ updates.</p>&mdash; Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/1935354233819193433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump: &quot;Nobody knows what I&#39;m going to do. I can tell you this, that Iran&#39;s got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate...&quot; <a href="https://t.co/5IxVLjd4HC">pic.twitter.com/5IxVLjd4HC</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1935342623708926350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Q: &quot;Mr. President, what do you say to the Supreme Leader of Iran who says that they will not surrender?&quot;<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;I say, &#39;Good luck.&#39;&quot; <a href="https://t.co/iXy5xfKNup">pic.twitter.com/iXy5xfKNup</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1935341674055508457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;We&#39;re not looking for long-term war. I only want one thing — Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. That&#39;s it.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/8gl7Wp2NBy">pic.twitter.com/8gl7Wp2NBy</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1935347025954095376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on negotiations with Iran: &quot;Nothing is too late. The only thing too late is Powell.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/g7x5b9u8Gw">pic.twitter.com/g7x5b9u8Gw</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1935338837695189018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥Americans warned to evacuate Israel by air and sea as Iran crisis deepens

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1750210174941.png" alt="Image White House" />
                        <figcaption>Image White House</figcaption>
                    </figure><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="qme" dir="ltr">🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/kqUAgta0En">pic.twitter.com/kqUAgta0En</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1935131324190203983?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Presiden Trump on the North Lawn of the <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WhiteHouse</a> looking for the perfect spot to put a 100ft tall American Flag pole—he will determine a second spot on the South Lawn as well, at his personal expense… <a href="https://t.co/2ckAR0tndf">pic.twitter.com/2ckAR0tndf</a></p>&mdash; Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scavino47/status/1915075327778320503?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

President Trump's new 'magnificent' flag poles going up at the White House

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">Ariana Figueroa</a>

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who was forcibly removed from a press conference with the secretary of Homeland Security, said Tuesday that his home state is the testing ground for President Donald Trump’s push to deploy the military within the United States.

Trump is using immigrants in the country without legal status as scapegoats to send in troops, said Padilla, who in a speech on the Senate floor choked up as he related how he was wrestled to the ground by law enforcement officials. “I refuse to let immigrants be political pawns on his path toward fascism,” Padilla said.

It’s the first floor speech the senior senator from California has given since&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/democratic-us-sen-alex-padilla-california-cuffed-shoved-out-noem-press-event" target="_blank">the highly publicized incident in Los Angeles&nbsp;</a>last week. The Secret Service handcuffed Padilla after he tried to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was defending to reporters Trump’s decision to send 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to LA.

Trump sent in the troops following multi-day protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wishes. An appeals court Tuesday is hearing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-keeps-control-california-national-guard-la-now-after-appeals-court-order" target="_blank">arguments on a suit</a>&nbsp;by&nbsp;California contending that the president unlawfully took control of the state National Guard.

“He wants the spectacle,” Padilla said of the president. “To justify his undemocratic crackdown and his authoritarian power grab.”

The LA protests were sparked after ICE targeted Home Depots, places where undocumented day laborers typically search for work, for immigration raids.

The Padilla incident, widely captured on video, was a stark escalation of the tensions between Democratic lawmakers and the administration over Trump’s drive to enact mass deportations.

A Democratic House member from New Jersey is&nbsp;<a href="https://newjerseymonitor.com/2025/06/11/n-j-congresswoman-indicted-over-fracas-outside-newark-ice-jail/" target="_blank">facing federal charges</a>&nbsp;on allegations that she shoved immigration officials while protesting the opening of an immigrant detention center in Newark. And on Tuesday, in New York City, ICE officers arrested city comptroller and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fox5ny.com/election/nyc-primary-election-mayor-race-polls-candidates-june-17" target="_blank">mayoral candidate</a>&nbsp;Brad Lander while he was escorting an immigrant to their hearing in immigration court, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/brad-lander-nyc-immigration-court-arrest-6ed341297efab31a08a14421674d8ed8" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>.

In a statement to States Newsroom, DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Lander “was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.”

“No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences,” McLaughlin said.

<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-directs-ice-target-3-big-democratic-cities-raids" target="_blank">The president late Sunday</a>&nbsp;directed ICE&nbsp;to conduct immigration raids in New York, LA and Chicago, the nation’s three most populous cities, all led by elected Democrats in heavily Democratic states.

“We will follow the President’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” McLaughlin said.

Padilla in his Senate remarks gave an account of the events that led to him being handcuffed and detained last week.

On June 12, he had a meeting scheduled with&nbsp;General Gregory M. Guillot, commander of the U.S. Northern Command, to discuss the military presence in LA.

Padilla, the top Democrat on a Judiciary panel that oversees DHS and immigration policy, said his meeting with the general was delayed because of a press briefing across the hall with Noem.&nbsp;

Padilla said he has tried to speak with DHS because for weeks LA has “seen a disturbing pattern of increasingly extreme and cruel immigration enforcement operations targeting non-violent people at places of worship, at schools, in courthouses.”

So Padilla said he asked to attend the press conference, and&nbsp;a National Guard member and an FBI agent escorted him inside.

“They opened the door for me,” he said.

As he listened, he said a comment from Noem compelled him to ask a question.

“We are not going away,” Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, told the press. “We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city.”

Padilla said her remarks struck him as “an un-American mission statement.”

“That cannot be the mission of federal law enforcement and the United States military,” he said. “Are we truly prepared to live in a country where the president can deploy the armed forces to decide which duly elected governors and mayors should be allowed to lead their constituents?”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Padilla said before he could finish his question, he was physically removed and the National Guard member and FBI agent who escorted him in the room “stood by silently, knowing full well who I was.”

As he recounted being handcuffed, Padilla paused, getting emotional.

“I was forced to the ground, first on my knees, and then flat on my chest,” he said.

Padilla said a flurry of questions went through his head as he was marched down a hallway, and as he kept asking why he was being detained: Where are they taking me? What will a city, already on the edge from being militarized, think when they see their U.S. senator being handcuffed just for trying to ask a question? What will my wife think? What will our boys think?

“I also remember asking myself, if this aggressive escalation is the result of someone speaking up about the abuse and overreach of the Trump administration, was it really worth it?” Padilla asked. “If a United States senator becomes too afraid to speak up, how can we expect any other American to do the same?”

In a statement, DHS,&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1933236707060822447" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;that the Secret Service did not know Padilla was a U.S. senator, although video of the incident shows that Padilla stated that he was a member of the Senate.

“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla and I have questions for the secretary,” he said as four federal law enforcement officers grabbed him and shoved him to the ground.

Noem met with Padilla after he was handcuffed, his office told States Newsroom.

“He raised concerns with the deployment of military forces and the needless escalation over the last week, among other issues,” according to his office. “And he voiced his frustration with the continued lack of response from this administration. It was a civil, brief meeting, but the Secretary did not provide any meaningful answers. The Senator was simply trying to do his job and seek answers for the people he represents in California.”

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested that the Senate take action against Padilla, such as a censure. Johnson criticized the senator’s actions and accused him of charging at Noem, which Padilla is not seen doing in the multiple videos of the incident.

“I’m not in that chamber, but I do think that it merits immediate attention by other colleagues over there,” the Louisiana Republican said. “I think that behavior, at a minimum, rises to the level of censure. I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole.”

Senate Democrats have coalesced their support around Padilla. During a Tuesday press conference, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer praised Padilla for his speech on the Senate floor.

“It was basically a strong plea for America to regain the gyroscope of democracy, which has led us forward for so many years and now we’re losing it,” the New York Democrat said. “It’s a wake-up call to all Americans.”

Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.&nbsp;

