The memorial service for Melissa Hortman and her husband in Minneapolis was supposed to be a moment of unity and reflection, a time for Minnesotans to come together and honor lives lost to senseless violence. Instead, it echoed a now-infamous episode in Minnesota’s political history: the Paul Wellstone funeral of 2002.
Anyone who remembers the Wellstone memorial knows exactly what I mean. What began as a service to mourn the late senator quickly devolved into a partisan spectacle. National Democratic figures seized the stage, turning eulogies into campaign speeches and rallying cries. The event, broadcast live, left viewers stunned as the line between remembrance and political theater was obliterated. Even then-Gov. Jesse Ventura, disgusted by the display, walked out. The backlash was immediate and severe—so much so that Wellstone’s own campaign felt compelled to apologize for the overt politicization of what should have been a solemn tribute.
Fast forward to the Hortman service, and the playbook hasn’t changed. Once again, a tragedy that should have brought people together was hijacked by those determined to make a political point.
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Gov. Tim Walz, to his credit, kept his eulogy personal, and focused on the Hortmans’ legacy. He called Hortman “the most consequential speaker in Minnesota history,” highlighting her impact on education, poverty, clean energy, and housing. Walz reminded those gathered that politicians are “just a bunch of human beings trying to do the best they can,” and praised Hortman’s ability to see the humanity in everyone she worked with. He even lightened the mood with a humorous anecdote about Hortman’s gentle reminders about his role at the State of the State address.
But Father Daniel Griffith, who led the ceremony, used his platform to make a political statement. According to NBC News, he “read an email from another clergyman that said, ‘Our nation is in need of deep healing.’”
“Here in Minnesota, we have been the Ground Zero place, sadly, for racial injustice, the killing of George Floyd just miles from our church today. And now, we are the Ground Zero place for political violence and extremism,” Griffith said. “Both of these must be decried in the strongest possible terms, as they are respectively, of a threat to human dignity and indeed, our democracy.”
The Hortmans’ slayings were part of what authorities described as long list of planned political attacks.
Authorities said Vance Boelter, 57, the man charged in connection with the attacks, impersonated a law enforcement officer to carry out the shootings.
As PJ Media previously reported, the mainstream media sought to paint Boelter as a MAGA extremist; however, Walz had appointed Boelter to a government workforce board years earlier, and Boelter believed he was acting under the supposed orders of Democrat Gov. Walz. Boelter’s incoherent letter, about a page and a half long, bizarrely claimed that killing Sen. Amy Klobuchar was necessary to clear the way for Walz to run for the U.S. Senate.
The Wellstone debacle should have served as a cautionary tale. Instead, it’s become a model for how progressives handle tragedy—by making it about themselves and their causes, no matter the cost to the community or the memory of those lost. The lesson, sadly, remains unlearned.
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