Arkansas Legislators React to Minnesota Tragedy

Over the weekend, Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed, and State Senator John Hoffman and his wife were wounded in politically motivated attacks.

After the largest manhunt in Minnesota history, the suspect Vance Boelter was arrested after being on the run for two days.

The recent attacks have left many political figures across the country uneasy. Here in Arkansas, state Sen. Kim Hammer, a Republican from Benton, said there is zero tolerance for targeting lawmakers.

“This is not who we are as a democracy, and this is not who we are specifically as Arkansans. And we will have a zero tolerance, and we'll hold each individual to the full accountability of the law should something like this happen in Arkansas,” Hammer said.

Rep. Hammer said that thanks to the State Capitol Police, the concern is not inside the walls of the capitol, but rather outside the capitol.

“I think the concern is that when you are away from the capitol, as the individuals were that were killed. They were in the privacy of their home. And it does certainly sound the wake up call that we have to be diligent in being guarded against individuals that have done such as this guy did. And so the concern is more outside the capitol than he is inside the capitol,” Hammer said.

Threats to state political figures is not new to Arkansas, but it’s a reality that elected officials face after coming into office.

“I think all of our legislators live with the reality given past history, because this is not the first time elected officials have been targeted,” Hammer said.

Arkansas is no stranger to political violence. In August of 2008, only days away from the Democratic National Convention, chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party Bill Gwatney was shot in front of the party's headquarters. Gwatney was shot by Timothy Dale Johnson who was later killed by police.

In 2019, former state Sen. Linda Collins-Smith was found stabbed in her driveway. Rebecca O’Donnell, a former campaign worker and friend, plead guilty to the murder.

“Unfortunately, this is history repeating itself, and I think because of that, all the legislators are very conscientious of their surroundings and are very protective of their families,” Hammer said.

The events in Minnesota are a grim reminder for state legislators to never let their guard down in public or private.

“You just have to always live on defense and be aware of your surroundings, and build in safeguards to make sure you know what you can do to protect yourself and protect your families,” Hammer said.

Tara Shepard, a Democratic Rep. from Little Rock provided THV11 with the following statement.

"President Clinton once said, 'There is nothing patriotic about hating your government, or pretending you can hate your government but love your country.' He said it in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Oklahoma City, and I believe it applies to the terrorism we saw in Minnesota. As citizens, we have to learn we can passionately disagree without turning to hate or violence. It is an unspeakable tragedy committed against human beings who had dedicated their lives to public service. This has to be a time when we come together and realize that we are all Americans, we all care deeply, and only want what is best for our country. What unites us is far far stronger than the hate or misinformation that divides us," Shepard said.

Cole Jester, the Secretary of State for Arkansas, also provided a statement about the safety of legislatures.

“Since the first day I took office, we have been taking action to harden the physical infrastructure of the State Capitol against the kind of despicable actions we saw in Minnesota. We are thankful to the legislature for giving us funding to do so this spring. Further, we have expanded the State Capitol Police and strengthened their training regime. Evil is real, and we stand ready to fight back," Jester said.