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1749757448306.png" alt="Senator Padilla as shown in the video provided by U.S. Homeland Security" />
                        <figcaption>Senator Padilla as shown in the video provided by U.S. Homeland Security</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">Ariana Figueroa</a></p><p>WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who was forcibly removed from a press conference with the secretary of Homeland Security, said Tuesday that his home state is the testing ground for President Donald Trump’s push to deploy the military within the United States.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/SenAlexPadilla?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenAlexPadilla</a>: &quot;How many Americans in the year 2025 see a vindictive president on a tour of retribution unrestrained by the majority of this separate and co-equal branch of government and wonder if it&#39;s worth it to stand up or to speak out.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/RhCaix3Y3q">pic.twitter.com/RhCaix3Y3q</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1935022858654089493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>Trump is using immigrants in the country without legal status as scapegoats to send in troops, said Padilla, who in a speech on the Senate floor choked up as he related how he was wrestled to the ground by law enforcement officials. “I refuse to let immigrants be political pawns on his path toward fascism,” Padilla said.</p><p>It’s the first floor speech the senior senator from California has given since&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/democratic-us-sen-alex-padilla-california-cuffed-shoved-out-noem-press-event" target="_blank">the highly publicized incident in Los Angeles&nbsp;</a>last week. The Secret Service handcuffed Padilla after he tried to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was defending to reporters Trump’s decision to send 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to LA.</p><p>Trump sent in the troops following multi-day protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wishes. An appeals court Tuesday is hearing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-keeps-control-california-national-guard-la-now-after-appeals-court-order" target="_blank">arguments on a suit</a>&nbsp;by&nbsp;California contending that the president unlawfully took control of the state National Guard.</p><p>“He wants the spectacle,” Padilla said of the president. “To justify his undemocratic crackdown and his authoritarian power grab.”</p><p>The LA protests were sparked after ICE targeted Home Depots, places where undocumented day laborers typically search for work, for immigration raids.</p><h2>Arrests, confrontations</h2><p>The Padilla incident, widely captured on video, was a stark escalation of the tensions between Democratic lawmakers and the administration over Trump’s drive to enact mass deportations.</p><p>A Democratic House member from New Jersey is&nbsp;<a href="https://newjerseymonitor.com/2025/06/11/n-j-congresswoman-indicted-over-fracas-outside-newark-ice-jail/" target="_blank">facing federal charges</a>&nbsp;on allegations that she shoved immigration officials while protesting the opening of an immigrant detention center in Newark. And on Tuesday, in New York City, ICE officers arrested city comptroller and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fox5ny.com/election/nyc-primary-election-mayor-race-polls-candidates-june-17" target="_blank">mayoral candidate</a>&nbsp;Brad Lander while he was escorting an immigrant to their hearing in immigration court, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/brad-lander-nyc-immigration-court-arrest-6ed341297efab31a08a14421674d8ed8" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>.</p><p>In a statement to States Newsroom, DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Lander “was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.”</p><p>“No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences,” McLaughlin said.</p><p><a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-directs-ice-target-3-big-democratic-cities-raids" target="_blank">The president late Sunday</a>&nbsp;directed ICE&nbsp;to conduct immigration raids in New York, LA and Chicago, the nation’s three most populous cities, all led by elected Democrats in heavily Democratic states.</p><p>“We will follow the President’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” McLaughlin said.</p><h2>‘They opened the door for me’</h2><p>Padilla in his Senate remarks gave an account of the events that led to him being handcuffed and detained last week.</p><p>On June 12, he had a meeting scheduled with&nbsp;General Gregory M. Guillot, commander of the U.S. Northern Command, to discuss the military presence in LA.</p><p>Padilla, the top Democrat on a Judiciary panel that oversees DHS and immigration policy, said his meeting with the general was delayed because of a press briefing across the hall with Noem.&nbsp;</p><p>Padilla said he has tried to speak with DHS because for weeks LA has “seen a disturbing pattern of increasingly extreme and cruel immigration enforcement operations targeting non-violent people at places of worship, at schools, in courthouses.”</p><p>So Padilla said he asked to attend the press conference, and&nbsp;a National Guard member and an FBI agent escorted him inside.</p><p>“They opened the door for me,” he said.</p><p>As he listened, he said a comment from Noem compelled him to ask a question.</p><p>“We are not going away,” Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, told the press. “We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city.”</p><p>Padilla said her remarks struck him as “an un-American mission statement.”</p><p>“That cannot be the mission of federal law enforcement and the United States military,” he said. “Are we truly prepared to live in a country where the president can deploy the armed forces to decide which duly elected governors and mayors should be allowed to lead their constituents?”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Padilla said before he could finish his question, he was physically removed and the National Guard member and FBI agent who escorted him in the room “stood by silently, knowing full well who I was.”</p><p>As he recounted being handcuffed, Padilla paused, getting emotional.</p><p>“I was forced to the ground, first on my knees, and then flat on my chest,” he said.</p><p>Padilla said a flurry of questions went through his head as he was marched down a hallway, and as he kept asking why he was being detained: Where are they taking me? What will a city, already on the edge from being militarized, think when they see their U.S. senator being handcuffed just for trying to ask a question? What will my wife think? What will our boys think?</p><p>“I also remember asking myself, if this aggressive escalation is the result of someone speaking up about the abuse and overreach of the Trump administration, was it really worth it?” Padilla asked. “If a United States senator becomes too afraid to speak up, how can we expect any other American to do the same?”</p><h2>Padilla-Noem meeting</h2><p>In a statement, DHS,&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1933236707060822447" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;that the Secret Service did not know Padilla was a U.S. senator, although video of the incident shows that Padilla stated that he was a member of the Senate.</p><p>“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla and I have questions for the secretary,” he said as four federal law enforcement officers grabbed him and shoved him to the ground.</p><p>Noem met with Padilla after he was handcuffed, his office told States Newsroom.</p><p>“He raised concerns with the deployment of military forces and the needless escalation over the last week, among other issues,” according to his office. “And he voiced his frustration with the continued lack of response from this administration. It was a civil, brief meeting, but the Secretary did not provide any meaningful answers. The Senator was simply trying to do his job and seek answers for the people he represents in California.”</p><p>U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested that the Senate take action against Padilla, such as a censure. Johnson criticized the senator’s actions and accused him of charging at Noem, which Padilla is not seen doing in the multiple videos of the incident.</p><p>“I’m not in that chamber, but I do think that it merits immediate attention by other colleagues over there,” the Louisiana Republican said. “I think that behavior, at a minimum, rises to the level of censure. I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole.”</p><p>Senate Democrats have coalesced their support around Padilla. During a Tuesday press conference, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer praised Padilla for his speech on the Senate floor.</p><p>“It was basically a strong plea for America to regain the gyroscope of democracy, which has led us forward for so many years and now we’re losing it,” the New York Democrat said. “It’s a wake-up call to all Americans.”</p><p>Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.&nbsp;</p>

🎥US Sen. Padilla blasts Trump ‘path toward fascism’ in LA immigration crackdown

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/author/iwagener/">Izzy Wagener</a>&nbsp;<br><a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/">Minnesota Reformer</a>

Sophie and Colin Hortman, the children of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, issued a statement Monday calling on people to honor their parents’ legacy by doing “something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else.”

The Hortman children are grieving following the Saturday&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/14/minnesota-house-democratic-leader-dead-after-targeted-shooting-democratic-senator-also-shot/">killing</a>&nbsp;of their parents, in what has been called a political assassination. Rep. Melissa Hortman was a longtime Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislator beloved around the Capitol even as she scored major legislative victories.&nbsp;

“We are devastated and heartbroken at the loss of our parents, Melissa and Mark. They were the bright lights at the center of our lives, and we can’t believe they are gone. Their love for us was boundless. We miss them so much,” the release said. “We want everyone to know that we are both safe and with loved ones. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support we have received, and we appreciate your respect for our family’s privacy as we grieve.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Hortman children thanked law enforcement for their efforts, which led to the&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/15/vance-boelter-accused-of-assassination-of-dfl-house-leader-melissa-hortman-apprehended/">arrest</a>&nbsp;of suspect Vance Boelter on Sunday night. Boelter also wounded Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, though they are on a path to recovery.&nbsp;

The Hortman children emphasized the legacy that their parents will leave behind.&nbsp;

“Our parents touched so many lives, and they leave behind an incredible legacy of dedication to their community that will live on in us, their friends, their colleagues and co-workers, and every single person who knew and loved them,” the release said.&nbsp;

The Hortmans asked that people do an act of kindness in the memory of their parents’ commitment to service, sharing a list of suggestions.

“The best way to honor our parents’ memory is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else.”&nbsp;

They suggested planting a tree, telling a dad joke, and baking something to share — “bread for Mark or a cake for Melissa”.&nbsp;

“Pet a dog,” was on the list “A golden retriever is ideal but any will do.”&nbsp;

The Hortman family’s dog, a golden retriever named Gilbert, was euthanized after he was injured in the shooting. Hortman originally trained him as a service dog before he became a permanent member of the family.

Sophie and Colin Hortman ended the statement with a call to action.&nbsp;

“Hope and resilience are the enemy of fear. Our parents lived their lives with immense dedication to their fellow humans. This tragedy must become a moment for us to come together. Hold your loved ones a little closer. Love your neighbors. Treat each other with kindness and respect.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1750172631971.jpeg" alt=" A growing memorial for Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband stands Monday, June 16, 2025 at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)" />
                        <figcaption> A growing memorial for Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband stands Monday, June 16, 2025 at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/author/iwagener/">Izzy Wagener</a>&nbsp;<br><a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/">Minnesota Reformer</a></p><p>Sophie and Colin Hortman, the children of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, issued a statement Monday calling on people to honor their parents’ legacy by doing “something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else.”</p><p>The Hortman children are grieving following the Saturday&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/14/minnesota-house-democratic-leader-dead-after-targeted-shooting-democratic-senator-also-shot/">killing</a>&nbsp;of their parents, in what has been called a political assassination. Rep. Melissa Hortman was a longtime Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislator beloved around the Capitol even as she scored major legislative victories.&nbsp;</p><p>“We are devastated and heartbroken at the loss of our parents, Melissa and Mark. They were the bright lights at the center of our lives, and we can’t believe they are gone. Their love for us was boundless. We miss them so much,” the release said. “We want everyone to know that we are both safe and with loved ones. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support we have received, and we appreciate your respect for our family’s privacy as we grieve.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The Hortman children thanked law enforcement for their efforts, which led to the&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/15/vance-boelter-accused-of-assassination-of-dfl-house-leader-melissa-hortman-apprehended/">arrest</a>&nbsp;of suspect Vance Boelter on Sunday night. Boelter also wounded Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, though they are on a path to recovery.&nbsp;</p><p>The Hortman children emphasized the legacy that their parents will leave behind.&nbsp;</p><p>“Our parents touched so many lives, and they leave behind an incredible legacy of dedication to their community that will live on in us, their friends, their colleagues and co-workers, and every single person who knew and loved them,” the release said.&nbsp;</p><p>The Hortmans asked that people do an act of kindness in the memory of their parents’ commitment to service, sharing a list of suggestions.</p><p>“The best way to honor our parents’ memory is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else.”&nbsp;</p><p>They suggested planting a tree, telling a dad joke, and baking something to share — “bread for Mark or a cake for Melissa”.&nbsp;</p><p>“Pet a dog,” was on the list “A golden retriever is ideal but any will do.”&nbsp;</p><p>The Hortman family’s dog, a golden retriever named Gilbert, was euthanized after he was injured in the shooting. Hortman originally trained him as a service dog before he became a permanent member of the family.</p><p>Sophie and Colin Hortman ended the statement with a call to action.&nbsp;</p><p>“Hope and resilience are the enemy of fear. Our parents lived their lives with immense dedication to their fellow humans. This tragedy must become a moment for us to come together. Hold your loved ones a little closer. Love your neighbors. Treat each other with kindness and respect.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Children of Melissa and Mark Hortman release statement on their deaths

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">Jennifer Shutt</a>

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate will gather behind closed doors Tuesday to hear from federal law enforcement officials about protection for lawmakers and the safety of their families, just days after a gunman said to be posing as a police officer targeted state lawmakers in Minnesota.

