The children of slain Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman are urging President Donald Trump to remove a post on Truth Social that promotes a conspiracy theory alleging the state's governor, Tim Walz, was involved in Hortman’s death.
Hortman — a Democrat — and her husband, Mark, were killed in June at their home in what authorities described at the time as "politically motivated" shootings. State Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were also shot and wounded in their home the same day.
Vance Boelter of Minnesota is accused of the shootings. The manhunt to arrest Boelter was the largest in Minnesota history. He was indicted on federal murder charges in July and pleaded not guilty in August.
Trump shared the video — which seems to have been made by another social media user, who shared yet another video — on Saturday. It made unsubstantiated claims tying Walz and alleged fraud in Minnesota’s state programs to the murders. There has been no evidence to suggest there is such a link.
On Saturday, Walz — who was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2024 — called Trump’s post “dangerous, depraved behavior from the sitting president of the United States,” saying he would “get more innocent people killed.”
“America is better than this,” Walz said.
On Sunday, the Hortmans’ children, Colin and Sophie, each released statements condemning the video.
“I am asking President Trump to remove the video that he shared and apologize to me and my family for posting this misinformation and for using my mother’s own words to dishonor her memory,” Colin Hortman wrote.
Sophie Hortman echoed the sentiment, calling the video “a painful, false twisting of my mother’s final vote.”
“We must create a society in which we do not harbor hatred and violence toward our political opponents, and this video promotes a false narrative which fuels the flames of political division,” Sophie Hortman wrote.
“The video being shared by the president is another hurdle our family must overcome in grieving the loss of my parents, Mark and Melissa, and their beloved [dog] Gilbert,” she added. “I ask President Trump to please consider the pain and sadness we have faced, and to honor the spirit of the holidays we have just spent without our parents by taking down the post on Truth Social.”
The Hoffman family said in a statement that it "stands with Sophie and Colin Hortman."
"We ask President Trump to take down the post spreading conspiracy claims about their parents’ deaths," the family said in a statement. "Those claims reflect the same hateful falsehoods that motivated violence and cause more harm."
"This moment calls for responsibility and compassion. Removing the post would be a necessary step toward decency," the family said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Hortman children’s statements or to inquiries about why Trump shared the video.
Trump shared the video as his administration has seized on viral allegations of fraud in some Minnesota state programs in recent weeks.
The Justice Department has investigated allegations of fraud in Minnesota for a few years. One investigation involved the nonprofit group Feeding Our Future and has netted, since 2022, criminal charges for more than 70 people so far — some of whom are members of the state’s Somali community.
