A growing memorial for Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband stands Monday, June 16, 2025 at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
The horrific assassination of Minnesota’s Democratic legislative leader Melissa Hortman last weekend left people across the country in a state of shock and grief.
Derrick Van Orden held a press conference Sept. 9 to discuss crimes committed in his hometown by a Venezuelan immigrant. | (Screenshot via Zoom)
But just across the border from Hortman’s home state, Wisconsin Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden seized on the double murder of Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were shot dead in their home, and the near-fatal shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, to mock Democrats and try to score political points. Van Orden falsely characterized the suspected shooter, a right-wing religious fanatic on a mission to murder Democrats and abortion providers, as an anti-Trump protester who “decided to murder and attempt to murder some politicians that were not far Left enough for them.”
This wildly misleading analysis came straight out of the MAGA alternative reality machine on social media, where, Minnesota Reformer editor J. Patrick Coolican wrote, right-wing influencers began peddling misinformation about Hortman’s murder just hours after it happened.
Van Orden was not alone in helping to spread those lies. Wisconsin’s former Republican Gov. Scott Walker also did his part. In a now-deleted post on X, Walker wrote that if the assassination “ends up being done by an ultra-liberal activist … watch for many on the left to be silent or even justify it. Wrong!”
It is now clear that suspected murderer Boelter was a Republican who, as an evangelical Christian minister, gave sermons railing against abortion and LGBTQ people. Walker at least had the good sense to take down his post — lapsing into the silence he’d predicted “many on the left” would observe.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah was shamed by his colleagues into taking down a similarly callous post in which he blamed “Marxists” for the murders and appeared to gloat that it was a “nightmare” for Walz.
Van Orden, on the other hand, doubled down.
“I stand by my statement,” he wrote on X after U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan chastized him for replying to Walz’s remembrance of Hortman by saying that the Democratic governor is “stupid” and a “clown.” Van Orden responded to Pocan with an obscenity. That’s the post he stood by.
Van Orden, who attended the Jan. 6 rally in Washington after President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election alongside the Capitol insurrectionists, is hardly a model of statesmanship. His boorish behavior in Washington on more than one occasion has embarrassed our state.
But there’s something more troubling going on here than one politician’s loutish behavior.
The horrifying political assassination in Minnesota is a direct result of the same MAGA disinformation machine that went into overdrive trying to distort the truth about the assassin’s aims. Van Orden is one of many Republicans who have hyped the idea that the U.S. is under attack from “criminal, illegal aliens” who were allowed by the Biden administration to “wander around the nation at their leisure.” (In fact, immigrants commit violent crimes at lower rates than U.S.-born citizens, and Van Orden’s district is full of hardworking immigrants who lack legal status but without whom Wisconsin’s dairy industry would collapse.)
Republicans following Trump’s lead have stirred up a moral panic around immigration, abortion, LGBTQ people and other non-threats in increasingly hysterical terms. Their rhetoric laid the groundwork for actual physical violence. It has been used to justify the unprecedented spectacle of masked federal agents seizing people on U.S. streets and deporting them without due process, as well as the Trump administration’s outrageous manhandling and handcuffing of Judge Hannah Dugan in Milwaukee, Sen. Alex Padilla in California and a mayoral candidate and Comptroller Brad Lander in New York City.
Trump’s invitation to physical violence against his opponents and the press are a hit with his base. It seems inevitable that eventually someone would take him up on it.
Adding fuel to the fire, Trump’s MAGA minions have made his sociopathic callousness part of their brand. Trump refused to call Walz after the murders in Minnesota, and instead took a gratuitous swipe at the man who campaigned against him as Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate in 2024, calling him “whacked out” and “a mess.”
“I could be nice and call, but why waste time?” Trump told reporters.
In a terse statement, Walz spokesperson Teddy Tschann explained why: “Governor Walz wishes that President Trump would be a President for all Americans, but this tragedy isn’t about Trump or Walz. It’s about the Hortman family, the Hoffman family, and the State of Minnesota, and the governor remains focused on helping all three to heal.”
What happened in Minnesota is a tragedy for all of us. It’s made worse by the lack of leadership from politicians who not only don’t have the wisdom and maturity to respond appropriately, but who, by failing to take responsibility for their actions, are actively propelling us toward a more terrible future.
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 13: U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) participates in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on May 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah took down X posts Tuesday making an apparent connection between Gov. Tim Walz and the man accused of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, and blaming “Marxists” for the murders. The change comes after blowback from Sen. Tina Smith and her staffers as well as Minnesota Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
One X post said “Nightmare on Waltz Street,” with pictures of Boelter, who is accused of killing Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shooting Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in the early morning hours of June 14. Boelter also went to the homes of two other state lawmakers that night; one house was empty, and at the other, a police officer pulled up to the house shortly after Boelter arrived, so Boelter left.
Another Lee post read, “This is what happens When Marxists don’t get their way,” with a picture of Boelter.