The briefing from U.S. Capitol Police and the Senate Sergeant at Arms follows years of increased funding for both entities as threats and attempted assassinations against members of Congress have become part of the job.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, said Monday on the floor that the suspected shooter had a list of more than 70 public officials he wanted to target, including several members of the Senate.

“My highest priority right now is working with the Senate leadership on both sides, the Senate Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police, to ensure everyone’s safety,” Schumer said. “This weekend I asked Capitol Police and the Sergeant at Arms to increase security for members, including Sen. (Alex) Padilla and the Minnesota senators.”

California Sen. Padilla moved to the forefront of the public debate about immigration and deportations last week when he was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/democratic-us-sen-alex-padilla-california-cuffed-shoved-out-noem-press-event" target="_blank">forcibly removed from a press conference</a>&nbsp;after trying to ask Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a question while she was still speaking.

Schumer said the briefing would be an opportunity for USCP and the SAA to “convey what they’re doing for members to keep them safe.”

He urged senators to “come together” to oppose political violence in all forms, before criticizing Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee for social media posts. Lee made&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/BasedMikeLee/status/1934262175582822629" target="_blank">two</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/BasedMikeLee/status/1934268603676647646" target="_blank">posts</a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/us/politics/mike-lee-minnesota-assassination-democrats.html" target="_blank">drew condemnation.</a>

“I was deeply disappointed and sickened to see a member of this chamber use the tragedy in Minnesota to take cheap political shots at the other side on social media and risk escalating a perilous moment,” Schumer said. “What the senior senator from Utah posted after the shooting was reckless and beneath the dignity of his office.

“For a senator to fan the flames of division with falsities while the killer was still on the loose is deeply irresponsible. He should take down his post immediately and apologize to the families of the victims.”

On&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SenMikeLee/status/1934348952197116157" target="_blank">another social media account</a>, Lee wrote, “These hateful attacks have no place in Utah, Minnesota, or anywhere in America.”

Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Sunday during&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/sen-rand-paul-says-it-s-not-the-u-s-s-job-to-be-involved-in-israel-iran-conflict-full-interview-241621061772" target="_blank">an interview</a>&nbsp;on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the attack on the two state lawmakers and their spouses was clearly motivated by politics.

Klobuchar said she has received additional security and that she was concerned about the possibility of more attacks against lawmakers.

“I have had threats before, as several of our colleagues have had,” Klobuchar said. “And I think one of the things is, we don’t talk about this stuff much because you don’t want to see copycats that copy exactly what they’ve done.”

The suspected gunman, who&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/15/vance-boelter-accused-of-assassination-of-dfl-house-leader-melissa-hortman-apprehended/" target="_blank">was arrested Sunday</a>&nbsp;following a manhunt, has been&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/16/boelter-faces-state-and-federal-murder-charges-death-penalty-possible/" target="_blank">charged by both state and federal prosecutors</a>&nbsp;with murdering state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, and attempting to kill state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.

The suspect&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/16/feds-boelter-stopped-at-two-other-lawmakers-homes/" target="_blank">went to the homes of at least two other state lawmakers and had a list</a>&nbsp;of Democratic lawmakers’ home addresses as well as abortion providers, according to police.

Lawmakers disclose they were on list of targets

The U.S. House won’t receive a security briefing this week since its members are out of session on a district work period, typically a time when lawmakers are back in their communities for town halls and other public events, though the shooting has led some members to change their schedules.

Michigan Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten announced Monday she would postpone her town hall in Muskegon, writing in a statement she didn’t want to “divert additional law enforcement resources away from protecting the broader public at this time.”

“Nothing matters more to me than the safety and well-being of the people I serve,” Scholten wrote. “After being made aware that my name was on a list connected to the recent tragic shooting in Minnesota, my office has made the difficult decision to postpone our planned town hall in Muskegon.”

Scholten added she hoped to “reschedule this event as soon as possible.”

Ohio Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman released a statement on Monday, announcing that USCP bolstered his security after his name was found among the suspected Minnesota shooter’s possessions.

“On Sunday morning, Capitol Police contacted my office to inform me that the FBI had found my name among the evidence collected during the search for a suspect in Minnesota — who is accused of murdering and seriously injuring lawmakers,” Landsman wrote. “Since the suspect was still at large at that time, we worked very closely with the Cincinnati Police Department to arrange for increased security for my family and me.”

Texas Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar wrote in a statement posted to social media that she was among the people the suspected Minnesota shooter had on his list.

“This was only a day after protestors were shot in Utah, an extremist drove a car into protests in Virginia, credible threats were made against state lawmakers in Austin and a man pointed a gun at protestors here in El Paso,” Escobar wrote.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and New York Democratic Rep. Joseph D. Morelle, ranking member on the Committee on House Administration, wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Monday, urging him to take action to ensure members’ safety.&nbsp;

“While we differ in many areas related to policy and our vision for America’s future, Member safety must be an area of common ground. Representatives from both sides of the aisle have endured assassination attempts that changed their lives and careers forever,” the two wrote. “Too many other patriotic public servants have left Congress because they no longer felt safe carrying out their duty as elected officials. We must act to protect each other and preserve this great American institution.”

Members of Congress and their families are no strangers to threats, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-capitol-police-chief-details-700-threats-against-members-congress-one-month" target="_blank">have steadily risen for years,</a>&nbsp;attacks and shootings.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/man-who-attacked-speaker-pelosis-husband-wanted-break-her-kneecaps-doj-says" target="_blank">attacked in their family home</a>&nbsp;in San Francisco in October 2022 by a man wielding a hammer, who was searching for Pelosi, a California Democrat.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La, was shot and severely wounded in 2017 when a gunman opened fire at GOP lawmakers practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game. Several others were injured during the shooting.

Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords survived being shot in the head during a constituent meeting in a grocery store parking lot in 2011 when a gunman opened fire, killing six people and injuring a dozen others.

Even President Donald Trump, who has extensive Secret Service protection,&nbsp;<a href="https://penncapital-star.com/campaigns-elections/trump-campaigns-in-western-pennsylvania-with-rally-in-butler-county/" target="_blank">was shot in the ear</a>&nbsp;last July while campaigning in Pennsylvania. The gunman in that incident killed local fireman Corey Comperatore and injured two others.

The union representing U.S. Capitol Police&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-capitol-police-union-says-not-enough-done-improve-security-after-jan-6-attack" target="_blank">warned more than a year ago&nbsp;</a>that the federal law enforcement agency was struggling to keep up amid an increasingly hostile political environment and staffing shortages.

“We’ve never seen a threat environment like this,” union Chairman Gus Papathanasiou wrote in a statement. “Given the profound divisions in this country and this year’s elections, people ask me if I’m concerned and I tell them I am worried — very worried.”

Former USCP Chief Thomas Manger, who retired earlier this year, told lawmakers well before the union’s public statement that he was concerned by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/more-7500-threats-against-members-congress-2022-just-22-prosecuted" target="_blank">how few threats against members of Congress were actually prosecuted&nbsp;</a>successfully.

Klobuchar, who was chair of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee at the time of the hearing, said USCP referred 458 threat cases for prosecution during 2021, with 40 of those leading to a court case. That was out of 9,625 total threats.

Just 22 of the 7,501 threats lobbed at members during 2022 led to prosecution, a USCP spokesperson confirmed to States Newsroom at the time.

Threats against lawmakers have continued to increase ever since.

USCP investigated 8,008 “concerning statements and direct threats against the Members of Congress, including their families and staff” in 2023 and 9,474 in 2024, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/uscp-threat-assessment-cases-2024" target="_blank">data</a>&nbsp;from USCP.&nbsp;

