Amy Klobuchar Decries Shootings Of Minnesota Officials, Calls For Increased Security For Lawmakers

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During an interview with CNN on Sunday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) discussed the shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers on Saturday.

Transcript

00:00So, this man, what we know from the list of the fact that we had groups like Planned

00:07Parenthood on the list, the fact—some of the things we know about the manifesto, this

00:12was clearly politically motivated.

00:15It was, as you described, an assassination.

00:18And Melissa Hortman is the most incredible person that I wish everyone in the nation

00:23knew her.

00:24You know, went into politics with little kids.

00:27That's how I got to know her.

00:28We have both moms in politics, taught Sunday school, Girl Scout leader, balanced all of

00:33it, and ends up moving up in the legislature to be a beloved speaker of the House, getting

00:39through with the governor, free lunch, getting through with the governor, all the work she

00:44did on paid family leave, and then, this year, with a tied legislature, negotiates with her

00:50Republican counterpart and is able to get a budget done.

00:54She was extraordinary.

00:55And so, when you hear about political violence, Dana, you got to look at the face of this

00:58woman and understand how real this is.

01:02In terms of this manhunt, $50,000 award from the FBI, we asked people to come forward.

01:08The chilling picture for us is the one where he had put on a mask.

01:11He's very smart.

01:12He's very evil.

01:13And that picture is taken from a ring camera, from a doorbell that many Americans may have,

01:20right before he killed our friends.

01:22So you've got a massive manhunt, as you say, going on, and people are just following instructions

01:28from law enforcement.

01:30We want to get this guy.

01:31No, I haven't.

01:32And I will say that, without me asking, they've added security, but not just for me, for other

01:37leaders in Minnesota.

01:39You know, for me, I think people know that elected officials get threats, a lot of them

01:46you never hear about, judges, election workers.

01:50This has gotten totally out of hand, with threats against members of Congress.

01:53In 2016, there were like 1,700 of them.

01:57Last year, over 9,000 of them.

02:00And so, one of the things that we have done, our delegation with Congressman Emmer and Congresswoman

02:06McCollum, Senator Smith and others, we actually put out a joint statement that said, we speak

02:11with one voice in condemning political violence.

02:15I think we need to see more of this across our country.

02:18People need to call people out.

02:20Some people need to look in the mirror and say, hey, I've got to stop this or stop

02:23my colleagues from doing this, because it makes it much worse.

02:28We need to bring the tone down, and we also need to stand up when people do bad things,

02:33which I know you're going to be talking about later in the show.

02:36And I'm glad there was such turnouts at these rallies, because our democracy is something

02:41to protect, not try to bring down.

02:44I think, just in general, there can be copycat crimes, and people can get incentivized when

02:51they see things online, something else I'd like to put more rules of the road in place

02:55on, because that is—you look at the man that bludgeoned Speaker Pelosi's husband.

03:00Of course he was off balance.

03:02Of course he was sick.

03:04But that case, you could see a through line with him reading this stuff online.

03:09So more has to be done on that front.

03:11And then, of course, more has to be done to protect elected officials, regardless of party.

03:17And I appreciate that Senator Thune and Senator Schumer called me yesterday, and they're

03:22very focused on making sure there's added security.

03:26The first is to follow the advice of law enforcement right now, because they've—it's been a changing

03:31situation with shelters in place.

03:33And to understand, they're just simply trying to get a madman.

03:36But the second is that people like Melissa or Senator Hoffman, who's struggling and holding

03:42in there with his life, along with his wife, Yvette, that these are real people.

03:48And before you start ascribing motives or going after them online, maybe you should think about

03:54Melissa Hortman's life, right?

03:58A group just put out—a group—a local group put out a picture of her—and I didn't even

04:05know this about her, that she trained dogs for veterans in her spare time.

04:10This is a person that did everything for the right reasons.

04:13And regardless of political parties, just look at her face and think about that before

04:18you send out your next post or before you say something that isn't just about your

04:23views.

04:24People can have different views on things.

04:26But remember that our democracy is something to cherish.

04:29And public service is a worthy thing to do.

04:32And Senator Hortman's children today, they didn't just lose a mom.

04:37They lost their dad, Mark, and it is Father's Day, so pray for them as well.

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