Insight ::: 06.23.2025

Minnesota leaders recoil after political assassination

By Pulane Choane Contributing Writer

Minnesota is grappling with a political assassination that has left communities shocked and grieving. House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home, in what law enforcement officials have described as a politically motivated act of violence. Senator John Hoffman and his wife were also wounded at their home in Champlin.

On The Conversation

with Al McFarlane, Tuesday on KFAI 90.3 FM, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and State Representative Esther Agbaje spoke with host Al McFarlane about the sobering threat this incident represents for elected officials and the communities they serve.

“The political environment is poison,” Ellison said bluntly. “This kind of violence isn’t an accident. It’s the result of rhetoric that fuels fear and division.”

The alleged shooter, identified by authorities

as Vance Luther Boelter, 57, whose current address is listed in Green Isle, Minnesota, rented a room in the Camden neighborhood in North Minneapolis. That detail hit particularly close for Agbaje, who represents the adjacent House District, 59B. “Finding out he had ties to my neighborhood made me feel unsafe in a space that’s supposed to be home,” she said. During the broadcast, Agbaje described the disorientation that followed the alert from law enforcement that her name was among the intended

targets. “You go through these ‘what if’ scenarios,” she said. “What if I had been at home? What if he had come to my door?”

Her reflections underscored the growing sense among public servants that the profession now comes with heightened risk, not only from public scrutiny, but from physical danger. “We’re realizing that being visible, being vocal, carries threats we didn’t previously imagine.”

North Minneapolis invests in Black wealth building

By Pulane Choane Contributing Writer

On KFAI 90.3 FM’s The Conversation with Al McFarlane, Warren McLean, President of the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON), shared how Black entrepreneurs are transforming vacant properties into beacons of ownership and wealth.

“Our mission is to build wealth for low to moderate income entrepreneurs,” said McLean. “Our vision is to transform North Minneapolis into a prosperous, visible, and sustainable multicultural community of entrepreneurs.”

NEON is doing more than envisioning change; it is building it. McLean highlight-

ed the nearly completed NEON Collective Kitchens, a $21 million commercial kitchen facility next to the Capri Theatre. “Forty percent of our clients are in food. When Kindred Kitchen changed its model, our clients had nowhere to cook. We had to fill that gap.” The debt-free facility will include licensed kitchens, four retail food stalls, and training classrooms. “This isn’t just about food. It’s about ownership,” McLean emphasized.

“It’s about making sure our entrepreneurs have access to the same opportunities others do.” McLean also spotlighted the Black Developers Fund, which provides early-stage capital to Black developers in North Minneapolis. “There were about

Attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong

Attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, founder of the Racial Justice Network, says white male mass murderers are often handled with remarkable restraint. In a statement Monday, Levy-Armstrong noted that “Despite murdering two people and attempting to assassinate more, (Vance) Boelter was apprehended alive and unharmed. And he’s not the first.

Dylann Roof, who slaughtered nine Black worshipers at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, was peacefully arrested and fed Burger King by officers. Robert Aaron Long, who killed eight people at Atlanta-area spas- including six Asian women- was allowed to surrender without incident. These aren’t exceptions. They’re patterns.” Such cases reflect a disturbing trend in how white male mass murderers are often handled with remarkable restraint, care, and deference by law enforcement, even in the face of unimaginable violence. In contrast, Black men and women- like Jamar Clark, Philando Castile, Amir Locke,

Front: Late Speaker Melissa Hortman and Senator Bobby Joe Champion

Back from left to right: Representative Hodan Hassan,

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Me-

lissa Hortman’ s influence at the Minnesota Capitol and her power as a Democratic leader to shape the course of a deeply divided Legislature were a far cry from her job as a teenager making chili-cheese burritos and overshadowed her volunteer work training service dogs for veterans.

She was a lifelong Minneapolis-area resident who went to college in Boston and

By Mary Clare Jalonick and Joey Cappelletti

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress will attend emergency briefings this week after the killing of a Minnesota state lawmaker brought renewed fears — and stoked existing partisan tensions — over the security of federal lawmakers when in Washington and at home.

then returned home for law school and, with degree fresh in hand, worked as a volunteer lawyer for a group fighting housing discrimination. Elected to the Minnesota House in 2004, she helped pass liberal initiatives like free lunches for public school students in 2023 as the chamber’s speaker. With the House split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans this year, she helped break a budget impasse threatening to shut down state government.

Tributes from friends and colleagues in both parties poured in after Hortman and her husband were shot to death

early Saturday in their suburban Brooklyn Park home in what authorities called an act of targeted political violence. Helping Paws, which trains service dogs, posted a message on its Facebook page, along with a 2022 photo of a smiling Hortman with her arm around Gilbert, a friendly-looking golden retriever trained to be a service dog and adopted by her family.

“Melissa Hortman was a woman that I wish everyone around the country knew,” U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a longtime friend and Democratic ally, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” Klobuchar added:

“She was a true leader and loved her work, but was always so grounded and such a decent person. I think that’s probably the best word to describe her. You look at her pictures and you know what she was about.”

The shootings followed a big Democratic dinner

The killings of Hortman and her husband early Saturday followed the shootings and wounding of another prominent Minnesota lawmaker, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, at their home in Champlin, another Minneapolis

Many lawmakers on list of suspected Minnesota shooter vow not to bow down

By Rio Yamat and Hallie Golden Associated Press

The suspect in the attack had dozens of federal lawmakers listed in his writings, besides the state lawmakers and others he’s accused of targeting. The man is accused of shooting and killing former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs and wounding another lawmaker and his wife at their home. The shootings come after credible threats to members of Congress have more than doubled in the last decade, the troubling tally of an era that has been marked by a string of violent attacks against lawmakers and their families.

By Steve Karnowski, Alan-

Durkin Richer and John Seewer

Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man charged with killing one Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another meticulously planned the shootings and intended to inflict more carnage against those on his hit list, driving to the homes of two other legislators on the night of the attacks, a federal prosecutor said Monday. But one of those state lawmakers was on vacation and the suspect left the other house after police arrived early Sat-

In 2011, Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot and wounded at an event in her Arizona district. In 2017, Republican Rep. Steve Scalise was shot and wounded as he practiced for a congressional

urday, acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said.

Investigators say Vance Boelter appeared to spend months preparing for the shootings — the latest in a string of political attacks across the U.S. His list of potential targets contained dozens of names, including officials in at least three other states. In Minnesota, Boelter carried out surveillance missions, took notes on the homes and people he targeted, and disguised himself as a police officer just before the shootings, Thompson said.

“It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmares,” he said.

Boelter surrendered to police Sunday night after they found

baseball game with other GOP lawmakers near Washington. In 2022, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, was attacked by a

him in the woods near his home after a massive two-day search. He is accused of fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Authorities say he also shot and wounded Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, who lived a few miles away.

Federal prosecutors charged Boelter, 57, with murder and stalking, which could result in a death sentence if convicted. He already faces state charges, including murder and attempted murder. At a federal court hearing Monday in St. Paul, Boelter said he could not afford an attorney. A federal

From a legislator in downtown Minneapolis to a veteran Ohio congresswoman, many lawmakers included in the suspected Minnesota gunman’s list of targets have vowed not to bow down.

Vance Boelter, 57, has been charged with federal murder and stalking, along with state charges, following a nearly two-day search that culminated in his capture in the woods near his home.

He is suspected of shooting and killing former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday. He is also accused of wounding Democratic Sen.

John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. The dozens of politicians included in Boelter’s writings were Democrats, according to acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson. About 45 were state and federal officials

By Peter C. Mancall

Recently, President Donald Trump declared that he is “bringing Columbus Day back from the ashes.” He hopes to make up for the removal of commemorative statues important to “the Italians that love him so much.”

But Columbus Day had not been scrapped or reduced to ashes. Although President Joe Biden issued a proclamation for Indigenous Peoples Day in October 2024, on the same day he also declared a holiday in honor of Christopher Columbus. Nonetheless, Trump

posted in April 2025, “Christopher is going to make a major comeback.” By using Columbus’ name, which means “Christ-bearer,” a president who covets the praise of faith leaders yoked the explorer to his campaign promise: “For those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.” By reasserting the importance of Columbus, the president took a stand against the toppling and vandalism of statues of Columbus. In this case, his act of retribution for his supporters focused on the holiday, which he could declare more easily than returning icons of a fallen man to empty pedestals.

Trump’s statement invoked the politics of griev-

By Matt Fitzpatrick Professor in International History, Flinders University

Associated Press

By John Hanna, Steve Karnowski Associated Press

man who broke into their San Francisco home. And in 2024, two men separately tried to as-

Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP File House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, attends a press conference in St. Paul, Minn., June 14, 2021

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File

Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., speaks during a confirmation hearing at the Capitol in Washington Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office via

Luther Boelter, the man accused of assassinating the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, as he was arrested late Sunday, June 15, 2025

AP Photo/George Walker IV Members of law enforcement agencies search for shooting suspect, Vance Boelter, at a house Sunday, June 15, 2025, in Belle Plaine, Minn

Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

Iranians hold posters of late Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps head Hossein Salami (left), and late Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri (right), who were killed in Israeli airstrikes in recent days.