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1750124727119.png" alt="Photo U.S. Capitol Police" />
                        <figcaption>Photo U.S. Capitol Police</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">Jennifer Shutt</a></p><p>WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate will gather behind closed doors Tuesday to hear from federal law enforcement officials about protection for lawmakers and the safety of their families, just days after a gunman said to be posing as a police officer targeted state lawmakers in Minnesota.</p><p>The briefing from U.S. Capitol Police and the Senate Sergeant at Arms follows years of increased funding for both entities as threats and attempted assassinations against members of Congress have become part of the job.</p><p>Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, said Monday on the floor that the suspected shooter had a list of more than 70 public officials he wanted to target, including several members of the Senate.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1750124701988.png" alt="Photo U.S. Capitol Police" />
                        <figcaption>Photo U.S. Capitol Police</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>“My highest priority right now is working with the Senate leadership on both sides, the Senate Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police, to ensure everyone’s safety,” Schumer said. “This weekend I asked Capitol Police and the Sergeant at Arms to increase security for members, including Sen. (Alex) Padilla and the Minnesota senators.”</p><p>California Sen. Padilla moved to the forefront of the public debate about immigration and deportations last week when he was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/democratic-us-sen-alex-padilla-california-cuffed-shoved-out-noem-press-event" target="_blank">forcibly removed from a press conference</a>&nbsp;after trying to ask Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a question while she was still speaking.</p><p>Schumer said the briefing would be an opportunity for USCP and the SAA to “convey what they’re doing for members to keep them safe.”</p><p>He urged senators to “come together” to oppose political violence in all forms, before criticizing Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee for social media posts. Lee made&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/BasedMikeLee/status/1934262175582822629" target="_blank">two</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/BasedMikeLee/status/1934268603676647646" target="_blank">posts</a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/us/politics/mike-lee-minnesota-assassination-democrats.html" target="_blank">drew condemnation.</a></p><p>“I was deeply disappointed and sickened to see a member of this chamber use the tragedy in Minnesota to take cheap political shots at the other side on social media and risk escalating a perilous moment,” Schumer said. “What the senior senator from Utah posted after the shooting was reckless and beneath the dignity of his office.</p><p>“For a senator to fan the flames of division with falsities while the killer was still on the loose is deeply irresponsible. He should take down his post immediately and apologize to the families of the victims.”</p><p>On&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SenMikeLee/status/1934348952197116157" target="_blank">another social media account</a>, Lee wrote, “These hateful attacks have no place in Utah, Minnesota, or anywhere in America.”</p><h2>Suspect faces state and federal charges</h2><p>Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Sunday during&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/sen-rand-paul-says-it-s-not-the-u-s-s-job-to-be-involved-in-israel-iran-conflict-full-interview-241621061772" target="_blank">an interview</a>&nbsp;on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the attack on the two state lawmakers and their spouses was clearly motivated by politics.</p><p>Klobuchar said she has received additional security and that she was concerned about the possibility of more attacks against lawmakers.</p><p>“I have had threats before, as several of our colleagues have had,” Klobuchar said. “And I think one of the things is, we don’t talk about this stuff much because you don’t want to see copycats that copy exactly what they’ve done.”</p><p>The suspected gunman, who&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/15/vance-boelter-accused-of-assassination-of-dfl-house-leader-melissa-hortman-apprehended/" target="_blank">was arrested Sunday</a>&nbsp;following a manhunt, has been&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/16/boelter-faces-state-and-federal-murder-charges-death-penalty-possible/" target="_blank">charged by both state and federal prosecutors</a>&nbsp;with murdering state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, and attempting to kill state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.</p><p>The suspect&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/16/feds-boelter-stopped-at-two-other-lawmakers-homes/" target="_blank">went to the homes of at least two other state lawmakers and had a list</a>&nbsp;of Democratic lawmakers’ home addresses as well as abortion providers, according to police.</p><h2>Lawmakers disclose they were on list of targets</h2><p>The U.S. House won’t receive a security briefing this week since its members are out of session on a district work period, typically a time when lawmakers are back in their communities for town halls and other public events, though the shooting has led some members to change their schedules.</p><p>Michigan Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten announced Monday she would postpone her town hall in Muskegon, writing in a statement she didn’t want to “divert additional law enforcement resources away from protecting the broader public at this time.”</p><p>“Nothing matters more to me than the safety and well-being of the people I serve,” Scholten wrote. “After being made aware that my name was on a list connected to the recent tragic shooting in Minnesota, my office has made the difficult decision to postpone our planned town hall in Muskegon.”</p><p>Scholten added she hoped to “reschedule this event as soon as possible.”</p><p>Ohio Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman released a statement on Monday, announcing that USCP bolstered his security after his name was found among the suspected Minnesota shooter’s possessions.</p><p>“On Sunday morning, Capitol Police contacted my office to inform me that the FBI had found my name among the evidence collected during the search for a suspect in Minnesota — who is accused of murdering and seriously injuring lawmakers,” Landsman wrote. “Since the suspect was still at large at that time, we worked very closely with the Cincinnati Police Department to arrange for increased security for my family and me.”</p><p>Texas Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar wrote in a statement posted to social media that she was among the people the suspected Minnesota shooter had on his list.</p><p>“This was only a day after protestors were shot in Utah, an extremist drove a car into protests in Virginia, credible threats were made against state lawmakers in Austin and a man pointed a gun at protestors here in El Paso,” Escobar wrote.</p><p>House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and New York Democratic Rep. Joseph D. Morelle, ranking member on the Committee on House Administration, wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Monday, urging him to take action to ensure members’ safety.&nbsp;</p><p>“While we differ in many areas related to policy and our vision for America’s future, Member safety must be an area of common ground. Representatives from both sides of the aisle have endured assassination attempts that changed their lives and careers forever,” the two wrote. “Too many other patriotic public servants have left Congress because they no longer felt safe carrying out their duty as elected officials. We must act to protect each other and preserve this great American institution.”</p><h2>Threats on the rise over the years</h2><p>Members of Congress and their families are no strangers to threats, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-capitol-police-chief-details-700-threats-against-members-congress-one-month" target="_blank">have steadily risen for years,</a>&nbsp;attacks and shootings.</p><p>Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/man-who-attacked-speaker-pelosis-husband-wanted-break-her-kneecaps-doj-says" target="_blank">attacked in their family home</a>&nbsp;in San Francisco in October 2022 by a man wielding a hammer, who was searching for Pelosi, a California Democrat.</p><p>House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La, was shot and severely wounded in 2017 when a gunman opened fire at GOP lawmakers practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game. Several others were injured during the shooting.</p><p>Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords survived being shot in the head during a constituent meeting in a grocery store parking lot in 2011 when a gunman opened fire, killing six people and injuring a dozen others.</p><p>Even President Donald Trump, who has extensive Secret Service protection,&nbsp;<a href="https://penncapital-star.com/campaigns-elections/trump-campaigns-in-western-pennsylvania-with-rally-in-butler-county/" target="_blank">was shot in the ear</a>&nbsp;last July while campaigning in Pennsylvania. The gunman in that incident killed local fireman Corey Comperatore and injured two others.</p><p>The union representing U.S. Capitol Police&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-capitol-police-union-says-not-enough-done-improve-security-after-jan-6-attack" target="_blank">warned more than a year ago&nbsp;</a>that the federal law enforcement agency was struggling to keep up amid an increasingly hostile political environment and staffing shortages.</p><p>“We’ve never seen a threat environment like this,” union Chairman Gus Papathanasiou wrote in a statement. “Given the profound divisions in this country and this year’s elections, people ask me if I’m concerned and I tell them I am worried — very worried.”</p><p>Former USCP Chief Thomas Manger, who retired earlier this year, told lawmakers well before the union’s public statement that he was concerned by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/more-7500-threats-against-members-congress-2022-just-22-prosecuted" target="_blank">how few threats against members of Congress were actually prosecuted&nbsp;</a>successfully.</p><h2>Few threats led to prosecution</h2><p>Klobuchar, who was chair of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee at the time of the hearing, said USCP referred 458 threat cases for prosecution during 2021, with 40 of those leading to a court case. That was out of 9,625 total threats.</p><p>Just 22 of the 7,501 threats lobbed at members during 2022 led to prosecution, a USCP spokesperson confirmed to States Newsroom at the time.</p><p>Threats against lawmakers have continued to increase ever since.</p><p>USCP investigated 8,008 “concerning statements and direct threats against the Members of Congress, including their families and staff” in 2023 and 9,474 in 2024, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/uscp-threat-assessment-cases-2024" target="_blank">data</a>&nbsp;from USCP.&nbsp;</p>

Members of Congress on edge after assassination of Minnesota state legislator

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1750109382018.png" alt="File photo President Trump at the G7 Monday-image courtesy CSPAN" />
                        <figcaption>File photo President Trump at the G7 Monday-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
                    </figure><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1750154083784.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on his early departure from the G7 Summit: &quot;I have to be back early — for obvious reasons.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/vtM4wwy1r9">pic.twitter.com/vtM4wwy1r9</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1934773306324042177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;Iran should have signed the “deal” I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!&quot; –President Donald J. Trump <a href="https://t.co/oniUSgsMWA">pic.twitter.com/oniUSgsMWA</a></p>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1934745869821370570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump: &quot;I think a deal will be signed or something will happen, but a deal will be signed, and I think Iran is foolish not to sign one.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/dPo8zXKZ0v">pic.twitter.com/dPo8zXKZ0v</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1934726877752565821?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">REPORTER: &quot;What are you looking for here?&quot;<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;An end. A real end. Not a ceasefire — an end.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/EESQ7zzhw1">pic.twitter.com/EESQ7zzhw1</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1934917749391687794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

Read President's ominous warning on why he left G7, returned to DC

June 16, 2025 (Lincoln, Neb.)&nbsp;&nbsp;— The Nebraska State Patrol has issued the following statement regarding rumors surrounding the ongoing investigation into multiple shootings of public officials in Minnesota.

<p>June 16, 2025 (Lincoln, Neb.)&nbsp;&nbsp;— The Nebraska State Patrol has issued the following statement regarding rumors surrounding the ongoing investigation into multiple shootings of public officials in Minnesota.</p>

No Known Nebraska Threat Linked to Minnesota Shootings Investigation

The accused killer was a Christian who opposed abortion and LGBTQ rights

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/author/madisonmcvan/">Madison McVan</a><br><a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/">Minnesota Reformer</a>

Law enforcement officers on Sunday night arrested Vance Boelter, who is accused of assassinating Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home in Brooklyn Park as part of a larger plot to kill Democratic elected officials and other advocates of abortion rights.

Boelter is also accused of shooting Democratic-Farmer-Labor state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin. Both Hoffmans survived the shooting, but received surgeries for their injuries and remain hospitalized.&nbsp;

The arrest comes after a 43-hour manhunt — the largest in state history, according to Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley. Law enforcement officers had been searching all day after locating Boelter’s abandoned vehicle near Green Isle, where Boelter has a home.&nbsp;

At the time of his arrest, Boelter was armed, but ultimately surrendered. Officers did not use any force, said Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol.&nbsp;

In the state’s new Emergency Operations Center in Blaine —&nbsp;which was paid for by legislation passed by Hortman’s DFL-controlled House in 2020 — Gov. Tim Walz thanked law enforcement and decried political violence and hateful rhetoric.

“This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,” Walz said. “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 argue, debate an issue, shake hands, find common ground.”

