Conservative group's image mocking the late Melissa Hortman draws scorn

Elliot Hughes, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Mar 26, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Democrats are calling out a right-wing political group for mocking former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated last year.

The fracas comes as the House State Government and Finance Policy Committee voted on Thursday, March 26, to advance proposals to honor Hortman.

One proposal would create a working group to evaluate creating a “Melissa and Mark Hortman Memorial State Park” on the Capitol grounds. The other would appropriate existing funds for the Capitol grounds to create a memorial garden and statue to honor the couple.

Action 4 Liberty, a conservative political action committee led by former Republican state Rep. Erik Mortensen, posted an image on X depicting a statue of Hortman reaching for a wallet in someone’s back pocket.

“Leaked image of what the artist has in mind,” the post read.

In a follow-up post that used the same image, Action 4 Liberty said, “To be clear: we condemn BOTH the assassination of Melissa Hortman AND her thievery while serving in the legislature.”

The DFL issued a statement calling the post “appalling.”

Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed in a politically motivated attack at their home last June 14.

“The Hortmans haven’t even been gone for a year,” DFL Party Chair Richard Carlbom said in the statement. “The DFL vehemently condemns the mocking of the late Speaker Hortman.”

The statement called out state Republican leaders, such as U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, House Speaker Lisa Demuth and Republican Party Chair Alex Plechash, who had previously made public statements against partisanship and political violence in the aftermath of the assassination.

“Where are the Republican leaders now? Is this their party?” Carlbom asked.

The three Republicans did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday afternoon.

Normally, individuals are not memorialized on the Capitol grounds until at least 10 years after their deaths. But Rep. Ginny Klevorn, DFL-Plymouth, who sponsored the proposal, said recognizing the trauma of the Hortmans’ murders is important.

“We are at a time when we have suffered the most heinous crime against our body – not only to our dear friend Melissa Hortman, Mark Hortman and their family, but also to the body itself,” Klevorn said.

“This was a political assassination, and it cannot be considered the same as a natural death.”