To Julia Coleman, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk were just “Melissa” and “Charlie.”
Coleman, a Republican state senator, knew Hortman, a Democrat, through their work in the Minnesota legislature. The two had discussed reopening the Capitol day care center, while sitting in Hortman’s office sharing tequila and Milano cookies. Coleman was Turning Point USA’s first Minnesota employee, and Kirk, her first boss, became a decades-long friend.
On June 14, Melissa was shot dead.
On Sept. 10, so was Charlie.
Coleman, 34, watched in horror as her online feeds became clouded with a thickening haze of baseless and speculative ideas about her former colleagues’ deaths.
“When I see people spreading horrible conspiracy theories that are completely based out of nothing and dishonor the person who passed away, I feel compelled to say something,” Coleman said. “More elected officials have to stop sitting on their hands and start calling it out.”
That is what she is trying to do.
On the Sunday after Christmas, Coleman stood in her kitchen, making dinner for her family, when she saw a post that infuriated her. The user claimed Hortman’s assassination was connected to a fraud scandal in Minnesota, and they implied Hortman knew her life was in danger. (There is no evidence supporting either of these claims.)
“This is sick,” Coleman thought to herself. She began to type.
“I am a Minnesota Republican legislator. I never agreed with Melissa. Not once. But I’m begging people to stop sharing this conspiracy theory,” Coleman wrote. “Please, unless you have evidence, stop trying to get social media clout off the death of a good person that you know nothing about.”
Within 24 hours, her post attracted more than a million views.
Responses have been mostly positive, she said. Coleman sees conspiracies and misinformation trending more on her own side, the political right, but believes it’s a problem that transcends partisan loyalties. In Minnesota, traumatized legislators have stayed away from Hortman and Kirk conspiracy theories, and many have been speaking out against them, Coleman said.
Hours after her first post, Coleman followed up: “I’ve learned two things today 1) invest in tinfoil (for hats on both sides of the aisle) 2) buy a bunch of jumbo crayons and construction paper for explaining basic concepts to people this upcoming year.” Others, including former Minnesota Senate majority leader Paul Gazelka, a Republican, have also come out to slam the rumors.
Legislators have watched as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) has borne the brunt of recent attacks, with some people claiming baselessly that Walz was involved with Hortman’s assassination.
The conspiracists have relied on a video of Hortman in tears after she voted to end a budget deadlock by supporting a spending plan that cut health benefits for people who are in the country illegally. Coleman has said that Hortman was upset because she knew people would lose health care, and that there is no evidence of any link between the shooting and the scandal, which involves allegations of improper social services payments to dozens of Somali immigrants.
Kirk conspiracies are tied to unproven claims that the political activist’s killing was related to his stance on Israel.
Coleman saw the governor at a bill signing shortly after Hortman was killed. Walz had lost weight. His eyes were clouded with pain. “It’s got to be hard that people are sitting there thinking he did that or would order that to be done just because a crazy man said it to be true,” Coleman said.
A spokesperson for Walz did not respond to a request for comment.
After Hortman and Kirk were killed, Coleman had panic attacks. She questioned whether she should quit her job to protect her three boys, all under the age of 5. “It was a rough summer and fall. Losing two people to assassinations — I just never thought that sentence would even come out of my mouth,” Coleman said. “The initial reaction was: I have to get out of this if I want my kids to grow up with a mother.”
Then, Coleman thought about who would be left to speak up if people like her were intimidated out of politics. She said she decided she did not want to be scared out of her job — but it will never be the same.
“It feels like all the magic that was in this job got sucked out of it on June 14,” Coleman said. “Long-standing grudges have been erased because a lot of us just are in the trenches now together.”
When legislators walk into the House chamber, they see Hortman’s photo and roses on her desk.
When the doorbell rings at home, they now check their security camera before answering.
“I’ve seen some people start to speak up, and I hope that my actions [Sunday], which came from a moment of frustration standing in my kitchen, will encourage others to do the same,” Coleman said.
The post As rumors swirl after political killings, this GOP lawmaker draws a line appeared first on Washington Post.