Boelter is a Christian who voted for President Donald Trump and opposes abortion and LGBTQ rights, according to interviews with his childhood friend and videos of his sermons posted online. A list of potential targets — including Hoffman and Hortman — included abortion providers and other Democratic elected officials from Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The attack, which has shocked Minnesotans and the nation, comes amid&nbsp;<a href="https://www.startribune.com/shootings-of-minnesota-lawmakers-come-amid-national-rise-in-political-violence/601373083" target="_blank">rising political violence</a>&nbsp;since the emergence of President Donald Trump, who has made&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/10/trump-violent-rhetoric-timeline/680403/" target="_blank">repeated threats</a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-accused-inciting-violence-080032789.html" target="_blank">violence against his political enemies</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-finds-new-ways-praise-celebrate-jan-6-rioters-rcna156294" target="_blank">praised his supporters&nbsp;</a>who, for instance, attacked officers while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He later pardoned all of them. He survived two assassination attempts in 2024.&nbsp;

Authorities say Boelter attacked the Hoffmans at their home in Champlin at approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. An unsealed criminal complaint indicates that the Hoffmans’ daughter called the police to report the shooting of her parents, the<a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-lawmakers-shot-8ce70a94c9eb90688baaa1a71faef6cc" target="_blank">&nbsp;Associated Press reports</a>.

At around 3:30 a.m., Brooklyn Park police headed to the Hortmans’ home to proactively check on them following the attack on the Hoffmans, said Drew Evans, superintendent at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at a press conference Saturday morning.&nbsp;

When they arrived, the officers saw the attacker in a fake law enforcement uniform shoot Mark Hortman through the open front door, according to the complaint. Out front, emergency vehicle lights flashed from a Ford Explorer outfitted to look like a cop car. When the officers confronted the shooter, a gunfight ensued, and the killer escaped, abandoning the vehicle.

Inside, Hortman and her husband, Mark, were dead from gunshot wounds.

In the SUV, police found a document with a list of lawmakers and other officials on it. Hortman and Hoffman were on the list.

Evans said Sunday that the document is not a “traditional manifesto that’s a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings.” Instead, it contains a list of names and “other thoughts” throughout.

On Saturday afternoon, police raided a home in north Minneapolis where Boelter lived part time. In an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.startribune.com/brooklyn-park-police-searching-for-suspect-in-multiple-targeted-shootings/601372993" target="_blank">interview with the&nbsp;<i>Star Tribune</i></a>&nbsp;and other media outlets, Boelter’s roommate and childhood friend David Carlson shared a text message Boelter sent him at 6:03 a.m. saying that he would be “gone for a while” and “may be dead shortly.”

Federal and state warrants were out for Boelter’s arrest, and the FBI was offering a $50,000 award for information that led to Boelter’s capture.

On Sunday morning, law enforcement officers detained and questioned Boelter’s wife as she was driving through Mille Lacs County with other family members. Evans said Sunday none of Boelter’s family members are in custody.&nbsp;

Sunday afternoon, law enforcement officers located a car linked to Boelter in Sibley County within a few miles of his home address in Green Isle. From there, teams from dozens of law enforcement agencies fanned out in search of Boelter.&nbsp;

Boelter was spotted in the area, and officers converged around him, Evans said. He declined to provide some details of the tactics used by law enforcement to capture Boelter.

Law enforcement officials continue to investigate Boelter’s motives, Evans said, and urged the public not to jump to conclusions.&nbsp;

“We often want easy answers for complex problems, and this is a complex situation…those answers will come as we complete the full picture of our investigation,” he said.

Fragments of Boelter’s life available online, and interviews with those who know him, shed light on his religious and political beliefs.&nbsp;

Boelter’s LinkedIn page indicates that he spent many years working in food production before becoming the general manager of a 7-Eleven. More recently, he worked at funeral homes, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/us/politics/minnesota-shootings-gunman-suspect.html?searchResultPosition=1" target="_blank"><i>New York Times&nbsp;</i>reported</a>.

Boelter was facing financial stress after quitting his job to embark on business ventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Carlson, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.startribune.com/melissa-hortman-shooting-vance-boelter-suspect/601373342" target="_blank"><i>Star Tribune</i>&nbsp;reported</a>.

The website for a private security firm lists Boelter as the “director of security patrols,” and his wife as the CEO. He purchased some cars and uniforms but “it was never a real company,” Carlson told the&nbsp;<i>Strib</i>.

Carlson said Boelter is a Christian who strongly opposes abortion, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/us/politics/minnesota-shootings-gunman-suspect.html?searchResultPosition=1" target="_blank"><i>New York Times</i>&nbsp;reported</a>.

In recordings of sermons Boelter delivered in Matadi, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo,<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/shooting-minnesota-melissa-hortman-vance-boelter/" target="_blank">&nbsp;he railed against abortion and LGBTQ people</a>.&nbsp;

The reporting on Boelter’s religious life suggests that his beliefs were rooted in fundamentalism, though he doesn’t appear to have been ordained in any particular denomination, said Rev. Angela Denker, a Minnesota-based Lutheran minister, journalist and author of books on Christianity, right-wing politics and masculinity.

“What this kind of theology says is that if you commit violence in the name of whatever movement you’re a part of, then you’re going to be rewarded,” Denker said.

The gunman shot John Hoffman nine times, and Yvette Hoffman eight times, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/amyklobuchar/status/1934383694342434882" target="_blank">statement from Yvette</a>.

The Hoffmans’ nephew, Mat Ollig, wrote on Facebook that Yvette used her body to shield her daughter. John Hoffman is “enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,” Yvette Hoffman said in a statement.&nbsp;

On Sunday night as leaders spoke to the press, Boelter was being questioned by law enforcement, but officials declined to say where he was detained and which agency was questioning him.&nbsp;

On the steps of the State Capitol Sunday, mourners created an extemporaneous memorial for Hortman, who will be known as one of the most consequential progressive leaders in recent state history.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1750067581415.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><h2>The accused killer was a Christian who opposed abortion and LGBTQ rights</h2><p>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/author/madisonmcvan/">Madison McVan</a><br><a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/">Minnesota Reformer</a></p><p>Law enforcement officers on Sunday night arrested Vance Boelter, who is accused of assassinating Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home in Brooklyn Park as part of a larger plot to kill Democratic elected officials and other advocates of abortion rights.</p><p>Boelter is also accused of shooting Democratic-Farmer-Labor state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin. Both Hoffmans survived the shooting, but received surgeries for their injuries and remain hospitalized.&nbsp;</p><p>The arrest comes after a 43-hour manhunt — the largest in state history, according to Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley. Law enforcement officers had been searching all day after locating Boelter’s abandoned vehicle near Green Isle, where Boelter has a home.&nbsp;</p><p>At the time of his arrest, Boelter was armed, but ultimately surrendered. Officers did not use any force, said Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol.&nbsp;</p><p>In the state’s new Emergency Operations Center in Blaine —&nbsp;which was paid for by legislation passed by Hortman’s DFL-controlled House in 2020 — Gov. Tim Walz thanked law enforcement and decried political violence and hateful rhetoric.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1750068083285.png" alt="&nbsp;Vance Boelter, 57, was captured by law enforcement Sunday, June 15, 2025 in Sibley County. (Photo courtesy of Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)" />
                        <figcaption>&nbsp;Vance Boelter, 57, was captured by law enforcement Sunday, June 15, 2025 in Sibley County. (Photo courtesy of Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>“This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,” Walz said. “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 argue, debate an issue, shake hands, find common ground.”</p><p>Boelter is a Christian who voted for President Donald Trump and opposes abortion and LGBTQ rights, according to interviews with his childhood friend and videos of his sermons posted online. A list of potential targets — including Hoffman and Hortman — included abortion providers and other Democratic elected officials from Minnesota and Wisconsin.</p><p>The attack, which has shocked Minnesotans and the nation, comes amid&nbsp;<a href="https://www.startribune.com/shootings-of-minnesota-lawmakers-come-amid-national-rise-in-political-violence/601373083" target="_blank">rising political violence</a>&nbsp;since the emergence of President Donald Trump, who has made&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/10/trump-violent-rhetoric-timeline/680403/" target="_blank">repeated threats</a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-accused-inciting-violence-080032789.html" target="_blank">violence against his political enemies</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-finds-new-ways-praise-celebrate-jan-6-rioters-rcna156294" target="_blank">praised his supporters&nbsp;</a>who, for instance, attacked officers while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He later pardoned all of them. He survived two assassination attempts in 2024.&nbsp;</p><p>Authorities say Boelter attacked the Hoffmans at their home in Champlin at approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. An unsealed criminal complaint indicates that the Hoffmans’ daughter called the police to report the shooting of her parents, the<a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-lawmakers-shot-8ce70a94c9eb90688baaa1a71faef6cc" target="_blank">&nbsp;Associated Press reports</a>.</p><p>At around 3:30 a.m., Brooklyn Park police headed to the Hortmans’ home to proactively check on them following the attack on the Hoffmans, said Drew Evans, superintendent at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at a press conference Saturday morning.&nbsp;</p><p>When they arrived, the officers saw the attacker in a fake law enforcement uniform shoot Mark Hortman through the open front door, according to the complaint. Out front, emergency vehicle lights flashed from a Ford Explorer outfitted to look like a cop car. When the officers confronted the shooter, a gunfight ensued, and the killer escaped, abandoning the vehicle.</p><p>Inside, Hortman and her husband, Mark, were dead from gunshot wounds.</p><p>In the SUV, police found a document with a list of lawmakers and other officials on it. Hortman and Hoffman were on the list.</p><p>Evans said Sunday that the document is not a “traditional manifesto that’s a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings.” Instead, it contains a list of names and “other thoughts” throughout.</p><p>On Saturday afternoon, police raided a home in north Minneapolis where Boelter lived part time. In an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.startribune.com/brooklyn-park-police-searching-for-suspect-in-multiple-targeted-shootings/601372993" target="_blank">interview with the&nbsp;<i>Star Tribune</i></a>&nbsp;and other media outlets, Boelter’s roommate and childhood friend David Carlson shared a text message Boelter sent him at 6:03 a.m. saying that he would be “gone for a while” and “may be dead shortly.”</p><p>Federal and state warrants were out for Boelter’s arrest, and the FBI was offering a $50,000 award for information that led to Boelter’s capture.</p><p>On Sunday morning, law enforcement officers detained and questioned Boelter’s wife as she was driving through Mille Lacs County with other family members. Evans said Sunday none of Boelter’s family members are in custody.&nbsp;</p><p>Sunday afternoon, law enforcement officers located a car linked to Boelter in Sibley County within a few miles of his home address in Green Isle. From there, teams from dozens of law enforcement agencies fanned out in search of Boelter.&nbsp;</p><p>Boelter was spotted in the area, and officers converged around him, Evans said. He declined to provide some details of the tactics used by law enforcement to capture Boelter.</p><p>Law enforcement officials continue to investigate Boelter’s motives, Evans said, and urged the public not to jump to conclusions.&nbsp;</p><p>“We often want easy answers for complex problems, and this is a complex situation…those answers will come as we complete the full picture of our investigation,” he said.</p><p>Fragments of Boelter’s life available online, and interviews with those who know him, shed light on his religious and political beliefs.&nbsp;</p><p>Boelter’s LinkedIn page indicates that he spent many years working in food production before becoming the general manager of a 7-Eleven. More recently, he worked at funeral homes, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/us/politics/minnesota-shootings-gunman-suspect.html?searchResultPosition=1" target="_blank"><i>New York Times&nbsp;</i>reported</a>.</p><p>Boelter was facing financial stress after quitting his job to embark on business ventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Carlson, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.startribune.com/melissa-hortman-shooting-vance-boelter-suspect/601373342" target="_blank"><i>Star Tribune</i>&nbsp;reported</a>.</p><p>The website for a private security firm lists Boelter as the “director of security patrols,” and his wife as the CEO. He purchased some cars and uniforms but “it was never a real company,” Carlson told the&nbsp;<i>Strib</i>.</p><p>Carlson said Boelter is a Christian who strongly opposes abortion, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/us/politics/minnesota-shootings-gunman-suspect.html?searchResultPosition=1" target="_blank"><i>New York Times</i>&nbsp;reported</a>.</p><p>In recordings of sermons Boelter delivered in Matadi, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo,<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/shooting-minnesota-melissa-hortman-vance-boelter/" target="_blank">&nbsp;he railed against abortion and LGBTQ people</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>The reporting on Boelter’s religious life suggests that his beliefs were rooted in fundamentalism, though he doesn’t appear to have been ordained in any particular denomination, said Rev. Angela Denker, a Minnesota-based Lutheran minister, journalist and author of books on Christianity, right-wing politics and masculinity.</p><p>“What this kind of theology says is that if you commit violence in the name of whatever movement you’re a part of, then you’re going to be rewarded,” Denker said.</p><p>The gunman shot John Hoffman nine times, and Yvette Hoffman eight times, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/amyklobuchar/status/1934383694342434882" target="_blank">statement from Yvette</a>.</p><p>The Hoffmans’ nephew, Mat Ollig, wrote on Facebook that Yvette used her body to shield her daughter. John Hoffman is “enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,” Yvette Hoffman said in a statement.&nbsp;</p><p>On Sunday night as leaders spoke to the press, Boelter was being questioned by law enforcement, but officials declined to say where he was detained and which agency was questioning him.&nbsp;</p><p>On the steps of the State Capitol Sunday, mourners created an extemporaneous memorial for Hortman, who will be known as one of the most consequential progressive leaders in recent state history.</p>

