THE shots Of two Minnesota legislators and their spouses last weekend are the last cases of political violence that has increased in the United States in recent years.
The representative of the Democratic State, Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, were shot on Saturday by a man who, according to the authorities, usurped the identity of a police officer. The same shooter attacked the senator of the Democratic State John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who were hospitalized for several ball wounds. Authorities apprehended and invoice Vance Boelter, 57, as part of the two shots. Boelter faces accusations of federal murder who bear the possibility of the death penalty, in addition to state accusations.
The attacks are involved while American legislators are faced with an increasing threat of political violence. The members of the Congress and the State and Local Authorities have been targeted in multiple high -level violent incidents in recent years, including the 2011 shooting of the time. Gabrielle Giffords de l’Arizona, the shooting of 2017 in a Congress baseball cabinet which left representative Steve Scalie de Louisiana and several other injured people, and the attack on the American Capitol on January 6, 2021. Bipartisan Senate report.
The number of worrying declarations and direct threats against members of the congress – in particular their families and their staff – who estimated by the police of the American capitol have increased net in the last seven years, going from 3,939 in 2017 to 9,625 in 2021, according to the agency.
And the last year has seen another peak. The Capitol police investigated 9,474 direct threats and concerning declarations in 2024, against 8,008 the previous year. Reuters identified At least 51 incidents of political violence from January to October from last year for the 2024 elections, among 300 that she had recorded since the attack from January 6 to this point. The media reported “Business is part of the most important and sustained increase in American political violence since the 1970s.”
Find out more: A brutal look at the recent history of political violence in America
Here are some of the attacks on American legislators during a violent year for the country’s policy.
The assassination attempts against Trump
On July 13, 2024, a shooter fired several shots Towards the stadium where Donald Trump spoke during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A bullet hit Trump in his right ear, while a spectator was killed and two others were injured.
The shooter was later identified Like Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20. He was killed by an elite of the secret service on the scene.
Two months later, the authorities foiled another apparent attempt at Trump’s life At the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida in September 2024. While Trump Golf, a secret service agent who was displayed in front of Trump has noticed that a man holding a rifle, about 400 meters away, coming out of a nearby trees line. The suspect pulled no turn and had no line of view in Trump, the authorities said. The secrets of the secret services fired on the suspect, who dropped his weapon, with other objects, and fled the premises in a vehicle.
Trump was unscathed during the second attack. Authorities later apprehended and identified the suspect As Ryan Wesley Routh, a Trump supporter who was passionate about the defense of Ukraine in the war with Russia.
The fire attack on the house of the governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro
In April, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were at home when they were woken up by a soldier of state striking the door after a A fire set fire to the house. They were evacuated safely and the firefighters discussed the fire. Video surveillance of the incident showed a climbing suspect on a fence, entering Shapiro’s house through a window and throwing an incendiary device, according to Affidavit. Another device was also thrown into the house.
The suspect was then apprehended and identified by the authorities such as Cody A. Balmer. The authorities said Balmer admitted to having set fire to Fire Shapiro and said he would have “beat him with a hammer” if the governor had found him.
The shots of two minnesota legislators and their spouses
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called on Saturday of Saturday of “targeted political violence”.
“Pacific discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We do not settle our differences with violence or under the threat of a weapon,” said Walz. “This tragic act here in Minnesota should remind us of all that democracy and debates in the corridors of the congress, in state houses, in school councils, is a way to settle our differences peacefully and to move society in a better place.”
Find out more: The alleged shooter of Minnesota legislators is potentially faced with the federal death penalty: what we know of Vance L. Boelter
Boelter faces federal accusations linked to the hunt for the two legislators, the murder of Hortman and her husband, and the shooting of Hoffman and his wife. He is also charged with the state level as part of the murder of Hortman and her husband, as well as the shooting of Hoffman and his wife.
Authorities said Boelter went to the houses of two other elected officials in Minnesota on Monday. The law enforcement officials have recovered a “manifesto” of the vehicle suspected of being used by the suspect that they declared that they have listed the names of Hortman and Hoffman, among a certain number of legislators and local organizations. Minnesota Democratic Senator Tina Smith was among the names on Boelter’s list, she said NPR.