State officials on Saturday urged people to not attend dozens of planned “No Kings” protests across Minnesota, as the suspect in the fatal shooting of a longtime state lawmaker earlier in the day remained at large — though crowds still showed up for the rallies.
Minnesota House DFL leader Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were fatally shot early Saturday at their home in Brooklyn Park. Another Democratic lawmaker, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, were also shot and wounded at their home in Champlin.
Officials said the suspect in both shootings was impersonating a police officer, and remained at large as of midday Saturday — as the planned protests of Trump administration actions were set to begin, including one expected to draw thousands of people to the State Capitol in St. Paul.
The State Patrol issued a statement at around 11 a.m. “asking the public to not attend today’s planned demonstrations across Minnesota out of an abundance of caution.” Despite the warning, an estimated 25,000 – 30,000 people showed up at the Capitol on Saturday afternoon, said Lt. Mike Lee, State Patrol public information officer.
State law enforcement officials said flyers with “No Kings” printed on them were found in the suspect’s vehicle.
“We have no understanding that any of the No Kings events would be targeted. But we also find it of interest to the public that these (flyers) would be in there, and we want to alert everybody,” Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said at a late-morning news conference.
At least one smaller “No Kings” event was canceled, but crowds of people still showed up for the Capitol rally. Organizers said just after noon that they were proceeding with the event amid a “fluid” situation — though Gov. Tim Walz would not be speaking as initially planned.
Jan Jernell of Shoreview was among the crowd at the Capitol, telling MPR News that “I’m a little more concerned that I might have been yesterday — but I'm also really pissed.”
Jernell said she did not fear for her safety and wanted to be at the rally because “so much awful stuff is happening.”
“I started out caring so much about the environment — and now it's everything. Everything,” she said.
At another “No Kings” rally in Northfield, there was a moment of silence for the victims of the shootings.
Rev. Cindy Maddox, senior minister of the First United Church of Christ of Northfield, had already been planning to provide the blessing at the event — and offered to organizers to also include a prayer and moment of silence.
“Violence won’t stop us. Threats of violence won’t stop us,” she said. “Yes, we all need to be safe, and we all need to make the decisions for ourselves and our families that are right, and I do not blame anyone who stayed home today. I left my son at home, you know? But threatening violence can't silence justice. It can't silence the voices that are calling for change.”
MPR News reporters Mark Zdechlik, Feven Gerezgiher and Cait Kelley contributed to this report.