Vance Boelter, accused of assassination of DFL House leader Melissa Hortman, apprehended

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1750038354580.png" alt="Photo Homeland Security" />
                        <figcaption>Photo Homeland Security</figcaption>
                    </figure><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/pWgVsSbpue">pic.twitter.com/pWgVsSbpue</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1934412489837400369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

Trump orders massive expansion of ICE raids in Democratic-run cities

Pope Leo XIV spoke to young people on Saturday in a message delivered via a video broadcast on the jumbotron at the White Sox baseball stadium in Chicago, his hometown.

<p>Pope Leo XIV spoke to young people on Saturday in a message delivered via a video broadcast on the jumbotron at the White Sox baseball stadium in Chicago, his hometown.</p><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K1dwENW-5hU?si=jkcVHGTRLsVOZkqX" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A joyous day at Rate Field. <a href="https://t.co/WUks17v63g">pic.twitter.com/WUks17v63g</a></p>&mdash; Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) <a href="https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/1934004738871242987?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥 In White Sox stadium broadcast, Pope Leo XIV spoke to young people

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sofia-resnick/">Sofia Resnick</a>&nbsp;<br><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/30/u-s-judge-rules-insurers-dont-have-to-cover-many-free-preventive-health-services/"><i>States Newsroom</i></a>

If the budget reconciliation package before the U.S. Senate becomes law in the coming weeks, reproductive health advocates say the provision that would cut federal funding to Planned Parenthood clinics could serve as a backdoor nationwide abortion ban, eliminating access to 1 in 4 abortion providers.

The Republican-led bill, which already&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-house-republicans-push-through-massive-tax-and-spending-bill-slashing-medicaid" target="_blank">passed the House</a>&nbsp;by a slim margin, is more than 1,000 pages and includes sweeping tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthy coupled with steep spending cuts to social services, including Medicaid.

On page 339 of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text" target="_blank">the bill</a>, Republicans included a provision prohibiting Medicaid funding from going to any sexual and reproductive health clinics that provide abortions and received more than $1 million in federal and state Medicaid funding in fiscal year 2024. While there may be a few independent clinics with operating budgets that high, it effectively singles out Planned Parenthood clinics.

Planned Parenthood clinics rely heavily on Medicaid funding, not to provide abortions, which is not permitted by federal law (except in cases of rape, incest or life-threatening health emergencies), but to provide standard reproductive health care at little to no cost, including treatment for sexually transmitted infections and cancer screenings, as well as contraception. Planned Parenthood provides services for about 2 million patients every year, and 64% of its clinics are in rural areas or places with health care provider shortages.

A Planned Parenthood spokesperson said people who use Medicaid make up half of the total patient volume nationwide for essential health care services provided by their clinics. Even though those patients aren’t seeking abortion care, funding cuts would affect the financial sustainability of those clinics, the spokesperson said.

The organization already identified that 200 of its clinics in 24 states are at risk of closure with the cuts but told States Newsroom on Thursday that further analysis revealed nearly all of those clinics — 90% — are in states where abortion is legal, and in 12 states, approximately 75% of abortion-providing Planned Parenthood health centers could close. The entire organization has about 600 clinics in 48 states.

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” would result in nearly 11 million people losing access to health insurance by 2034,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-backed-giant-tax-and-spending-bill-bloats-deficit-24t-nonpartisan-cbo-says" target="_blank">according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office</a>, and add $2.4 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years.

Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, told States Newsroom she and other advocates have been meeting with senators to lobby against the bill’s passage, emphasizing that it will have an outsized negative effect on rural clinics and hospitals.

“We are encouraging everyone to reach out to their representatives about this,” McGill Johnson said. “They know that they’re doing this under a watchful eye, and we want to make sure their constituents know about it.”

The defunding effort would be a win for several prominent anti-abortion organizations that have long lobbied for this change and nearly achieved it in 2017 with a similar budget bill. Americans United for Life sent a fundraising email to its supporters Thursday saying this is a “crossroads” for abortion in America.&nbsp;

“So far in 2025 more than a dozen Planned Parenthood clinics have closed, their taxpayer funding is hanging by a thread, and the highest-ranking federal health officials are undertaking a ‘top-to-bottom review’ on the abortion pill,” the email attributed to CEO John Mize said. “It’s possible that very soon, mail-order abortion could be walked back, and more Planned Parenthood locations could be closing their doors for good.”

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, another anti-abortion organization that helped draft the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint for the next Republican president, told States Newsroom in an emailed statement that the budget provision should be no surprise, and there are better uses for the funding, like community health centers.

“Republicans have identified budgetary concerns with funding Big Abortion since 2015, and the bill language to do so has remained substantially the same,” said SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser.

Closures would affect already fragile health care system, Midwest doctor says

Planned Parenthood has already closed some clinics around the country, including eight clinics across Iowa and Minnesota at the end of May. Dr. Sarah Traxler, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood North Central States, which includes Iowa and Minnesota, said the U.S. Health and Human Services’ decision to freeze Title X family planning funding to many reproductive health clinics at the<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-administration-targets-planned-parenthoods-family-planning-grants" target="_blank">&nbsp;beginning of May</a>&nbsp;contributed to the decision to close those clinics. The North Central States affiliates serve more than 93,000 patients each year, about 20,000 of which use telehealth services.

About 30% of those patients use Medicaid to access care, she said.

“When Planned Parenthood isn’t able to provide services to patients as an essential safety net provider, it has ripple effects across the health care system at large,” Traxler said. “We are already sitting in a time in our country, and have for several decades, where we have patients who can’t access care.”

Clare Coleman, president and CEO of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, told States Newsroom that 865 Title X clinics in 23 states are impacted by the federal freeze. She said there are no Title X services in eight states: California, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee and Utah. She said the funding freeze affects one-quarter of all Title X funding grantees, translating to about 842,000 patients who have lost access to care.