What we lost with Melissa Hortman and what we must

By

There is a cost to change in America. We do not always speak of it. Often we try to ignore it, hoping the violence that has accompanied every great leap forward in our nation’s history might finally be behind us. But every generation learns it eventually. And this week, that lesson came with gunfire.

The assassination of Minnesota State Representative and Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the attempted assassination of Senator John Hoffman and his spouse is not just a moment of mourning. It is a moment of reckoning. A reckoning with who we are, what kind of country we are becoming, and what happens when leadership rooted in empathy and justice becomes a target.

This did not happen in a vacuum. It happened in a nation gripped by a rising tide of political violence. It happened during the same day that Americans marched in cities across the country in No Kings protests, standing up to creeping authoritarianism and the growing normalization of state-sanctioned suppression. It happened as Black families started gathering for Juneteenth, commemorating the end of slavery and the continuing struggle to make freedom real. It happened, in other words, at a crossroads.

Melissa Hortman stood on the side of progress. She gave her life to public service, not to chase attention, but to expand opportunity.

As Speaker of the Minnesota

UFCW Local 1189 President Adam Evenstad and UFCW Local 663 President Rena Wong released the following statement regarding this weekend’s political violence.

“On behalf of the 24,000 UFCW members in Minnesota, we were heartbroken at the calculated murder of House

House, she helped shepherd one of the most impactful legislative sessions in modern American history. Under her leadership, Minnesota became a place where government dared to act. Where families earning under eighty thousand dollars could send their children to college without tuition. Where free school meals became a universal right, not a partisan talking point. Where paid family and medical leave was no longer a dream, but law. Where reproductive freedom was not only protected, but expanded. Where climate change was met with real action, not just acknowledgment. Where democracy itself was reinforced through new protections for voters and election workers.

She was proudest, she said, of passing policies that allowed ordinary people to care for one another. She believed no one should have to choose be-

Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. We both send our condolences and prayers to the Speaker’s family during this difficult time. We also hope Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette make a full recovery following their assassination attempt.”

“As Speaker of the

tween a paycheck and holding a loved one’s hand during chemotherapy. She believed sick time was not a luxury, but a necessity. She saw work as something that should come with dignity, not punishment.

She did this not in some abstract political laboratory, but in the real world of compromise and consequence. She did it while facing down Republican obstruction, lobbyist pressure, and the daily indignities that come with being a woman in power. And she did it with clarity, compassion, and courage. Now she is gone. And we must not look away from what that means.

This was not senseless violence. It was targeted. It was intentional. It was the kind of violence that does not just take lives, but tries to send a message. A message to those who believe government can

House, Melissa Hortman was a champion for UFCW members in Minnesota. She advocated for COVID-19 frontline worker pay, health and safety protections for meatpacking workers, and establishing good paying union jobs in the recently created cannabis sector.”

“In 2023, Minneso-

still work. A message to those who believe justice belongs to everyone. A message to those who dare to govern without fear. We cannot allow that message to take root. The truth is, America has always lived in tension. Between its highest ideals and its deepest insecurities. Between the promise of freedom and the reflex of repression. Between the hope of forming a more perfect union and the forces that would rather destroy that union than let it evolve.

At every turning point in our history, there have been those who resist progress not with argument, but with violence. And time and again, we have had to decide whether to retreat in fear or push forward anyway. This is one of those moments. Melissa Hortman represented what is possible when

we choose progress. Her work was not performative. It was substantive. It was focused. It was transformative. And it made her dangerous to those who benefit from despair and dysfunction. There are some who will say this is not the time to politicize tragedy. But this is not about politics. This is about power, and whether it belongs to the people or to those who are willing to kill to keep it from changing hands. What happened this week is not an isolated act. It is part of a pattern. It follows a decade of escalating threats against school board members, election officials, judges, and legislators. It follows years of mass shootings that have transformed schools, churches, grocery stores, and synagogues into crime scenes. And it follows a growing movement of extremism that no longer hides its goals. We must be honest about what we are confronting.

ta enacted the most pro-labor agenda in generations. Under the Speaker’s leadership, the state created a paid family and medical leave program, earned sick and safe time for workers, and expanded collective bargaining rights for nursing home workers. Her pro-worker legacy will uplift working families in Minnesota for generations to come.” UFCW Locals 1189 and 663 are part of the UFCW International, the largest private sector union in the United States, representing 1.2 million workers and their families in grocery, retail, meatpacking,

And we must be equally honest about what we are defending. We are defending the legacy of a leader who believed that government should lift burdens, not add to them. We are defending the vision of a nation where people can go to work, raise families, get an education, and care for one another without fear or exploitation. We are defending the simple but powerful idea that public service is still noble, and that change is still possible.

To honor Melissa Hortman and her husband is to pick up where she left off. To believe, as she did, that the role of leadership is not to seek praise, but to make people’s lives better. To insist that decency still belongs in our public institutions. And to know that courage, even when it is met with cruelty, is never wasted. But honoring her also means asking hard questions. What does it say about this country that an armed man, carrying a target list and driven by ideology, could carry out such an attack and still not be publicly named what he clearly is? Why are we so quick to label some acts terrorism, but not others? These are not just questions about language. They are questions about justice, about accountability, and about whether we are truly ready to confront the threats that are growing from within. At this crossroads, we face a choice. We can retreat into fear, or rise in shared responsibility. Governor Walz said it plainly as he mourned Speaker Hortman and her husband, Mark: “We will not let fear win.”

That is not just a statement of grief. It is a charge to all of us.

Haley Taylor Schlitz, Esq.

AP Photo/Jim Mone, File

nomination process before she was elected speaker of the Minnesota House as the 2019 Legislature convened, in St. Paul, Minn

Mayors Carter, Frey on shootings of elected officials

“I’m heartbroken by the targeted murder of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and the shooting of Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette in their homes on Saturday morning,” said St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter.

Echoing that sentiment, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said, “I am sickened by the assassination of Speaker Hortman and the attack on Senator Hoffman.” Frey said, “I have been in contact with our Commissioner, Chief and safety partners all morning, and we have assigned additional police resources to check on the safety of public officials who may be at risk, and to actively participate in the manhunt to bring this suspect to justice.

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suburb. Hoffman is chair of the Senate committee overseeing human resources spending. A nephew posted Sunday on Face

book that the Hoffmans were out of surgery and recovering from multiple gunshot wounds.

The Hortmans, the Hoffmans and other top Dem

ocrats had gathered at a down

town Minneapolis hotel Friday night for their party’s annual Humphrey-Mondale dinner. It’s named for two Minnesota liberal icons who served both as U.S. senators and vice presidents, Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale. Minnesota Democrat and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said she saw both lawmakers at the dinner.

“So it feels so personal, because we’re all very good friends, of course, to have that have happened so shortly after we were all together,” Smith said on CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday.”

Outside the state Capitol in St. Paul, a memorial to Hortman and her husband included flowers, candles, small American flags and a photo of the couple. Visitors left messages on Post-It notes commending Hortman’s legislative work, including, “You changed countless lives.”

Hortman supplied a key vote for a budget deal Democrats disliked Legislative colleagues described Hortman as funny, savvy and fiercely committed to liberal causes. When lawmakers convened in January

“Political violence is evil. It cannot be tolerated, and

neither can those who condone it or make excuses for it,” Frey said. When the news of the assailant’s arrest broke, Carter said, “While Sunday’s arrest offers some semblance of relief, nothing erases the pain and trauma of this devastating violence. I’m grateful for the relentless work of our law enforcement who brought this search to an end without further loss of life.

with a vacancy in a Democratic seat in the House giving the GOP a temporary advantage, Hortman led a boycott of daily sessions for more than three weeks to force Republicans into a power-sharing arrangement.

Republicans were intent this year on ending state health coverage for adult immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally, authorized in 2023 as part of a sweeping liberal program. Democrats wanted to keep it, and lawmakers began June — the last month of the 2025 budget year — without having passed a 2026-27 spending blueprint.

Hortman helped ne-

gotiate a package that included a bill ending the state health coverage for adult immigrants on Jan. 1, 2026. She was the only House Democrat to vote for it last week— the 68th vote it needed to pass the chamber.

She told reporters afterward that Republicans insisted on the bill, and Minnesota voters who gave the House an even partisan split expect the parties to compromise. But she acknowledged she worries about people who will lose their health insurance.

