AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman.

After the biggest manhunt in Minnesota history, authorities have detained a 57-year-old man accused of assassinating former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband in their home early Saturday. The suspect, Vance Boelter, is also accused of shooting and wounding state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette at their home.

Authorities say Boelter carried out the shootings while disguised as a police officer. Security footage shows Boelter wearing a mask and a police vest and a badge as he approached Hoffman’s front door in Champlin with a flashlight and a gun.

Authorities say they were alerted to the attacks by a 911 call made after the initial attack on Hoffman and his wife by their daughter Hope, who was at home with her parents. Hoffman was shot nine times, his wife Yvette eight times. She reportedly threw herself in front of her daughter Hope to shield her. Hope was not shot.

After police learned the shooting victim was a state legislator, they said they sent officers to the nearby home of Senator Hortman in Brooklyn Park, and when they arrived around 3:35 a.m., they found suspect’s SUV in the driveway. The Minnesota Star Tribune reports, quote, “An officer watched as Boelter shot Mark Hortman through the front door,” and, “After an exchange of gunfire, Boelter retreated inside the house and escaped.” Police say they then found Melissa and Mark Hortman shot dead inside their home.

In Boelter’s car, police found three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9mm handgun, a hit list written by the gunman that contained the names of about 70 people, including prominent Democratic lawmakers and abortion providers and advocates, naming Planned Parenthood. Flyers for Saturday’s No Kings rallies were also found. This prompted many organizers in Minnesota to cancel their protests.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz spoke Sunday night, denounced political violence.

GOV. TIM WALZ: A moment in this country where we watch violence erupt, this cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences. Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country.

AMY GOODMAN: Governor Walz has also paid tribute to Melissa Hortman, who served as House speaker in Minnesota from 2019 'til earlier this year, her legislative victories including codifying the right to abortion in Minnesota's Constitution and providing free school lunches to children.

The alleged gunman, Vance Boelter, is reportedly a conservative evangelical Christian who’s posted on social media that he’s strongly against abortion and LGBTQ rights.

For more, we’re joined in Minneapolis by Patricia Torres Ray, who is a former Minnesota state senator who worked closely with Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and state Senator John Hoffman.

Our deepest condolences to you and your community. Can you talk about who the House speaker was and what this means in your state and for this country?

PATRICIA TORRES RAY: Melissa Hortman was an outstanding leader that was very loved and respected by many people, and what this means for us is that we lost a leader that was very important to us, not only to our communities, as a human being and as a leader who did impactful work, but also, obviously, as a mother, as a friend. And we are not only shocked, but incredibly saddened. Melissa Hortman has been defined as the most consequential leader of the House in Minnesota history, and I agree with that statement. I think she has been the most consequential leader in our community. So we are profoundly sad and shocked, really, with the circumstances.

AMY GOODMAN: Your —

PATRICIA TORRES RAY: It is so hard to us [inaudible] — 

AMY GOODMAN: Your whole community has been terrorized for two days because the alleged assassin wasn’t caught for 43 hours. Can you tell us more about who the former House Speaker Melissa Hortman — about her legacy? We just said that she had pushed to codify abortion in the Minnesota Constitution, fought for free school lunches for children in need. Can you tell us more?

PATRICIA TORRES RAY: Yes, I have a long list of her accomplishments as a leader, and I could go on, you know, to name a few of them. But I also want to talk a little bit about her leadership style, because I believe that that is really the most important thing that we need to review, especially in these times when it is difficult to galvanize a group of leaders that is as diverse as the House DFL caucus is.

Melissa Hortman led a caucus of members that is the most diverse that we’ve ever had in the state of Minnesota. Thirty-two people of color and Indigenous people serve in that caucus, and we have very active, outstanding transgender members. So, what Melissa Hortman was able to do in Minnesota is really galvanize her caucus and really appoint these leaders to serve in a collaborative, collective manner. And what we saw, and what I saw as a Latina woman, was for the first time in the state of Minnesota, people of color in positions of power working with the leader to solve significant problems.

And it was that coalition that really allowed her to move significant policy that we have not been able to do in a progressive state as the state of Minnesota, where we have the largest disparities in the country. So, they were able to move, you know, child tax credits. She was very proud to move family and medical paid leave in Minnesota. We have the strongest protections for transgender people in the state of Minnesota. We legalized recreational marijuana. We passed driver’s licenses for all people, regardless of their legal status. We did the largest increase for public education. We have free college for people who make under $80,000 in Minnesota. And I can go on. The list is — 

AMY GOODMAN: Well, let me — 

PATRICIA TORRES RAY: — just incredibly long. We have —

AMY GOODMAN: Let me bring people Minnesota former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman in her own words, interviewed by CBS News Minnesota reporter Esme Murphy. In this clip, Hortman is discussing that new paid family leave program and paid sick leave mandate recently passed by the Legislature.

SPEAKER MELISSA HORTMAN: While a lot of white-collar workers have this benefit, or highly compensated people already have this benefit, most workers in the state don’t have the ability to take paid time off when somebody in their family has cancer and needs to be taken care of. A lot of Minnesotans, when a member of their family is sick right now, they have to choose between staying at home and taking care of their loved one and not being able to pay their mortgage or going to work and having their loved one not get the care that they need. But January 1st next year, that all changes.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s the former House Speaker Melissa Hortman earlier this year. So painful to see her voice — hear her voice. And it was Hope, the daughter of the Hoffmans, who were shot multiple times — her mother Yvette protected her — who saved so many by calling 911. You knew Hope — you know Hope. Can you talk about her significance in what she did, in these last 20 seconds?

PATRICIA TORRES RAY: I am not surprised at all that Hope will have the courage in that moment to make that call and do what she had to do. She is the only daughter of a loving couple that just adore her, and she has been working in multiple issues on behalf of people with disabilities, just like her father. And —

AMY GOODMAN: I’m going to have to end there — 

PATRICIA TORRES RAY: — we know Hope. We know Hope.

AMY GOODMAN: — but I thank you so much for your participation on today’s show, Patricia Torres Ray, former Minnesota senator, worked closely with Minnesota former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and state Senator John Hoffman. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us.