Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were remembered at their funeral on Saturday as “extraordinary public servants” who were killed in an inexplicable act of political violence.
Their wooden caskets rested side by side inside the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis as hundreds of political colleagues, friends and relatives sat shoulder to shoulder in the pews to say goodbye to the couple, who were assassinated at their suburban Minneapolis home earlier in June.
Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris joined the mourners for the somber Catholic funeral Mass, though neither spoke during the service.
Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, his eyes red from crying, delivered the eulogy. He praised Ms. Hortman as a consequential and compassionate political leader and Mr. Hortman as her proudest supporter. He said their shared legacy included improving roads and bridges, and free school lunches and expanded preschool for children.
“Millions of Minnesotans will get to live their lives better because she and Mark chose public service,” Mr. Walz said.
He referred only obliquely to the June 14 attack that has forced people across Minnesota and the country to grapple with recent political violence.
Mr. Walz focused on the Hortmans’ political commitment and their love of gardening, playing billiards and making sourdough and margaritas, letting their lives stand in contrast with their killings.
“Maybe this is a moment when each of us can examine the way we work together, the way we talk about each other, the way we fight for the things we care about,” Mr. Walz said. “A moment when each of us can recommit to engaging in politics and life the way Mark and Melissa did: fiercely, enthusiastically, heartily, but without ever losing sight of our common humanity.”
Several people wiped tears during Mr. Walz’s eulogy, which included some moments of levity about the Capitol’s chilly, poorly lit rooms and Mr. Hortman’s love of ’80s music.
In his homily, Father Daniel Griffith said the Hortmans’ killings had made Minnesota ground zero for political violence and extremism in the United States, just as the murder of George Floyd in 2020 had made the state an epicenter for a national debate over racial injustice.
“Both of these must be decried in the strongest possible terms,” Father Griffith said. “They are, respectively, a threat to human dignity and indeed our democracy.”
The authorities say a 57-year-old suspect impersonating a police officer fatally shot the Hortmans at their home in the suburb of Brooklyn Park, the same night he shot and seriously wounded another Democratic Minnesota lawmaker and his wife. The suspect had named dozens of other potential political targets, the authorities said.
The funeral on Saturday was an extraordinary tableau that mixed public and private grief with hope that some good could be salvaged from the Hortmans’ deaths. Between hymns and Gospel readings, mourners offered public prayers asking for an end to violence, hate and division.
The funeral was the culmination of an outpouring of mourning across Minnesota. On Friday, Mr. Biden joined thousands of politicians and everyday Minnesotans who streamed into the Capitol rotunda, where the Hortmans lay in state, surrounded by photos and flowers. An urn containing the ashes of their golden retriever, Gilbert, who was also killed in the attack, sat beside them.
On Saturday, as the service began, a priest blessed the Hortmans’ caskets as their son, Colin, broke down in tears and reached for the hand of his sister, Sophie. Mr. Walz, one of the pallbearers, cried as he accompanied the caskets to the front of the church. He embraced Ms. Harris, his 2024 presidential running mate, as they took their seats.
Before an honor guard escorted the Hortmans’ caskets out of the church, Colin Hortman stood and quoted from the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. He said his mother kept the prayer in her wallet as a constant reminder of her personal “Golden Rule.” It read in part, “Where there is hatred, let me sow love.”
“It never left her side,” he said.
Ernesto Londoño contributed reporting from St. Paul, Minn.
Jack Healy is a Phoenix-based national correspondent for The Times who focuses on the politics and climate of the Southwest. He has worked in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s journalism school.
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