“I know that people will be hurt by that vote,” she said, choking up briefly before regaining her composure. “We

“Though this arrest is an important step in the search for answers, it’s far from the justice the Hortman and Hoffman families, and our communities, deserve.” He said.

“Melissa believed in people enough to fight for them—not for headlines or attention, but because she cared. Her work, her wisdom, and her friendship meant a great deal to me and to so many who had the

privilege to know her, Carter said.

“This shakes us to the core—not just because of who was targeted, but because of what it says about where we are. I’m praying for peace and comfort for the Hortman and Hoffman families, for all who know and love them, and for the soul of a country where political violence feels far too common,” he said.

worked very hard to try to get a budget deal that wouldn’t include that provision.”

Tacos, auto parts, physics and Habitat for Humanity Hortman’s earliest jobs didn’t suggest that she’d become a power in Minnesota politics. The earliest job listed on her LinkedIn.com profile, when she was 16, was as a cook and cashier at a restaurant, where she made tacos and, “most importantly, chili cheese burritos.” She also worked for caterers and was a runner at an auto parts store, putting inventory away and retrieving items for customers.

Her husband, Mark, earned a physics degree from the University of North Car-

olina and later, a master’s of business administration. He was the chief operating officer of an auto parts company for 10 years before co-founding a business consulting firm. He was active in Helping Paws and worked with homebuilding nonprofit Habitat for Humanity. They have an adult son and an adult daughter. Melissa Hortman earned a degree in philosophy and political science from Boston University, where she also worked as a residence assistant in one of its dormitories. She earned her law degree from the University of Minnesota, but

also a master’s of public administration from Harvard University.

She served a decade on the board of a local nonprofit providing transportation and car repairs for low-income residents. She also was part of a committee in 2005 considering whether Minneapolis should submit a bid to host the Summer Olympics.

“We remember Melissa for her kindness, compassion, and unwavering commitment to making the world better,” Helping Paws said in its Facebook message.

Mayor Melvin Carter

Mayor Jacob Frey

Courtesy of The Minnesota House DFL Caucus Minnesota Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark

Sen. John Hoffman Facebook

Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette

Helping Paws via AP

In this photo from 2022, provided by Helping Paws of Eden Prairie, Minn., state Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, poses with Gilbert, a golden retriever trained to be a service dog but eventually adopted by the Hortman family, at a training facility in Hopkins, Minnesota.

AP Photo/George Walker IV

A makeshift memorial for Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark is seen at the state Capitol, Sunday, June 15, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn.

Security

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sassinate Donald Trump during his Republican presidential campaign.

All four survived, some with serious injuries. But those attacks, among others and many close calls for members of both major political parties, have rattled lawmakers and raised recurring questions about whether they have enough security — and whether they can ever be truly safe in their jobs.

“I don’t have a solution to this problem right now,” said Minnesota Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, a friend of Hortman’s who received increased security after the attack. “I just see so clearly that this current state of play is not sustainable.”

Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said lawmakers are “clearly at the point where we have to adjust the options available to us.”

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public defender was appointed to represent him, and he was being held without bail pending a court appearance next week.

Manny Atwal, his lead attorney, declined to comment, saying the office just got the case.

Notebooks show careful planning

Boelter had many notebooks full of plans, Thompson said. Underscoring what law enforcement officials said was the premeditated nature of the attacks, one notebook contained a list of internet-based people search engines, according to court records.

But authorities have not found any writings that would “clearly identify what motivated him,” Thompson said. Though the targets were Democrats and elected officials,

The U.S. Capitol Police’s threat assessment section investigated 9,474 “concerning statements and direct threats” against members of Congress last year, the highest number since 2021, the year that the Capitol was attacked by Trump’s supporters after he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. In 2017, there were 3,939 investigated threats, the Capitol Police said.

While members of Congress may be high profile, they do have some resources available that might not be available to state and local lawmakers, said Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, who was a member of the South Dakota state Senate for 10 years before he was the state’s governor. In the state legislature, “it just wasn’t feasible all the time” to have increased security, said Rounds, a Republican. As threats have increased, members of Congress have had access to new funding to add security at their person-

Thompson said it was too soon to speculate on any sort of political ideology.

All of the politicians named in his writing were Democrats, including more than 45 state and federal officials in Minnesota, Thompson said. Elected leaders in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin said they, too, were mentioned in his writings.

Democratic Rep. Esther Agbaje, whose district includes parts of Minneapolis, said she stayed with friends and family over the weekend after learning that her name appeared on the list of targets. She returned home only after learning the suspect had been caught.

“It was only today that you can sort of begin to exhale,” she said.

In texts, the suspect said he ‘went to war’ Authorities declined to reveal the names of the other two lawmakers whose homes were targeted but escaped harm. Democratic Sen. Ann Rest said

al homes. But it is unclear how many have used it and whether there is enough money to keep lawmakers truly safe.

“Resources should not be the reason that a U.S. senator or congressman gets killed,” Murphy said.

Instead of bringing lawmakers together, the Minnesota shootings have created new internal tensions. Smith on Monday confronted one of her fellow senators, Utah Republican Mike Lee, for a series of posts on X over the weekend. One mocked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat who ran for vice president last year. Another post said of the killings, “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way.”

Trump said he had no plans to call Walz, describing the Democratic leader as “so whacked out.”

“Why would I call him? I could call him and say, ‘Hi, how are you doing?’” the Republican president told reporters aboard Air Force One during an overnight flight

she was told the suspect parked near her home early Saturday. She said in a statement that the “quick action” of law enforcement officers saved her life.

Boelter sent a text to a family group chat after the shootings that said : “Dad went to war last night ... I don’t wanna say more because I don’t wanna implicate anybody,” according to an FBI affidavit. His wife got another text that said: “Words are not gonna explain how sorry I am for this situation ... there’s gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don’t want you guys around,” the affidavit said. Police later found his wife in a car with her children. Officers found two handguns, about $10,000 in cash and passports for the wife and her children, according to the affidavit.

Just hours after the shootings Saturday, Boelter bought an electronic bike and a Buick sedan from someone he met at a bus stop in Minneapo-

back to Washington. “The guy doesn’t have a clue. He’s a mess. So, you know, I could be nice and call him, but why waste time?”

Friends and former colleagues interviewed by The Associated Press described Vance Luther Boelter, the man accused of killing Hortman and her husband, as a devout Christian who attended an evangelical church and went to campaign rallies for Trump. Records show Boelter registered to vote as a Republican while living in Oklahoma in 2004 before moving to Minnesota, where voters don’t list party affiliation. His attorney has declined to comment.

Smith talked to Lee outside a GOP conference meeting as soon as she arrived in Washington on Monday. “I would say he seemed surprised to be confronted,” she told reporters afterward.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York also called out Lee’s posts on the Senate floor, saying that

lis, the federal affidavit said. Police found the sedan abandoned on a highway Sunday morning. In the car, officers found a cowboy hat Boelter had been seen wearing in surveillance footage as well as a letter written to the FBI, authorities said. The letter said it was written by “Dr. Vance Luther Boulter” and he was “the shooter at large.” The car was found in rural Sibley County, where Boelter owned a home. A police officer later saw Boelter running into the woods. He was found within 20 minutes — about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the home — and gave himself up, crawling out before he was handcuffed and taken into custody in a field, authorities said. Coordinated attacks on legislators Drew Evans, superintendent of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said the rampage likely would’ve continued had Brooklyn Park officers not checked on Hortman’s home, causing Boelter to flee.

The Hoffmans were attacked first at their home in Champlin. Their adult daughter called 911 to say a masked person had come to the door and shot her parents. Boelter had shown up

for him to “fan the flames of division with falsities, while the killer was still on the loose, is deeply irresponsible. He should take his posts down and immediately apologize to the families of the victims.”

Lee’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Lawmakers were already on edge before the shootings, which came less than two days after Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in California. Officers restrained Padilla and put him on the ground.

Angry Democratic senators immediately took to the Senate floor Thursday afternoon to denounce Padilla’s treatment. “What was really hard for me to see was that a member of this body was driven to his knees and made to kneel before authorities,” said New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. “This is a test. This is a crossroads.”

Senate Democrats say

carrying a flashlight and a 9 mm handgun and wearing a black tactical vest and a “hyper-realistic” silicone mask, Thompson said.

He first knocked and shouted: “This is police.” At one point, the Hoffmans realized he was wearing a mask and Boelter told them “this is a robbery.” After Sen. Hoffman tried to push Boelter out the door, Boelter shot him repeatedly and then shot his wife, the prosecutor said.

A statement released Sunday by Yvette Hoffman said her husband underwent several surgeries. “He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive,” the statement said.

When police in nearby Brooklyn Park learned that a lawmaker had been shot, they sent patrol officers to check on the Hortmans’ home.

