MINNEAPOLIS — Hours after politically-motivated shootings on Saturday left one Minnesota state lawmaker and her spouse dead and another and his wife injured, the Minnesota Lynx took the court for a home game against the Los Angeles Sparks that coach Cheryl Reeve said “feels pretty meaningless.”
The Lynx held a moment of silence before the game at the Target Center, located roughly 11 miles away from Brooklyn Park, a suburb of Minneapolis. It was there where Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota State House who served as speaker from 2019 to 2025, and her husband, Mark, were assassinated in what law enforcement officials called “an act of targeted political violence.”
Also on Saturday, Senator John Hoffman, who has served in the House since 2012, and his wife, Yvette, were shot by the same assailant multiple times in their home in Champlin, a suburb north of Brooklyn Park.
A visibly shaken Reeve was asked before the game about preparing to play on a day when the city had been convulsed by violence.
“Hitting this close to home, obviously we know it’s a really difficult time — not just in our country — but in the world,” said Reeves, who has been outspoken on a variety of social issues over the years and has led an organization that has not shied away from political involvement and protest. “The radicalization that has occurred. I think it’s very clear, the timing of when our country really started to turn. I think today is a tough day all around.
“Basketball is what we do, and we’ll go out there and do what we do, but when our game is over, god knows what we’re going to come off the court and learn. … It’s sickening.”
There were multiple “No Kings” demonstrations planned across the Twin Cities on Saturday in protest of President Donald Trump. After Gov. Tim Walz warned residents not to attend the rallies until the suspect, who was identified as Vance Luther Boelter, was apprehended, the protests were officially cancelled. Dozens of protestors gathered on an I-35W overpass with signs and banners around 11 a.m. CT.
The Minnesota Twins said in a statement they were “horrified and heartbroken” about the shootings. The Minnesota Vikings called Hortman “a friend of the Vikings for more than 15 years.”
“Our prayers are with the Hortman family as they grieve this tragedy and with all the government officials who are mourning the loss of a colleague and friend,” the Vikings said in a statement, later adding, “These senseless acts should have no place in our communities, our state or our society.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Lynx, WNBA
