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“Holy, holy, holy” they sang at the Church of St Timothy in Blaine, Minnesota.

But the congregation is struggling to comprehend an act of evil – the brutal murder of one of their own.

Church memorial
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The church congregation remembered Melissa and Mark Hortman

Melissa Hortman grew up here. The former state speaker and her husband Mark were shot dead in their home on Saturday morning.

Her friend and party colleague, Erin Koegal, was among those attending mass.

Erin
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Erin Koegal says her friend’s death feels like a ‘bad dream’

“It still feels like a bad dream. I woke up this morning and was like, okay, so that was real,” she said.

“It’s hit me in waves, the grief, and the anger, and the sadness. She was a leader, a true definition of a leader.

“I’ve never known our party without Melissa as the leader and so I can’t, I don’t even know how we’re going to go forward as a caucus without her.”

The bullet holes on Melissa Hortman's front door.
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The bullet holes on Melissa Hortman’s front door.

State senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette had already been shot and wounded.

Police sent to check on his colleague, Melissa Hortman, didn’t get there in time.

Vance Boelter
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Suspect 57-year-old Vance Boelter was detained after a two-day manhunt

The suspect – 57-year-old Vance Boelter – was detained after a two-day manhunt.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called it a “politically motivated murder”.

Read more here:
Neighbours of murdered US politician stunned
Manhunt after Minnesota politician and husband shot dead

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Neighbours of killed US politician stunned

Friends of Ms Hortman have told Sky News that her two children feared for their mother’s life after reading divisive rhetoric directed at her online.

Matt Norris, another political colleague of Ms Hortman, was also at church, reflecting on the rise of political violence in America.

Matt
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Matt Norris

“We’ve going to have to do some serious introspection as a state, as a country, and figure out how do we get beyond this,” he said.

“How have we been laying the seeds that have led to horrific acts of violence against public servants like this?

“And it’s going to be incumbent upon us as leaders to set a different tone, to set a different direction for our state and our country so that horrific tragedies like this never occur again.”

Melissa Hortman
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Tributes left for Melissa Hortman and her husband outside the Minnesota State Capitol

But there’s no sign of division at the State Capitol Building, where flags fly at half-mast and flowers are being left in tribute.

This is a community united in grief and in its hope for an end to gun violence in America.

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Trump suffers setback in bid to act as national police chief after chaos on streets of LA

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Trump suffers setback in bid to act as national police chief after chaos on streets of LA

The deployment of National Guard soldiers on to the streets of LA by Donald Trump was always deeply controversial – and now it has been deemed illegal, too, by a federal judge.

In late spring in Los Angeles, I observed as peaceful protests against immigration raids turned confrontational.

I watched as Waymos – self-driving cars – were set alight and people waving flags shut down one of the city’s busiest freeways. I saw government buildings spray-painted with anti-government sentiment and expletives. Some people even threw bottles at police officers in riot gear.

In exchange, I saw law enforcement deploy “flash bang” crowd control devices and fire rubber bullets into crowds, indiscriminately, on occasion.

Mounted Los Angeles police officers disperse protesters earlier this summer. Pic: San Francisco Chronicle/AP
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Mounted Los Angeles police officers disperse protesters earlier this summer. Pic: San Francisco Chronicle/AP

A person reacts to non-lethal munitions shot in Los Angeles.
Pic: Reuters
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A person reacts to non-lethal munitions shot in Los Angeles.
Pic: Reuters

It was chaotic at times, violent, even, in a corner of the downtown area of the city. But I didn’t witness anything that suggested police were on the brink of being overcome by rioters. I didn’t see anything that I believe justified the deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 marines to the heart of America’s second-biggest city.

But Trump sent them in anyway, against the wishes of the local government. LA mayor Karen Bass condemned the deployment as an act of political theatre and said it risked stoking tensions.

The language Trump used was, arguably, inflammatory, too. He described LA as an “invaded” and “occupied city”. He spoke of “a full-blown assault on peace”, carried out by “rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country”.

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Trump: ‘We will liberate Los Angeles’

It didn’t reflect reality. The size of the protests were modest, several thousand people marching through a handful of streets in downtown LA, a city which spans 500 square miles and has a population of almost four million.

The majority of the soldiers simply stood guard outside government buildings, often looking bored. Some of them are still here, with nothing to do. Now a judge has ruled that the operation was illegal.

US District Judge Charles Breyer said the Trump administration “used armed soldiers (whose identity was often obscured by protective armour) and military vehicles to set up protective perimeters and traffic blockades, engage in crowd control, and otherwise demonstrate a military presence in and around Los Angeles”.

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Marines head to Los Angeles

In a scathing judgement, he effectively accused the White House of turning National Guard soldiers and marines into a “national police force.”

That breaches a law from 1878, barring the use of soldiers for civilian law enforcement activities.

It is a blow to what some view as the president’s ambition to federalise Democrat-run cities and deploy the National Guard in other states around the country. He had threatened to send troops to Chicago as part of an initiative he says is cracking down on crime, widening the use of National Guard troops, as seen on the streets of Washington DC.

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The fightback against immigration raids in LA

But since this judge ruled that the deployment of National Guard and marines to LA in June was unlawful in the way it unfolded, Trump may have to be inventive with his rationale for sending soldiers into other US cities in the future.

This legal judgement, though, is being appealed and may well be overturned. Either way, it is unlikely to stem the president’s ambition to act as national police chief.

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Partial release of Epstein files feeds view the whole truth is being covered up

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“Don’t let this fool you.”  

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Trump says 11 dead in strike on Venezuelan drugs boat

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Trump says 11 dead in strike on Venezuelan drugs boat

A strike on what the US called a Venezuelan gang’s drug-carrying vessel killed 11 people, Donald Trump has said.

Speaking at a news conference at the White House, the US president told reporters: “We just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat.

“And there’s more where that came from. We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country, coming in for a long time.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio then added: “These particular drugs were probably headed to Trinidad or some other country in the Caribbean.

“Suffice to say the president is going to be on offence against drug cartels and drug trafficking in the United States.”

Mr Trump later posted a video on Truth Social of a vessel exploding, in what appeared to mark the first US military operation in the southern Caribbean to crack down on drug cartels.

The president said on social media that the US military had identified the crew as members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which was designated a terrorist group in February.

He then alleged that Tren de Aragua is being controlled by Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, which the country denies.

Venezuelan officials have repeatedly said that Tren de Aragua is no longer active in their country after they dismantled it during a prison raid in 2023.

The US last month doubled its reward for information leading to the arrest of Mr Maduro to $50m, accusing him of links to drug trafficking and criminal groups.

The US has deployed warships in the southern Caribbean in recent weeks.

Seven warships, along with one nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, are either in the region or expected to arrive soon, carrying more than 4,500 sailors and Marines.

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Officials have said that the US military has also been flying P-8 spy planes over international waters in the region to gather intelligence.

Mr Maduro said on Monday that he “would constitutionally declare a republic in arms” if Venezuela were attacked by US forces deployed in the Caribbean.

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