“In the two months since HHS withheld federal funding for nearly two dozen Title X family planning grants, affected grantees have been struggling with the unknown of whether they will ever receive the vital funds,” Coleman said in an email. “Some have had to close clinics, lay off staff, and reduce essential contraceptive and sexual health care services. … On top of the Title X funding freeze, proposed Medicaid cuts will be devastating for Title X grantees. Rates of unintended pregnancies and STIs will increase, cancer screenings and diagnoses will be delayed, and decades of public health progress will be reversed.”

After the Iowa Legislature axed Planned Parenthood from its family planning program, Traxler said, the rates of sexually transmitted infections increased considerably across the state — an outcome verified by a&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2797344" target="_blank">2022 medical study</a>. She expects similar effects from these cuts.

People already travel long distances for abortion care, she said, and that will only get worse if more cuts come to pass. But she also expects to see patients start traveling long distances for routine gynecological care.

‘Changes to Medicaid … only adds to the chaos’

Like many independent abortion clinics, the all-trimester Maryland abortion clinic Partners in Abortion Care does not receive Title X funding. But because Maryland is one of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/the-hyde-amendment-and-coverage-for-abortion-services-under-medicaid-in-the-post-roe-era/#:~:text=Because%20Medicaid%20is%20jointly%20funded,abortion%20services%20for%20Medicaid%20enrollees." target="_blank">17 states</a>&nbsp;whose Medicaid program covers abortions, they do see a lot of patients who are on Medicaid, at a significant cost to the clinic. Certified nurse-midwife and Partners co-founder Morgan Nuzzo said the clinic did not receive more than $1 million in federal or state Medicaid dollars in fiscal year 2024, and in fact loses about $1 million annually for seeing Medicaid patients.

Nuzzo said Maryland’s Medicaid program reimburses first-trimester abortions at a “decent rate,” but at a very low rate for later abortion cases, which are more medically complex.

“After about 15 to 16 weeks [gestation], we’re losing money on these cases,” Nuzzo said. “We’ve been billing now for almost a year through the state. In second and third-trimester abortion care, we’re losing about 85% of what we would charge for a cash pay fee. So that comes out to about $250,000 a quarter that we are losing just by the under-reimbursement from Maryland Medicaid.”

For that reason, Nuzzo is hopeful about Maryland’s new $25 million&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/bill-creating-abortion-grant-fund-under-and-uninsured-gains-momentum-house-senate" target="_blank">Public Health Abortion Grant Program</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0930" target="_blank">recently approved</a>&nbsp;by Gov. Wes Moore. The program will be open to clinics like Partners and abortion funds like the Baltimore Abortion Fund, but Nuzzo said it could be a while before that funding is available. Right now she is uncertain and concerned about how the federal reconciliation bill could potentially impact Maryland’s Medicaid program.&nbsp;

Because Partners provides abortions for all trimesters, they see patients from all over the country, and even the world, and the vast majority need financial assistance, Nuzzo said.

“People are traveling further for their procedures, just like they were before,” she said. “The landscape is constantly changing, almost week to week, about where you can access abortion, which is confusing and chaotic to patients. Changes to Medicaid and insurance coverage of abortion only adds to the chaos.”

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/10/1665657445227.png" alt="&nbsp;Planned Parenthood has identified 200 of its clinics in 24 states that are at risk of closure through federal cuts under the budget reconciliation package before the U.S. Senate. -Google image" />
                        <figcaption>&nbsp;Planned Parenthood has identified 200 of its clinics in 24 states that are at risk of closure through federal cuts under the budget reconciliation package before the U.S. Senate. -Google image</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sofia-resnick/">Sofia Resnick</a>&nbsp;<br><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/30/u-s-judge-rules-insurers-dont-have-to-cover-many-free-preventive-health-services/"><i>States Newsroom</i></a></p><p>If the budget reconciliation package before the U.S. Senate becomes law in the coming weeks, reproductive health advocates say the provision that would cut federal funding to Planned Parenthood clinics could serve as a backdoor nationwide abortion ban, eliminating access to 1 in 4 abortion providers.</p><p>The Republican-led bill, which already&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-house-republicans-push-through-massive-tax-and-spending-bill-slashing-medicaid" target="_blank">passed the House</a>&nbsp;by a slim margin, is more than 1,000 pages and includes sweeping tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthy coupled with steep spending cuts to social services, including Medicaid.</p><p>On page 339 of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text" target="_blank">the bill</a>, Republicans included a provision prohibiting Medicaid funding from going to any sexual and reproductive health clinics that provide abortions and received more than $1 million in federal and state Medicaid funding in fiscal year 2024. While there may be a few independent clinics with operating budgets that high, it effectively singles out Planned Parenthood clinics.</p><p>Planned Parenthood clinics rely heavily on Medicaid funding, not to provide abortions, which is not permitted by federal law (except in cases of rape, incest or life-threatening health emergencies), but to provide standard reproductive health care at little to no cost, including treatment for sexually transmitted infections and cancer screenings, as well as contraception. Planned Parenthood provides services for about 2 million patients every year, and 64% of its clinics are in rural areas or places with health care provider shortages.</p><p>A Planned Parenthood spokesperson said people who use Medicaid make up half of the total patient volume nationwide for essential health care services provided by their clinics. Even though those patients aren’t seeking abortion care, funding cuts would affect the financial sustainability of those clinics, the spokesperson said.</p><p>The organization already identified that 200 of its clinics in 24 states are at risk of closure with the cuts but told States Newsroom on Thursday that further analysis revealed nearly all of those clinics — 90% — are in states where abortion is legal, and in 12 states, approximately 75% of abortion-providing Planned Parenthood health centers could close. The entire organization has about 600 clinics in 48 states.</p><p>The “One Big Beautiful Bill” would result in nearly 11 million people losing access to health insurance by 2034,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-backed-giant-tax-and-spending-bill-bloats-deficit-24t-nonpartisan-cbo-says" target="_blank">according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office</a>, and add $2.4 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years.</p><p>Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, told States Newsroom she and other advocates have been meeting with senators to lobby against the bill’s passage, emphasizing that it will have an outsized negative effect on rural clinics and hospitals.</p><p>“We are encouraging everyone to reach out to their representatives about this,” McGill Johnson said. “They know that they’re doing this under a watchful eye, and we want to make sure their constituents know about it.”</p><p>The defunding effort would be a win for several prominent anti-abortion organizations that have long lobbied for this change and nearly achieved it in 2017 with a similar budget bill. Americans United for Life sent a fundraising email to its supporters Thursday saying this is a “crossroads” for abortion in America.&nbsp;</p><p>“So far in 2025 more than a dozen Planned Parenthood clinics have closed, their taxpayer funding is hanging by a thread, and the highest-ranking federal health officials are undertaking a ‘top-to-bottom review’ on the abortion pill,” the email attributed to CEO John Mize said. “It’s possible that very soon, mail-order abortion could be walked back, and more Planned Parenthood locations could be closing their doors for good.”</p><p>Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, another anti-abortion organization that helped draft the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint for the next Republican president, told States Newsroom in an emailed statement that the budget provision should be no surprise, and there are better uses for the funding, like community health centers.</p><p>“Republicans have identified budgetary concerns with funding Big Abortion since 2015, and the bill language to do so has remained substantially the same,” said SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser.</p><h2>Closures would affect already fragile health care system, Midwest doctor says</h2><p>Planned Parenthood has already closed some clinics around the country, including eight clinics across Iowa and Minnesota at the end of May. Dr. Sarah Traxler, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood North Central States, which includes Iowa and Minnesota, said the U.S. Health and Human Services’ decision to freeze Title X family planning funding to many reproductive health clinics at the<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-administration-targets-planned-parenthoods-family-planning-grants" target="_blank">&nbsp;beginning of May</a>&nbsp;contributed to the decision to close those clinics. The North Central States affiliates serve more than 93,000 patients each year, about 20,000 of which use telehealth services.</p><p>About 30% of those patients use Medicaid to access care, she said.</p><p>“When Planned Parenthood isn’t able to provide services to patients as an essential safety net provider, it has ripple effects across the health care system at large,” Traxler said. “We are already sitting in a time in our country, and have for several decades, where we have patients who can’t access care.”</p><p>Clare Coleman, president and CEO of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, told States Newsroom that 865 Title X clinics in 23 states are impacted by the federal freeze. She said there are no Title X services in eight states: California, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee and Utah. She said the funding freeze affects one-quarter of all Title X funding grantees, translating to about 842,000 patients who have lost access to care.</p><p>“In the two months since HHS withheld federal funding for nearly two dozen Title X family planning grants, affected grantees have been struggling with the unknown of whether they will ever receive the vital funds,” Coleman said in an email. “Some have had to close clinics, lay off staff, and reduce essential contraceptive and sexual health care services. … On top of the Title X funding freeze, proposed Medicaid cuts will be devastating for Title X grantees. Rates of unintended pregnancies and STIs will increase, cancer screenings and diagnoses will be delayed, and decades of public health progress will be reversed.”</p><p>After the Iowa Legislature axed Planned Parenthood from its family planning program, Traxler said, the rates of sexually transmitted infections increased considerably across the state — an outcome verified by a&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2797344" target="_blank">2022 medical study</a>. She expects similar effects from these cuts.</p><p>People already travel long distances for abortion care, she said, and that will only get worse if more cuts come to pass. But she also expects to see patients start traveling long distances for routine gynecological care.</p><h2>‘Changes to Medicaid … only adds to the chaos’</h2><p>Like many independent abortion clinics, the all-trimester Maryland abortion clinic Partners in Abortion Care does not receive Title X funding. But because Maryland is one of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/the-hyde-amendment-and-coverage-for-abortion-services-under-medicaid-in-the-post-roe-era/#:~:text=Because%20Medicaid%20is%20jointly%20funded,abortion%20services%20for%20Medicaid%20enrollees." target="_blank">17 states</a>&nbsp;whose Medicaid program covers abortions, they do see a lot of patients who are on Medicaid, at a significant cost to the clinic. Certified nurse-midwife and Partners co-founder Morgan Nuzzo said the clinic did not receive more than $1 million in federal or state Medicaid dollars in fiscal year 2024, and in fact loses about $1 million annually for seeing Medicaid patients.</p><p>Nuzzo said Maryland’s Medicaid program reimburses first-trimester abortions at a “decent rate,” but at a very low rate for later abortion cases, which are more medically complex.</p><p>“After about 15 to 16 weeks [gestation], we’re losing money on these cases,” Nuzzo said. “We’ve been billing now for almost a year through the state. In second and third-trimester abortion care, we’re losing about 85% of what we would charge for a cash pay fee. So that comes out to about $250,000 a quarter that we are losing just by the under-reimbursement from Maryland Medicaid.”</p><p>For that reason, Nuzzo is hopeful about Maryland’s new $25 million&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/bill-creating-abortion-grant-fund-under-and-uninsured-gains-momentum-house-senate" target="_blank">Public Health Abortion Grant Program</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0930" target="_blank">recently approved</a>&nbsp;by Gov. Wes Moore. The program will be open to clinics like Partners and abortion funds like the Baltimore Abortion Fund, but Nuzzo said it could be a while before that funding is available. Right now she is uncertain and concerned about how the federal reconciliation bill could potentially impact Maryland’s Medicaid program.&nbsp;</p><p>Because Partners provides abortions for all trimesters, they see patients from all over the country, and even the world, and the vast majority need financial assistance, Nuzzo said.</p><p>“People are traveling further for their procedures, just like they were before,” she said. “The landscape is constantly changing, almost week to week, about where you can access abortion, which is confusing and chaotic to patients. Changes to Medicaid and insurance coverage of abortion only adds to the chaos.”</p>