Officers arrived just in time to see Boelter shoot Mark Hortman through the open door of the home and exchanged gunfire with Boelter, who fled into the home before escaping, the complaint said. Melissa Hortman was found dead inside, according to the document. Their dog also was shot and had to be euthanized.

Search for motive continues

have, in Bergman’s words, attempted to “stop history” and bypass “statesmanship and political discourse”.

cords peace deal with Arafat.

It’s been 20 years since Arafat died as possibly the victim of polonium poisoning, and 30 years after the shooting of Rabin. Peace between Israelis and the Palestinians has never been further away.

What Amnesty International and a United Nations Special Committee have called genocidal attacks on Palestinians in Gaza have spilled over into Israeli attacks on the prominent leaders of its enemies in Lebanon and, most recently, Iran.

Since its attacks on Iran began on Friday, Israel has killed numerous military and intelligence leaders, including Iran’s intelligence chief, Mohammad Kazemi; the chief of the armed forces, Mohammad Bagheri; and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami. At least nine Iranian nuclear scientists have also been killed.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said: We got their chief intelligence officer and his deputy in Tehran.

Iran, predictably, has responded with deadly missile attacks on Israel.

Far from having solved the issue of Middle East peace, assassinations continue to pour oil on the flames.

A long history of extra-judicial killings Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman’s book Rise and Kill First argues assassinations have long sat at the heart of Israeli politics.

In the past 75 years, there have been more than 2,700 assassination operations undertaken by Israel. These

at a briefing Tuesday they plan to ask security officials, as well as Republican leadership, about Padilla’s removal from the press conference and their protection against outside threats.

“I certainly hope to hear leadership responding in a profound way,” said New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, a Democrat.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who said she had been informed that her name was also on the suspect’s list, said she wanted to hear recommendations at the briefing on how to improve security.

“And we can take those recommendations,” Baldwin said. “But I think, both with the president and his administration and with members of Congress, that we need to bring the temperature down. There’s no place for political violence ever. And the rhetoric — words matter.”

Writings recovered from the fake police vehicle included the names of lawmakers and community leaders, along with abortion rights advocates and information about health care facilities, said two law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation.

Friends and former colleagues interviewed by the AP describe Boelter as a devout Christian who attended an evangelical church and went to campaign rallies for President Donald Trump. Boelter also is a former political appointee who served on the same state workforce development board as Hoffman, records show, though it was not clear if they knew each other.

Durkin Richer reported from Washington and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker and Eric Tucker in Washington; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Rio Yamat in Las Vegas; and Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

ing the US Department of Justice last year brought charges against an Iranian man who said he’d been tasked with killing Trump.

This normalisation of assassinations has been codified in the Israeli expression of “mowing the grass”. This is, as historian Nadim Rouhana has shown, a metaphor for a politics of constant assassination. Enemy “leadership and military facilities must regularly be hit in order to keep them weak.”

The point is not to solve the underlying political questions at issue. Instead, this approach aims to sow fear, dissent and confusion among enemies.

Thousands of assassination operations have not, however, proved sufficient to resolve the long-running conflict between Israel, its neighbours and the Palestinians. The tactic itself is surely overdue for retirement.

Targeted assassinations elsewhere Israel has been far from alone in this strategy of assassination and killing.

Former US President Barack Obama oversaw the extra-judicial killing of Osama Bin Laden, for instance.

After what Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch denounced as a flawed trial, former US President George W. Bush welcomed the hanging of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as “an important milestone on Iraq’s course to becoming a democracy”.

Current US President Donald Trump oversaw the assassination of Iran’s leader of clandestine military operations, Qassem Soleimani, in 2020. More recently, however, Trump appears to have baulked at granting Netanyahu permission to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

And it’s worth not-

Elsewhere, in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, it’s common for senior political and media opponents to be shot in the streets. Frequently they also “fall” out of high windows, are killed in plane crashes or succumb to mystery “illnesses”. A poor record

Extra-judicial killings, however, have a poor record as a mechanism for solving political problems.

Cutting off the hydra’s head has generally led to its often immediate replacement by another equally or more ideologically committed person, as has already happened in Iran. Perhaps they too await the next round of “mowing the grass”.

But as the latest Israeli strikes in Iran and elsewhere show, solving the underlying issue is rarely the point. In situations where finding a lasting negotiated settlement would mean painful concessions or strategic risks, assassinations prove simply too tempting. They circumvent the difficulties and complexities of diplomacy while avoiding the need to concede power or territory. As many have concluded, however, assassinations have never killed resistance. They have never killed the ideas and experiences that give birth to resistance in the first place. Nor have they offered lasting security to those who have ordered the lethal strike.

Enduring security requires that, at some point, someone grasp the nettle and look to the underlying issues. The alternative is the continuation of the brutal pattern of strike and counter-strike for generations to come.

Insight 2 Health

Changes to COVID-19 vaccine policy leave many families with questions

By Gminski Stubbs Contributing Writer

What started as protection for everyone has become a matter of personal choice and medical consultation.

When the COVID-19 vaccine first became available in early 2021, it offered hope and safety to people of all walks of life. Certain communities faced disproportionately high rates of hospitalization and death from COVID-19 and were among those who benefited most when the vaccine became widely accessible. The vaccine, along with booster shots introduced later that year, helped protect millions from severe illness and death.

For many families, getting the COVID vaccine felt similar to getting an annual flu shot… a routine way to stay healthy and safe. However, recent policy changes have left many wondering what will change and what it means for their loved ones.

On May 27, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the CDC would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women or healthy children; a decision that has sparked large debate in the medical community.

Under the new guidelines, COVID-19 vaccines are now only recommended for adults 65 and older and people of any age with certain medical conditions that put them at higher risk.

This represents a

Recoil

significant shift from previous policies, which recommended vaccination for nearly everyone, including pregnant women and children as young as 6 months old.

The change in recommendations for pregnant women has particularly concerned many doctors. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists strongly disagrees with the new policy, pointing out that pregnant women with conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity face serious risks from COVID-19.

Other important consideration: babies under 6 months old can only get protection against COVID-19 if their mothers are vaccinated during pregnancy. This means the policy change could leave the youngest and most vulnerable family members without protection.

These policy changes have also created confusion about insurance coverage. Some insurance companies may be less likely to cover COVID-19 vaccines for people who don’t fall into the recommended categories. For families without insurance, the cost can be steep, $150 per shot for Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, according to the CDC.

However, parents who want their children vaccinated can still consult with their pediatrician to determine if the vaccine is right for their child, and it should still be covered by insurance with a doctor’s recommendation.

What has raised eyebrows among public health experts is how these changes were made. Kennedy fired all

17 members of the CDC’s vac cine advisory committee and replaced them with new appointees… a move that bypassed the usual scientific review process.

Traditionally, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) carefully reviews scientific evidence before making recommendations. The ACIP has historically played a pivotal role in ensuring that vaccine policies are based on solid research and medical evidence.

Kennedy stated that he made these changes to “restore public trust” in vaccines, but many public health experts worry that the opposite may happen. They argue that removing experienced scientists and changing policies without following established scientific

processes could undermine con fidence in vaccines and public health recommendations.

For underserved families who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, these changes raise important questions about how to protect loved ones, especially those most vulnerable to severe illness.

Here’s what families should consider:

For pregnant women: Consult with your physician about your risk factors and whether COVID vaccination makes sense for you, especially if you have underlying health conditions.

For parents: Consult your child’s pediatrician about whether COVID vaccination is appropriate, especially if your

child has health conditions that could make them more vulnerable.

For older adults and those with health conditions: The COVID-19 vaccine is recommended for you, so continue to follow your doctor’s guidance about staying up to date with vaccinations.

For everyone: Stay informed about COVID-19 levels in your community and continue practicing preventive measures.

Notable critics like Dr. Mark Turrentine and Sean O’Leary have raised concerns about the scientific basis for these policy changes, calling

the document “willful medical disinformation”. This has added to the confusion and concern among medical professionals.

As these policies continue to evolve, it’s more important than ever for families to maintain open communication with their healthcare providers. Your doctor is aware of your family’s health history and can provide personalized guidance based on your specific circumstances.

For the most current information about COVID-19 vaccines and recommendations, consult with your healthcare provider or visit your local health department’s website.

Ellison, who was also on the shooter’s target list, appeared visibly shaken. “Melissa was my dear friend,” Ellison said. “I met her before either of us were in politics. She was a fighter. She stood for paid family leave, universal school meals, the child tax credit. She was a great spirit.” Ellison shared that he and Hortman had represented the same client in the early days of their legal careers. “She was tough. She was brilliant. She got a $400,000 settlement for a tenant being harassed by a landlord. That was rare.”

Representative Esther Agbaje, recalled being contacted by law enforcement and being told she was among those targeted. “I had to leave my home. I kept wondering, what if he had come to my door?”

