State Patrol Col. Christina Bogojevic asked people “out of an abundance of caution” not to attend any of the “No Kings” protests that were scheduled for across the state on Saturday.
The warnings come after two Democratic lawmakers and their spouses were shot. Melissa Hortman, a former Minnesota House Speaker, and her spouse were shot and killed early Saturday in their Brooklyn Park home. A second state lawmaker, Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, were shot multiple times in Champlin and were wounded. Officials said the shootings were politically motivated.
Bogojevic said authorities didn’t have any direct evidence that the protests would be targeted, but said the suspect had some “No Kings” flyers in their car.
Organizers announced that all of the protests across the state were canceled.
A man posing as a police officer shot and killed a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband in a brazen attack their home early Saturday, and a second lawmaker and his wife were wounded in a separate shooting in what Gov. Tim Walz described as “targeted political violence.”