Planned Parenthood at risk of closing hundreds of clinics across the country

WASHINGTON —The U.S. Army will celebrate 250 years with a massive military parade in Washington.

<a href="https://www.c-span.org/event/public-affairs-event/us-army-250th-anniversary-parade-celebration/433796">Click here to watch 5p.m. CDT</a>

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1749938645524.png" alt="Image courtesy CSPAN" />
                        <figcaption>Image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>WASHINGTON —The U.S. Army will celebrate 250 years with a massive military parade in Washington.</p><p><a href="https://www.c-span.org/event/public-affairs-event/us-army-250th-anniversary-parade-celebration/433796">Click here to watch 5p.m. CDT</a></p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump Participates in the 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Army Grand Military Parade<br><br>📱Text &quot;POTUS&quot; to 45470 for Updates from the Trump White House <a href="https://t.co/kXBxoeTbV5">https://t.co/kXBxoeTbV5</a></p>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1934009052872278049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥U.S. Army 250th Anniversary Parade

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/author/michelle/">Michelle Griffith</a><br><a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/">Minnesota Reformer</a>

House Democratic-Farmer-Labor caucus leader Melissa Hortman, who was among the most influential Minnesota elected officials of the past decade, died on Saturday morning after a man impersonating a police officer shot her in her Brooklyn Park home, Gov. Tim Walz said.

Hortman’s husband was also shot and killed, the governor said.

&nbsp; (Click below to watch Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz statement.)

Walz, appearing emotional at a press conference in the north metro, said they were killed in an apparent “politically motivated assassination.”

“Our state lost a great leader, and I lost the dearest of friends,” Walz said. “(Hortman) was a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota.”

Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot multiple times earlier in the evening in their Champlin home. Walz said they were out of surgery, and that he’s “cautiously optimistic they will survive this assassination attempt.”

Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said Champlin law enforcement received a call at about 2 a.m. that a person shot Hoffman and his wife.&nbsp;

Brooklyn Park Police Department Chief Mark Bruley said his officers assisted with the Champlin shooting; a sergeant suggested checking in on Hortman’s home. They live about five to eight miles away from each other. When Brooklyn Park police officers arrived at Hortman’s home, they encountered a person who was dressed like a police officer who “immediately fired at them,” Evans said. Police exchanged gunfire with the person, but they were able to escape.

The shooter is still at large, and Brooklyn Park is under a shelter-in-place order. Hundreds of police officers and SWAT teams are conducting a manhunt for the person, officials said.

Bruley said that when they arrived at Hortman’s home, they saw a police SUV with its lights on and saw the suspect was impersonating a police officer.

In the SUV, police found a “manifesto,” with a list of lawmakers and other officials on it. Hortman and Hoffman were on the list.

Hortman, who has two adult children, was first elected to the Legislature 2004 and served as House Speaker from 2019-2024. She lost two elections before winning, which she said gave her an understanding of what it takes to win swing seats and hold them.

Her speakership will be remembered as among the most consequential in recent Minnesota political history. With Walz and Senate GOP Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, she guided the state through the pandemic before helping Democrats achieve a trifecta in the 2022 election.

During the 2023 legislative session, she helped bridge the wide gulf between moderates and progressives in her caucus to achieve a historic legislative agenda. Democrats codified abortion rights in law; invested in education, including universal schools meals, as well as transportation and housing; created paid family leave; legalized cannabis; and passed gun control laws.

The encomiums poured in Saturday. “There is no greater champion for Minnesota’s working people than Melissa Hortman,” said Joel Smith, President and Business Manager of LIUNA Minnesota and North Dakota, the laborers union.

Hoffman was elected in 2012 and is known for his work on human services.

The<i>&nbsp;Reformer</i>&nbsp;sat down with Hortman at the Capitol on Thursday to discuss the 2025 session, which ended on Monday.

During his remarks Saturday, Walz denounced political violence and said the people involved in the shooting would be caught and held responsible.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1749912930519.png" alt="Former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman courtesy photo" />
                        <figcaption>Former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman courtesy photo</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/author/michelle/">Michelle Griffith</a><br><a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/">Minnesota Reformer</a></p><p>House Democratic-Farmer-Labor caucus leader Melissa Hortman, who was among the most influential Minnesota elected officials of the past decade, died on Saturday morning after a man impersonating a police officer shot her in her Brooklyn Park home, Gov. Tim Walz said.</p><p>Hortman’s husband was also shot and killed, the governor said.</p><p>&nbsp; (Click below to watch Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz statement.)</p><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VHtHNAbFnow?si=bDqgF_TC1GA4uEsT&amp;start=29" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Statement from President Donald J. Trump<br><br>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…</p>&mdash; Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1933910353718497656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The FBI is fully engaged on the ground in Minnesota and is working in collaboration with our local and state partners.</p>&mdash; Dan Bongino (@FBIDDBongino) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIDDBongino/status/1933903879042728255?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><h2></h2><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/6/1749913092402.png" alt="Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman -photo courtesy Minnesota Senate" />
                        <figcaption>Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman -photo courtesy Minnesota Senate</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Walz, appearing emotional at a press conference in the north metro, said they were killed in an apparent “politically motivated assassination.”</p><p>“Our state lost a great leader, and I lost the dearest of friends,” Walz said. “(Hortman) was a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota.”</p><p>Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot multiple times earlier in the evening in their Champlin home. Walz said they were out of surgery, and that he’s “cautiously optimistic they will survive this assassination attempt.”</p><p>Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said Champlin law enforcement received a call at about 2 a.m. that a person shot Hoffman and his wife.&nbsp;</p><p>Brooklyn Park Police Department Chief Mark Bruley said his officers assisted with the Champlin shooting; a sergeant suggested checking in on Hortman’s home. They live about five to eight miles away from each other. When Brooklyn Park police officers arrived at Hortman’s home, they encountered a person who was dressed like a police officer who “immediately fired at them,” Evans said. Police exchanged gunfire with the person, but they were able to escape.</p><p>The shooter is still at large, and Brooklyn Park is under a shelter-in-place order. Hundreds of police officers and SWAT teams are conducting a manhunt for the person, officials said.</p><p>Bruley said that when they arrived at Hortman’s home, they saw a police SUV with its lights on and saw the suspect was impersonating a police officer.</p><p>In the SUV, police found a “manifesto,” with a list of lawmakers and other officials on it. Hortman and Hoffman were on the list.</p><p>Hortman, who has two adult children, was first elected to the Legislature 2004 and served as House Speaker from 2019-2024. She lost two elections before winning, which she said gave her an understanding of what it takes to win swing seats and hold them.</p><p>Her speakership will be remembered as among the most consequential in recent Minnesota political history. With Walz and Senate GOP Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, she guided the state through the pandemic before helping Democrats achieve a trifecta in the 2022 election.</p><p>During the 2023 legislative session, she helped bridge the wide gulf between moderates and progressives in her caucus to achieve a historic legislative agenda. Democrats codified abortion rights in law; invested in education, including universal schools meals, as well as transportation and housing; created paid family leave; legalized cannabis; and passed gun control laws.</p><p>The encomiums poured in Saturday. “There is no greater champion for Minnesota’s working people than Melissa Hortman,” said Joel Smith, President and Business Manager of LIUNA Minnesota and North Dakota, the laborers union.</p><p>Hoffman was elected in 2012 and is known for his work on human services.</p><p>The<i>&nbsp;Reformer</i>&nbsp;sat down with Hortman at the Capitol on Thursday to discuss the 2025 session, which ended on Monday.</p><p>During his remarks Saturday, Walz denounced political violence and said the people involved in the shooting would be caught and held responsible.</p><p><i></i>“This was an act of targeted political violence. Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint,” Walz said.</p><p>House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, who worked closely with Hortman in the Legislature to negotiate a state budget this year, said she was horrified by Hortman’s murder.</p><p>“I am horrified by the evil attack that took place overnight, and heartbroken beyond words by the loss of Speaker-Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark,” Demuth said in a statement.</p>