She said the ordeal has reshaped how she views public service. “We are now operating in a completely new reality,” Agbaje said. “It makes you question how you continue to do the work and stay strong in a country that sees political violence as a tool.”

Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston echoed her concerns and called for unity.

From Cover Wealth

From Cover

mixed-use project in Camden Town. Kenya McKnight Ahad went from being a tenant to owning her building. Tito Wilson transformed the Fourth Street Saloon into a restaurant. That’s the shift. That’s wealth-building.” McLean underscored that this change is intentional. “We’re seeing developers with vision and purpose. People are no longer asking if we can. They’re saying we are doing

“We’re one family. We need to talk to each other more moderately. When people spread conspiracy theories about this, it hurts real families,” he said. Winston also had a personal connection to Hortman, describing how she invited young people into her home to learn about politics. “She taught them how the legislature works, and how to play pool.”

McFarlane framed the assassination within a broader political climate. “We live in a very toxic environment. People are making light of a mother and public servant being murdered. It’s dangerous.” Ellison agreed. “This violence is rooted in toxic political rhetoric. We need to rise above it. We must commit to nonviolent social change, even in the face of this violence.”

He offered a tribute to Hortman. “She didn’t want to go to Washington. She said she wanted to stay here, in Minnesota, and serve her community. That’s who she was.”

As Minnesota reels, those closest to the late Speaker are calling not only for justice, Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston, made a broader appeal to the public. “We need to talk to each other with respect,” he said. “This is not the time for misinformation or conspiracy theories. Real fami-

this.”

He stressed that corporate partnerships are playing a key role. “US Bank, Target, and Wells Fargo aren’t just writing checks. They’re helping us make calls. They’re creating pitch decks with us. They’re showing up.” These partners will speak at NEON’s upcoming Community Conversation on June 25. “We want people to hear directly from them. Too often, these corporations invest quietly. It’s time the community understands how much they’ve contributed.”

For McLean, the goal

lies are grieving.”

Ellison took aim at political figures who downplay or mock the violence. “There are people who call themselves moral leaders, people of faith, who feel comfortable making light of a mother’s death,” he said. “That’s beyond politics. That’s a lack of basic decency.”

Referencing national voices who remained silent after the shooting, Ellison added, “A president who refuses to call the governor of a state where a sitting Speaker has been assassinated is failing to meet the moment.”

He warned against normalization. “We cannot become numb to this,” he said. “We cannot make exceptions based on who we like or dislike. A political murder is always wrong.”

Still, Ellison affirmed that the path forward must be rooted in purpose. “Even in grief, we must stay grounded in nonviolence. We must protect democracy, not just with laws, but with values.”

McFarlane agreed. “If we don’t call our country to a better place, who will?”

Though shaken, each guest affirmed a commitment to public service and belief in the resilience of Minnesotans. “We have a duty,” said Agbaje. “Not just to grieve, but to rise.”

is long-term. “This isn’t about short-term programs. This is about changing the culture. We’re creating a tipping point.” McFarlane nodded. “The energy is different. We’re not just surviving. We’re building legacy.”

In the midst of statewide sorrow, North Minneapolis is asserting itself with power and purpose, demonstrating that local leadership, when combined with access to capital and clear vision, can redefine a neighbourhood’s future from the inside out.

AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File

A vial of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine rests on a table at an inoculation station

Lawmakers

From 3

in Minnesota, while elected leaders in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin said they were also mentioned in the writings. Authorities have not provided a motive for the shootings. Manny Atwal, Boelter’s lead attorney, declined to comment, saying the office just got the case. Here’s how some of the lawmakers in his writings are reacting to the violence: Minnesota state Rep. Esther Agbaje Agbaje spent the weekend with friends and family after learning that her name was on Boelter’s list and said she is still trying to make sense of the violence.

Grievance

From 3

ance – a sense of resentment or injustice fueled by perceived discrimination – that have characterized his actions for years.

The list of targets for his retribution, which have included Harvard University, elite law firms and former allies he believes have betrayed him, now exceeds 100, according to an NPR review.

As a historian of early America, I am familiar with how grievance marked the colonial era. Throughout this period, grievance fueled rage and violence.

European grievance in America Europeans who arrived in the Americas following Columbus’ 1492 journey claimed the territories in the Western Hemisphere through an obsolete legal theory known as the “doctrine of discovery.”

But since his arrest, the lawmaker, whose district includes portions of northern and downtown Minneapolis, has returned home. She said she now feels “more committed than ever” to her work as a legislator.

“We cannot allow people to divide us and then use violence to keep up those divisions,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, Michigan

A day after Dingell learned her name was included in Boelter’s writing, she held a town hall Monday in a high school auditorium in Dexter, Michigan.

“We cannot let terror terrorize us,” she told the audience, who cheered. Dingell, who represents the Ann Arbor area, said that some people had wanted her to cancel the event. After the town hall,

she reflected on her habit of going out in public without her staff because she always wants people to be able to talk with her. After the shooting, law enforcement officers have told her to be more careful.

“We can’t let elected officials be cut off,” she said. “We can’t let elected officials become afraid.”

“Look, I’m going to keep fighting for the people that I represent. I’m going to keep being a voice for those that want me to make sure their voice is heard at the table,” she added.

Minnesota state Sen. Ann Rest Rest, who represents New Hope in Hennepin County, said she was made aware that the suspect had been parked near her home early Saturday. She said in a statement Monday that the “quick action” of law enforcement officers saved her

life.

While she was grateful for the suspect’s apprehension, she noted in the statement that she was grieving the loss of the Hortmans and praying for the Hoffmans’ recovery.

U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, Michigan Scholten, who represents Grand Rapids, said she was postponing a Monday town hall after learning she was a potential target.

“Out of an abundance of caution and to not divert additional law enforcement resources away from protecting the broader public at this time, this is the responsible choice,” Scholten said in a statement.

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Ohio Kaptur’s office said in a statement that her name was included in Boelter’s writing but that it will not get in the way

tives.

of her work “to make life better for families across Northwest Ohio.”

“Uplifting those who she has the honor to serve has been her sole focus every single day she has served and nothing will deter her from doing so now,” the statement said.

Minnesota state Rep. Alex Falconer

Falconer, whose district includes a portion of the Twin Cities, said he woke up Saturday morning while on vacation with his wife and kids to a flurry of text messages about the shootings. The police chief then called to warn him about a list of targets.

Falconer said he later learned he wasn’t on the list, but his family decided to stay away until the suspect was in custody. The police chief increased patrols in his neighborhood and stationed a police car outside of

his house, he said. While the question of whether to stay in politics was top of mind for him this weekend, Falconer said, “They win if we quit.”

Falconer and his Democratic colleagues in the state House gathered at the Capitol on Monday to seek comfort in one another and share stories of Hortman, Falconer said. It was the first time they could meet since the shooting because they had been told by law enforcement to not leave their homes while the suspect remained at-large, he said.

Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti and Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan contributed to this report.

In 1598, for example, Spanish soldiers patrolling the pueblo of Acoma in New Mexico demanded food from local residents, whom the colonizers saw as their subordinates. The town’s inhabitants, believing the request excessive, fought instead, killing 11 Spaniards.

In response, the governor of New Mexico, a territory almost entirely populated by Indigenous peoples, ordered the systematic amputations of the hands or feet of residents whom the soldiers thought had participated in the attack. They also enslaved hundreds in the town. Roughly 1,500 residents of Acoma died in the conflict, according to the National Park Service, a response seemingly driven more by grievance than strategy.

Spanish, English, French, Dutch and Portuguese rulers, according to this notion, owned portions of the Americas, regardless of the claims of Indigenous peoples. This presumption of ownership justified, in their minds, the use of violence against those who resisted them.

English colonizers proved just as quick to deploy extraordinary violence if they believed Native Americans deprived them of what they thought was theirs.

In March 1622, soldiers from the Powhatan Confederation – composed of Algonquian tribes from present-day Virginia – launched a surprise attack to protest encroachments on their lands, killing 347 colonists.

The English labeled the event a “barbarous massacre,” using language that dehumanized the Powhatans and cast them as villainous raiders. An English pamphleteer named Edward Waterhouse castigated these Indigenous people as “wyld naked Natives,” “Pagan Infidels” and “perfidious and inhumane.”

War began almost immediately. Colonial soldiers embraced a scorched-earth strategy, burning houses and crops when they could not locate their enemies. On May 22, 1623, one group sailed into Pamunkey territory to rescue cap-

Under a ruse of peaceful negotiation, they distributed poison to some 200 Native residents. By doing so, the colonial soldiers, driven by grievance more than law, ignored their own rules of war, which forbade the use of poison in war. Grievance drove colonists against each other Even among colonists, grievance promoted violence.

In 1692, residents of Salem, Massachusetts, believed their misfortunes were the work of the devil. Their anxieties and anger led them to accuse others of witchcraft.

