Minnesotans mourn Melissa and Mark Hortman at the Capitol; Biden pays respects
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Thousands of people came to the Minnesota Capitol Friday to pay their respects to the late DFL House Leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman.
In the Capitol rotunda, mourners walked past the Hortmans’ caskets and an urn holding the remains of their golden retriever, Gilbert. All three were shot and killed in their Brooklyn Park home earlier this month.
Former President Joe Biden came to the Capitol after 4 p.m. to pay his respects. He spent about 90 seconds in front of the caskets, made the sign of the cross and knelt quietly. He later spoke with the handlers of some service dogs nearby.
Mourners lined up to say goodbye as the doors opened at noon with lines stretching onto the Capitol mall. The crowd included a mix of lawmakers, lobbyists and members of the public. Some wore suits. Others wore campaign T-shirts and buttons emblematic of Melissa Hortman. Visitors carried flowers and other tokens of appreciation.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
The lines grew deeper when the bells of the Cathedral of St. Paul tolled at noon, marking the time when that line would start to move. Some expected to wait a long time but were content to do so.
Mike Starr, a retired Army veteran and former DFL state Senate candidate, read his newspaper while he waited for the doors to open at noon. He arrived at 6:30 a.m. to make sure he was able to share his thanks with the Hortmans.
“I figured, well, I might as well come down and beat the crowd,” Starr said. “I come down to support of the family, and for myself to go by and say thanks for all the things she's done for the state of Minnesota.”
Starr said the Hortmans hosted him at their home for a campaign event years before their deaths. He said he appreciated their kindness and Melissa Hortman’s straightforward demeanor.
“She stood up for the people and that she didn't spin the story, she didn't mislead people,” Starr said. “She let you know who she was. And you know, when she said something, she meant it.”
A pair of white hearses parked in the Capitol portico early Friday morning as the Hortmans’ caskets were moved into the building. People close to Hortman were seen hugging in the Rotunda hours before the building opened for the public tribute. Two officers stood watch over the caskets, which sit atop the eight-point star representing the north star. A set of trained golden retrievers also stood watch over the remains.
Kathy Hudson joined the line of visitors. She was in town from Estero, Florida, and said it felt important to be part of it.
“This was a pivotal event … that is just the lowest of the low,” Hudson said of the killings. “We need some people here to support the highest of the high in terms of giving back to your community and your state, no matter which one it is.”
Sheletta Brundidge and many other Black business owners came to pay their respects to the Hortmans. She said Melissa Hortman was a fierce ally for Black entrepreneurs.
“She was a giant, but gentle. She was real and she forced everyone else to step their game up,” said Brundidge, an organizer for Black Entrepreneurs Day at the Capitol. “There was the knowing that she’s going to get the job done. There was the knowing that everything was going to work out, she’s got your back.”
Dick Ottman said he was waiting in line to pay his respects for the Hortmans because his late wife would have wanted him to be there.
“She would have told me, ‘Richard, get there,’” said Ottman. “I can hear her voice, because it’s the first woman to lie in state and my wife would have wanted to come, so I’m here for her as well.”
The public viewing was expected to end at 5 p.m. but continued after that.
Melissa Hortman was a longtime DFL member of the Minnesota House. She served as House minority leader from 2017 to 2019, and Speaker of the House from 2019 to 2025.
The Hortmans and their dog were shot by a gunman in the early hours of June 14. Vance Boelter is charged with murder in their deaths. Police say he allegedly also shot state Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin, and his wife Yvette, who are both recovering from their injuries. The man also allegedly stopped by the homes of two other DFL lawmakers, who authorities say he also planned to target.
Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday that the Hortmans would lie in state, honoring Rep. Hortman’s long service to Minnesota.
She will be the first woman to ever have this honor. Since 1905, 19 Minnesotans have lain in state at the Capitol.
The tradition is done to allow for the public to pay their respects.
A private funeral service for the Hortmans will take place Saturday at 10:30 a.m. A livestream of the funeral will be carried on the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s YouTube channel.
Biden on Friday also visited Hoffman in the hospital. Yvette Hoffman said her husband continues to improve and that he was walking and is able to eat.
Watch: Minnesotans pay respects at the Capitol to Melissa and Mark Hortman
Minnesotans who have lain in state since 1905:
1905 - William Colvill, state representative, Minnesota attorney general
1909 - John Johnson, governor
1910 - Clarence Dinehart, state treasurer
1911 - Edwin A. Jaggard, Minnesota Supreme Court justice
1916 - Winfield Hammond, governor
1918 - Lyndon A Smith, lieutenant governor, attorney general
1921 - Pierre A. Hilbert, state senator
1923 - Knute Nelson, U.S. senator, governor
1935 - Thomas Schall, congressman, U.S. senator
1936 - Floyd B. Olson, governor
1937 - Frank B. Kellogg, U.S. senator, U.S. secretary of state, Nobel Peace Prize winner
1965 - Fay Child, state senator
1970 - Stafford King, state auditor
1978 - Hubert H. Humphrey, vice president, U.S. senator
1979 - B. Robert Lewis, state senator, first Black member of state Senate
1981 - Nicholas Coleman, state senator, senate majority leader
2001 - Harold Stassen, governor, presidential candidate, UN Charter member, Eisenhower cabinet member
2004 - Elmer L. Andersen, governor
2023 - Albert Quie, state senator, congressman, governor
2025 - Melissa Hortman, state representative, speaker of the Minnesota House, Mark Hortman, their dog Gilbert
