Two Democrats Were Shot, One is Dead, Why Has the USA Moved On?
Political violence, if ignored, will become the norm.
On June 14, 2025, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman was shot and killed alongside her husband in a targeted attack at their home. That same night, State Senator John Hoffmann and his wife were also shot. Hoffmann survived. Police later confirmed the attacker was politically motivated, armed and armored, and had a hit list that included other Democratic lawmakers and abortion-rights supporters.
One month later, the USA barely remembers.
This wasn’t a random act of violence. This was a calculated political assassination, a deliberate strike against elected officials in the United States for their beliefs, votes, and advocacy. And yet the country didn’t stop. Cable news ran it for a few days, then silence.
Compare that to how long the news cycle clings to spectacle. Celebrity trials. Stolen statues. Nonsense spats on Capitol Hill. But when two public servants are gunned down in their homes for daring to represent the people, the media yawns and moves on. What does that say about where the United States is headed?
This isn’t just a threat to Democrats. It’s a threat to everyone who participates in democracy. If political violence can kill sitting lawmakers without triggering national reflection or reform, then the system is already eroding. We are normalizing the abnormal. Shrugging off assassinations as another news blip.
The attack on Hortman and Hoffmann was a test. A test of whether this country still defends its public servants. A test of whether we draw the line at killing someone over political disagreement. And we failed it. Not because we didn’t care, but because we didn’t care enough.
This moment should have cracked the foundation. It should have sparked emergency sessions, a national address, marches, and legislation. But nothing came. No red line was drawn. No lesson was learned. And so the silence becomes complicity. The indifference becomes permission.
We cannot allow political murder to fade into the noise. We cannot let silence bury justice. We cannot let this be the new normal. Because if we do, the next names on the list won’t surprise anyone. They will just be the next headline we scroll past.