As historians who have studied the Salem witch trials have argued, many of the accusers in agricultural Salem Village – modern-day Danvers – harbored resentments against neighbors who had closer ties to nearby Salem Town, which was more commercial.

The aggrieved found a spokesman in the Rev. Samuel Parris, whose own earlier failure in business had led him to

look for a new path forward as a minister. Parris’ anger about his earlier disappointments fueled his indignation about what he saw as inadequate economic support from local authorities.

In a sermon, he underscored his financial irritation by emphasizing Judas’ betrayal of Jesus for “a poor & mean price,” as if it was the amount that mattered. The resentful residents and their bitter minister fueled the largest witch hunt in American history, which left at least 20 of the accused dead.

The most obvious forerunner of today’s grievance-fueled politics was a rebellion in the spring and summer of 1676 by backcountry colonists in Virginia who battled their Jamestown-based colonial government. They were led by Nathaniel Bacon, a tobacco farmer who believed that provincial officials were not doing enough to protect outlying farms from attacks by Susquehannocks and other Indigenous residents. Bacon and his followers, consumed by their “declaration of grievances,” petitioned

the local government for help. When they did not get the result they wanted, they marched against Jamestown. They set the capital alight and chased Gov. William Berkeley away. Bacon succumbed to dysentery in October, and the movement collapsed without its charismatic leader. Berkeley survived but lost his position. The rebellion has become etched into history as a violent attack against governing authorities that foreshadowed the 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

When President Trump invokes alleged insults to one community to satisfy the yearnings of his followers, he and his allies run the risk of once again stoking the passions of the aggrieved.

Acts of grievance come in different forms, depending on historical and political circumstance. But the urge to reclaim what someone thinks should be theirs can lead to deadly violence, as earlier Americans repeatedly discovered.

Will AI take your job? The answer could hinge on the 4 S’s of the technology’s advantages over humans

used to enhance satellite and remote sensing data, to compress video files, to make video games run better with cheaper hardware and less energy, to help robots make the right movements, and to model turbulence to help build better internal combustion engines.

If you’ve worried that AI might take your job, deprive you of your livelihood, or maybe even replace your role in society, it probably feels good to see the latest AI tools fail spectacularly. If AI recommends glue as a pizza topping, then you’re safe for another day. But the fact remains that AI already has definite advantages over even the most skilled humans, and knowing where these advantages arise — and where they don’t — will be key to adapting to the AI-infused workforce.

AI will often not be as effective as a human doing the same job. It won’t always know more or be more accurate. And it definitely won’t always be fairer or more reliable. But it may still be used whenever it has an advantage over humans in one of four dimensions: speed, scale, scope and sophistication. Understanding these dimensions is the key to understanding AI-human replacement.

Speed First, speed. There are tasks that humans are perfectly good at but are not nearly as fast as AI. One example is restoring or upscaling images: taking pixelated, noisy or blurry images and making a crisper and higher-resolution version. Humans are good at this; given the right digital tools and enough time, they can fill in fine details. But they are too slow to efficiently process large images or videos.

AI models can do the job blazingly fast, a capability with important industrial applications. AI-based software is

Real-time performance matters in these cases, and the speed of AI is necessary to enable them.

Scale

The second dimension of AI’s advantage over humans is scale. AI will increasingly be used in tasks that humans can do well in one place at a time, but that AI can do in millions of places simultaneously. A familiar example is ad targeting and personalization.

Human marketers can collect data and predict what types of people will respond to certain advertisements. This capability is important commercially; advertising is a trillion-dollar market globally.

AI models can do this for every single product, TV show, website and internet user. This is how the modern ad-tech industry works. Real-time bidding markets price the display ads that appear alongside the websites you visit, and advertisers use AI models to decide when they want to pay that price – thousands of times per second.

Scope

Next, scope. AI can be advantageous when it does more things than any one person could, even when a human might do better at any one of those tasks. Generative AI systems such as ChatGPT can engage in conversation on any topic, write an essay espousing any position, create poetry in any style and language, write computer code in any programming language, and more. These models may not be superior to skilled humans at any one of these things, but no single human could outperform top-tier generative models across them

all.

It’s the combination of these competencies that generates value. Employers often struggle to find people with talents in disciplines such as software development and data science who also have strong prior knowledge of the employer’s domain. Organizations are likely to continue to rely on human specialists to write the best code and the best persuasive text, but they will increasingly be satisfied with AI when they just need a passable version of either.

Sophistication

Finally, sophistication. AIs can consider more factors in their decisions than humans can, and this can endow them with superhuman performance on specialized tasks. Computers have long been used to keep track of a multiplicity of factors that compound and interact in ways more complex than a human could trace. The 1990s chess-playing computer systems such as Deep Blue succeeded by thinking a dozen or more moves ahead.

Modern AI systems use a radically different approach: Deep learning systems

built from many-layered neural networks take account of complex interactions – often many billions – among many factors. Neural networks now power the best chess-playing models and most other AI systems.

Chess is not the only domain where eschewing conventional rules and formal logic in favor of highly sophisticated and inscrutable systems has generated progress. The stunning advance of AlphaFold2, the AI model of structural biology whose creators Demis Hassabis and John Jumper were recognized with the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2024, is another example.

This breakthrough replaced traditional physics-based systems for predicting how sequences of amino acids would fold into three-dimensional shapes with a 93 million-parameter model, even though it doesn’t account for physical laws. That lack of real-world grounding is not desirable: No one likes the enigmatic nature of these AI systems, and scientists are eager to understand better how they work.

But the sophistication

of AI is providing value to scientists, and its use across scientific fields has grown exponentially in recent years.

Context matters

Those are the four dimensions where AI can excel over humans. Accuracy still matters. You wouldn’t want to use an AI that makes graphics look glitchy or targets ads randomly – yet accuracy isn’t the differentiator. The AI doesn’t need superhuman accuracy. It’s enough for AI to be merely good and fast, or adequate and scalable. Increasing scope often comes with an accuracy penalty, because AI can generalize poorly to truly novel tasks. The 4 S’s are sometimes at odds. With a given amount of computing power, you generally have to trade off scale for sophistication.

Even more interestingly, when an AI takes over a human task, the task can change. Sometimes the AI is just doing things differently. Other times, AI starts doing different things. These changes bring new opportunities and new risks.

For example, high-frequency trading isn’t just

computers trading stocks faster; it’s a fundamentally different kind of trading that enables entirely new strategies, tactics and associated risks. Likewise, AI has developed more sophisticated strategies for the games of chess and Go. And the scale of AI chatbots has changed the nature of propaganda by allowing artificial voices to overwhelm human speech.

It is this “phase shift,” when changes in degree may transform into changes in kind, where AI’s impacts to society are likely to be most keenly felt. All of this points to the places that AI can have a positive impact. When a system has a bottleneck related to speed, scale, scope or sophistication, or when one of these factors poses a real barrier to being able to accomplish a goal, it makes sense to think about how AI could help. Equally, when speed, scale, scope and sophistication are not primary barriers, it makes less sense to use AI. This is why AI auto-suggest features for short communications such as text messages can feel so annoying. They offer little speed advantage and no benefit from sophistication, while sacrificing the sincerity of human communication. Many deployments of customer service chatbots also fail this test, which may explain their unpopularity. Companies invest in them because of their scalability, and yet the bots often become a barrier to support rather than a speedy or sophisticated problem solver. Where the advantage lies Keep this in mind when you encounter a new application for AI or consider AI as a replacement for or an augmentation to a human process. Looking for bottlenecks in speed, scale, scope and sophistication provides a framework for understanding where AI provides value, and equally where the unique capabilities of the human species give us an enduring advantage.

How the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ positions US energy to be more costly for consumers and the climate

When it comes to energy policy, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” – the official name of a massive federal tax-cut and spending bill that House Republicans passed in May 2025 – risks raising Americans’ energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

The 1,100-page bill would slash incentives for green technologies such as solar, wind, batteries, electric cars and heat pumps while subsidizing existing nuclear power plants and biofuels. That would leave the country and its people burning more fossil fuels despite strong popular and scientific support for a rapid shift to renewable energy.

The bill may still be revised by the Senate before it moves to a final vote. But it is a picture of how President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans want to reshape U.S. energy policy.

As an environmental engineering professor who studies ways to confront climate change, I think it is important to distinguish which technologies could rapidly cut emissions or are on the verge of becoming viable from those that do little to fight climate change. Unfortunately, the House bill favors the latter while nixing support for the former.

Renewable energy

Wind and solar power, often paired with batteries, are providing over 90% of the new electricity currently being

added to the grid nationally and around the world. Geothermal power is undergoing technological breakthroughs. With natural gas turbines in short supply and long lead times to build other resources, renewables and batteries offer the fastest way to satisfy growing demand for power.

However, the House bill rescinds billions of dollars that the Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in 2022, devoted to boosting domestic manufacturing and deployments of renewable energy and batteries.

It would terminate tax credits for manufacturing for the wind industry in 2028 and for solar and batteries in 2032. That would disrupt the boom in domestic manufacturing projects that was being stimulated by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Deployments would be hit even harder. Wind, solar, geothermal and battery projects would need to commence construction within 60 days of passage of the bill to receive tax credits.

In addition, the bill would deny tax credits to projects that use Chinese-made components. Financial analysts have called those provisions “unworkable,” since some Chinese materials may be necessary even for projects built with as much domestic content as possible.

Analysts warn that the House bill would cut new wind, solar and battery installations by 20% compared with the growth that had been expected without the bill. That’s why BloombergNEF, an energy research firm, called the bill a “nightmare scenario” for clean

energy proponents. However, one person’s nightmare may be another man’s dream. “We’re constraining the hell out of wind and solar, which is good,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican backed by the oil and gas industry. Efficiency and electric cars

Cuts fall even harder on Americans who are trying to reduce their carbon footprints and energy costs. The bill repeals aid for home efficiency improvements such as heat pumps, efficient windows and energy audits. Homeowners would also lose tax credits for installing solar panels and batteries.

For vehicles, the bill would not only repeal tax credits for electric cars, trucks and chargers, but it also would impose a federal $250 annual fee on vehicles, on top of fees that some states charge electric-car owners. The federal fee is more than the gas taxes paid by other drivers to fund highways and ignores air-quality and climate effects.

Combined, the lost credits and increased fees could cut projected U.S. sales of electric vehicles by 40% in 2030, according to modeling by Jesse Jenkins of Princeton University.

Nuclear power

Meanwhile, the bill partially retains a tax credit for electricity from existing nuclear power plants. Those plants may not need the help: Electricity demand is surging, and companies like Meta are signing longterm deals for nuclear energy to power data centers. Nuclear plants are also paid to manage

their radioactive waste, since the country lacks a permanent place to store it. For new nuclear plants, the bill would move up the deadline to 2028 to begin construction. That deadline is too soon for some new reactor designs and would rush the vetting of others. Nuclear safety regulators are awaiting a study from the National Academies on the weapons proliferation risks of the type of uranium fuel that some developers hope to use in newer designs.

Biofuels

While cutting funding for electric vehicles, the bill would spend $45 billion to extend tax credits for biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

Food-based biofuels do little good for the climate because growing, harvesting

and processing crops requires fertilizers, pesticides and fuel. The bill would allow forests to be cut to make room for crops because it directs agencies to ignore the impacts of biofuels on land use.

Hydrogen

The bill would end tax credits for hydrogen production. Without that support, companies will be unlikely to invest in the seven so-called “hydrogen hubs” that were allocated a combined $8 billion under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. Those hubs aim to attract $40 billion in private investments and create tens of thousands of jobs while developing cleaner ways to make hydrogen. The repealed tax credits would have subsidized hydrogen made emissions-free by using renewable or nuclear

electricity to split water molecules. They also would have subsidized hydrogen made from natural gas with carbon capture, whose benefits are impaired by methane emissions from natural gas systems and incomplete carbon capture.

However it’s made, hydrogen is no panacea. As the world’s smallest molecule, hydrogen is prone to leaking, which can pose safety challenges and indirectly warm the climate. And while hydrogen is essential for making fertilizers and potentially useful for making steel or aviation fuels, vehicles and heating are more efficiently powered by electricity than by hydrogen. Still, European governments and China are investing heavily in hydrogen production.

By Bruce Schneier

By

An AI agent collaborates with an accountant to boost speed and efficiency

By Daniel Cohan Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering,

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Napheesa Collier scored 26 of her 32 points in the first half and Courtney Williams scored 17 points and the Minnesota Lynx returned to their winning ways by beating the Los Angeles Sparks 101-78 on Saturday.

Reserves Natisha

Hiedeman scored 14 points and Maria Kliundikova scored 11 points for the Lynx (10-1) who were handed their first loss of the season on Wednesday by the Seattle Storm, 94-84. It was Collier’s third 30-plus point effort of the season. She started the year with season-high 34 points in a win over Dallas on May 16. Collier followed that with a 33-point effort a week later against Connecticut. Against the Sparks, however, with the game in hand, Collier sat the fourth quarter after a 13-for-16 shooting perfor-

mance including 3 for 4 from 3-point range. Collier recorded more field goals in the first quarter than Los Angeles as a team. She was 7-for-9 shooting compared to the Sparks who were 4 for 7. Minnesota led 34-15 at the end of one.

By halftime, Collier was at 10-for-12 shooting while Los Angeles overall still trailed her by shooting just 7 for 30. Minnesota led 58-26 at halftime for its highest scoring half of the season. Kelsey Plum scored 20 points, Rickea Jackson scored 18 points, reserve Emma Cannon 14 and Dearica Hamby scored 10 and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Sparks (4-8).

Pacers’ Haliburton plays through lower leg injury in Game 5 loss to Thunder in NBA Finals Sports

By Tim Reynolds AP Basketball Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) —

Indiana guard Tyrese Halibur-

ton grabbed at his lower right leg after an awkward fall in the first quarter, briefly leaving Game 5 of the NBA Finals for treatment.

He kept playing. He clearly wasn’t right.

To his credit, Haliburton gutted his way through 34 minutes — largely playing the role of a facilitating decoy in the second half, hardly ever looking to shoot. He finished with four points, all from the foul line, and the Pacers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-109 on

Monday night to fall behind 3-2 in the series.

“If I can walk, then I want to play,” Haliburton said.

Haliburton was scoreless at halftime for the first time in 36 career playoff games. He scored his first points on a pair of free throws with 7:07 left in the third quarter.

And now, the challenge of winning an NBA title gets even tougher for the Pacers. They’re down, and their quarterback is ailing.

“We were concerned at halftime, and he insisted on playing,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I thought he made a lot of really good things happen in the second half. But he’s not 100%. There’s a lot of

guys in the series that aren’t.”

For the first time in these playoffs, the Pacers are trailing in a series. It didn’t happen against Milwaukee in Round 1, against Cleveland in Round 2 or against New York in the Eastern Conference finals.

But Oklahoma City’s win in Game 5 marked the first time Indiana — which had won 10 consecutive games immediately following a loss coming into Monday — has dropped two straight games since midMarch. It also makes the math very simple now: The Pacers must win Thursday at home to force a Game 7, then must win in Oklahoma City on Sunday night if they are going to capture

an NBA title for the first time. Carlisle said the Pacers would see how Haliburton feels over the next couple days, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a decision about his availability for Thursday night.

“It’s the finals, man,” Haliburton said. “I’ve worked my whole life to be here, and I want to be able to compete, help my teammates any way I can. ... It’s not really a thought of mine to not play here.”

Haliburton played 10:04 of the first quarter Monday, then left for the locker room area and emerged with a wrap on his lower leg. Haliburton checked back into the game with 8:27 left in the first half. The injury — whatever it is —

was

as day to day. Buxton — scratched about an hour before first pitch — had been scheduled to lead off and play center field in the series finale. He was replaced in center field by Harrison Bader.

LEGACY AND LOVE

Conversation on Wealth, Wills and Community

Discover the power of legacy through real stories, trusted voices, and actionable tools. This isn’ t your typical financial talk it ’s a vibrant , culturally rooted experience that brings wealth, wills, and legacy planning to life Through heartfelt conversation and practical insights, we ’ll break down barriers, uplift community wisdom, and spark powerful discussions about family, the future, and how we build lasting impact together

Join us for a conversation that ’s honest , inspiring, and deeply rooted in love on YouTube, 90. 3 FM - MPLS | 106.7 FM - ST. PAUL on KFAI.org, and channel 19 - ST. PAUL on SPNN.

Al McFarlane Host and Board Chair of Greater Twin Cities United Way

HOUSTON (AP) — Minnesota

Twins center fielder Byron Buxton was scratched from Sunday’s lineup a day after being hit on the left elbow by a pitch. Buxton left Saturday’s game against the Houston

Buxton is batting .273 with 11 homers and 41 RBIs in 54 games this season. He missed about two weeks last month after sustaining a concussion in a collision with Carlos Correa.

Napheesa Collier

Byron Buxton

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton shoots as Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) looks on during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City.

Books, Art & Culture

Dark Country

By W.D. Foster-Graham Book Review Editor

By J. Darnell Johnson

One of the things I like about sci-fi, fantasy, and Afrofuturism is the freedom to let one’s vivid imagination fly. When it’s combined with events from our history, it makes for amazing storytelling. That being said, let us go back to the period in our history known as Reconstruction with J. Darnell Johnson’s Dark Country. Reconstruction is

taing place. The Civil War has ended. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, officially abolishing slavery. The Freedmen’s Bureau was founded. White supremacy, however, is not giving up, and the backlash is swift.

Enter James “Blaze” Vaughn and Albert “Shaman” Stroud. Blaze is a runaway slave and a deserter from the Union, skilled in all forms of physical combat and weaponry. Shaman is a former slave and a surviving member of the Godong tribe from West Africa, possessing telekinetic abilities and shapeshifting powers. Under the auspices of President Ulysses S. Grant and the leadership of Frederick Douglass, they are Super Secret Service Agents known as the Liberators. Their

mission: “to erode, disrupt, degrade, and dismantle white supremacy by any means necessary to ensure Negroes have access to land, education, business opportunities, and most importantly, the right to vote.”

As Super Secret agents for the federal government, they have access to a variety of state-of-the-art technology and horses who can fly. However, their undercover work could never be linked to Frederick Douglass, and they would constantly face danger in the pursuit of justice. In the midst of this mission, Blaze is engaged in an ongoing search for his parents, from whom he was separated.

Will Operation Dark Country be successful? Will Blaze and Shaman survive with-

out being made, or worse, eliminated? Will Blaze be reunited with his parents, or will it end in heartbreak?

Johnson takes us on a compelling story of intrigue in this turbulent and dangerous period of America’s past. Fasten your seat belts, readers; it’s going to be quite a ride. In the words of Frederick Douglass, “Power and those in control concede nothing…without demand.” At the risk of their lives and using their wits and skills, the Liberators score victories for justice in the face of danger, betrayal, and lost lives. Dark Country is available through his website, jdarnelljohnson.com. Thank you, J., for your gift of storytelling in highlighting the ongoing fight for justice as African Americans.

People for Parks 2025 grantees selected

More than six million annual visitors enjoy Minneapolis’s neighborhood parks for long walks, quick swims, slowrolling bike rides, fast-paced pickleball, and much more.

Minneapolis Parks Foundation’s People for Parks Fund announced 10 winning projects it will support through a competitive microgrant program has invested more than $250,000 in community-driven ideas for creating connections through the parks.

The 2025 funded projects include: Friends of Minnehaha Park to empower their army of volunteer “Buckthorn Slayers” to restore the Lower Glen Trail below Minnehaha Falls, removing invasive species, building biodiversity, and connecting community members who care about the park.

Urban Bird Collective to inspire BIPOC communities to get closer to nature with events focused on outdoor photography and the winter bird count at Theodore Wirth, Roberts Bird Sanctuary and other Minneapolis park destinations.

The Commons Park for a new piece of public art, a large-scale mural by Indigenous artist Heather Friedli imagining native landscapes, animals and the Mississippi River before urbanization.

Vietnamese Social Services to combat social isolation with Thien Nhien Va Ban (Nature and You), a program that invites Vietnamese elders to connect with nature, and to each other.

Ȟaȟa Wakpadaŋ Nibi Walk a half-day community celebration following Bassett Creek on its 12-mile journey from Medicine Lake to the

Mississippi River. Led by the Indigenous Peoples Task Force, this autumn water walk will follow the original course of the creek, with diverse artists and advocates exploring the creek’s history and connections to human culture. Urban Strategies to make Sumner Field Park home base for The Heritage Heartbeat Passport Series, a host of health and wellness events this summer led by Messianic Care and Black Nurses Rock. From nutrition demonstrations, to diabetes awareness, to line dancing, this project will give more than 400 BIPOC families a safe space to connect in the

Save the date: parks annual fundraising breakfast

The Minneapolis Parks Foundation’s annual breakfast fundraiser, Sunrise on the Mississippi, takes place Wednesday, September 10, 2025. The event delivers a morning of inspiration, connection, and celebration—

all in support of the vibrant Minneapolis park system. The event takes place at Nicollet Island Pavilion and features local leaders and change-makers who are doing meaningful and impactful work within the parks, championing the green

spaces that make Minneapolis special. Early Bird tickets are available through August 1st! Contact Christine Moir cmoir@ mplsparksfoundation.org for more information.

outdoors while learning about healthful living. Nature Inside Out to support elementary school students from across North Minneapolis for repeat trips to the Carl Kroening Nature Center in North Mississippi Regional Park, teaching the next generation how nature can nurture us through all four seasons.

Project Success to enable BIPOC and economically-disadvantaged youth to see themselves in the great outdoors, with outreach programs that introduce youth

to the wonders of the Boundary Waters and other natural treasures. And with additional help from a bequest from the estate of Mary Ann and Herold Feldman, Lake Nokomis’s Fitness Path will get a major upgrade this season, replacing the outdated “vitacourse” equipment with new stations for lake walk work-outs. Each exercise station will also be installed by Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board youth crews under adult supervision, providing meaningful employment experiences to the next generation.

Created by the merger of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation and People for Parks, the People for Parks Fund supports community-driven ideas for inviting Minneapolis residents to enjoy a closer connection to nature. Since its start in 2020, the People for Parks Fund has delivered more than 50 parks projects around the city of Minneapolis, removing barriers to access, building new audiences for park activities, and fostering belonging through the exceptional park system we share.

Images Courtesy of: Minneapolis Sailing Center, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Scott Gagnon

Dark Country by J. Darnell Johnson Book Cover Art

Terrorism

From Cover

and Breonna Taylor- have been killed by police during traffic stops, wellness checks, or while sleeping. This contrast is as devastating as it is revealing, the civil rights attorney said.

“Boelter’s wife was also in a vehicle that was pulled over in Onamia, Minnesota over the weekend with large amounts of cash and multiple passports, raising serious questions about whether she was aiding his escape. Yet she, too, was re-

leased,” Levy-Armstrong said. “Would a Black woman in the same circumstances have been allowed to walk away?”

“We are devastated by the targeted shootings of Minnesota legislators Rep. Melissa Hortman and Sen. John Hoffman and their spouses. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims, their families, and the communities reeling from this senseless act of political violence,” she said.

“Let’s be clear: This was not a random crime. It was a calculated assault on democracy by a man impersonating a

police officer, using state symbols and authority to gain access and inflict harm. It must be called what it is: an act of domestic terrorism,” she said.

Under federal law, domestic terrorism includes acts that:

- Are dangerous to human life and violate criminal law;

- Are intended to intimidate or coerce civilians or influence the policy or conduct of government; and

- Occur primarily within the United States.

Levy-Armstrong said

Vance Boelter’s actions meet all of these criteria. He impersonated law enforcement, targeted sitting lawmakers in their homes, assassinated an elected official and her spouse, shot and almost killed another elected official and his spouse, and attempted to assassinate other public officials.

She said Boelter is now facing:

- Federal charges, including multiple counts of murder, stalking, and firearms violations for targeting U.S. officials and their families. The Department of Justice has not ruled out the death penalty.

State charges of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, with Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty seeking a grand jury indictment for first-degree murder.

Levy-Armstrong said law enforcement made other critical mistakes:

- A New Hope officer encountered Boelter mid-rampage, in a fake police SUV, dressed like a police officer. He refused to answer questions. Yet she let him go, no backup, no detainment.

- We still need clarity about what exactly took place outside of Rep. Hortman’s home between Brooklyn Park police and Boelter before Boelter gained entry to the residence and allegedly committed murder inside; as well as whether gunfire was exchanged between Boelter and police and how he managed to escape.

- No statewide emergency alert was issued after the shootings of two state legislators and their spouses. Minnesota has a public alert system through IPAWS that can be used for everything from missing persons to Blue Alerts for officer-related violence. Why wasn’t it activated here? Who makes that decision- and why didn’t they act?

We need full transparency around Minnesota’s emergency management protocols. When elected officials are hunted in their homes and no public warning is issued, the system is failing.

We must also hold the media accountable for shaping public perception. Many headlines have focused more on Boelter’s financial struggles and mental health than the lives he destroyed or the broader threat he posed to public safety. This sanitization of white male violence dehumanizes victims and distorts reality.

Two truths can exist at once: Law enforcement worked diligently to find Boelter. And law enforcement made critical mistakes that endangered more lives. We can acknowledge both while demanding better from every system designed to protect the people, she said.

Levy-Armstrong said the Racial Justice Network is demanding:

- An immediate domestic terrorism designation from federal authorities;

- A full investigation into law enforcement response failures, including the officer “who released Boelter in New Hope” and the decision to release his wife during the traffic stop in Omania;

- A public explanation of Minnesota’s emergency alert protocols and why they failed to activate;

- An end to media sanitization of white male violence. When white men can murder civilians, target lawmakers, impersonate police, and still be treated with restraint- while Black people are killed for simply existing- we are looking at two systems of justice, two sets of assumptions, and two visions of public safety, she said.

“Because if we cannot call domestic terrorism what it is, we cannot stop it,” she said.

AP Photo/George Walker IV