Misinformation about Boelter’s apparent connection to Walz has been circulating online since the killing. Walz reappointed Boelter to the Workforce Development Board — one of hundreds of nonpartisan boards and commissions — after he was originally appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton, but Walz had no personal connection to Boelter. There have also been claims online that Boelter is a leftist, though his roommate told reporters that he is a Trump supporter.
The changes to Lee’s X feed come after a confrontation between Lee and Smith Monday at the U.S. Capitol.
“I wanted him to hear directly from me about how painful that was and how wrong that was,” Smith told the Star Tribune. Smith, who was a friend of Hortman’s, said Lee did not apologize during their conversation.
Ed Shelleby, Smith’s deputy chief of staff, sent an email to Lee’s staff condemning the senator’s posts.
“You exploited the murder of a lifetime public servant and her husband to post some sick burns about Democrats. Did you see this as an excellent opportunity to get likes and retweets? Have you absolutely no conscience? No decency?” a copy of the email obtained by Semafor said.
Several Minnesota Republicans also condemned Lee’s posts.
“I have tremendous respect for Senator Mike Lee, but it doesn’t mean he is immune from the base impulses social media incentivizes. People say stupid stuff on the internet all the time. The best they can do is admit they shouldn’t have and be better,” Rep. Nolan West, R-Blaine, wrote on X. He later responded to his post, writing, “Respect rescinded.”
“This has nothing to do with Governor Walz,” Rep. Walter Hudson, R-Albertville, posted on X.
In separate press conferences Monday, both state and federal officials addressed the misinformation that has been circulating online about the assassination.
“As our community grieves, I encourage those out there seeking to create additional chaos to stop spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said.
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com.
GREEN ISLE, MINNESOTA - JUNE 15: Law enforcement on June 15, 2025 in Green Isle, Minnesota searched for a suspect in the killing of DFL State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, who were shot at their home yesterday. DFL State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and hospitalized in a separate incident. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said during a press conference that the shooting "appears to be a politically motivated assassination." (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
Law enforcement officers on Sunday night arrested Vance Boelter, who is accused of assassinating Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home in Brooklyn Park as part of a larger plot to kill Democratic elected officials and other advocates of abortion rights, according to a state official with knowledge of the arrest.
The arrest comes after a two-day manhunt. Law enforcement officers had been searching all day after locating Boelter’s abandoned vehicle near Green Isle, where Boelter has a home.
Boelter is also accused of shooting Democratic-Farmer-Labor state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin. Both Hoffmans survived the shooting, but received surgeries for their injuries and remain hospitalized.
Boelter is a Christian who voted for President Donald Trump and opposes abortion and LGBTQ rights, according to interviews with his childhood friend and videos of his sermons posted online. A list of potential targets — including Hoffman and Hortman — included abortion providers and other Democratic elected officials from Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Authorities say Boelter attacked the Hoffmans at their home in Champlin at approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday morning.
At around 3:30 a.m., Brooklyn Park police headed to the Hortmans’ home to proactively check on them following the attack on the Hoffmans, said Drew Evans, superintendent at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at a press conference Saturday morning.
When they arrived, the officers saw the shooter in a fake law enforcement uniform exiting the front door of the house. Out front, emergency vehicle lights flashed from a Ford Explorer outfitted to look like a cop car. When the officers confronted the shooter, a gunfight ensued, and the killer escaped, abandoning the vehicle.
Inside, Hortman and her husband, Mark, were dead from gunshot wounds.
In the SUV, police found a document with a list of lawmakers and other officials on it. Hortman and Hoffman were on the list.
Gov. Tim Walz at a press briefing in Blaine announcing the assassination of House DFL leader Melissa Hortman on June 14, 2025. Photo courtesy of Gov. Tim Walz’s office.
Evans said Sunday that the document is not a “traditional manifesto that’s a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings.” Instead, it contains a list of names and “other thoughts” throughout.
On Saturday afternoon, police raided a home in north Minneapolis where Boelter lived part time. In an interview with the Star Tribune and other media outlets, Boelter’s roommate and childhood friend David Carlson shared a text message Boelter sent him at 6:03 a.m. saying that he would be “gone for a while” and “may be dead shortly.”
Federal and state warrants were out for Boelter’s arrest, and the FBI was offering a $50,000 award for information that led to Boelter’s capture.
On Sunday morning, law enforcement officers detained and questioned Boelter’s wife as she was driving through Mille Lacs County with other family members. Evans said Sunday none of Boelter’s family members are in custody.
Sunday afternoon, law enforcement officers located a car linked to Boelter in Sibley County within a few miles of his home address in Green Isle.
Law enforcement officials continue to investigate Boelter’s motives, Evans said, and urged the public not to jump to conclusions.
“We often want easy answers for complex problems, and this is a complex situation…those answers will come as we complete the full picture of our investigation,” he said.
Fragments of Boelter’s life available online, and interviews with those who know him, shed light on his religious and political beliefs.
Boelter’s LinkedIn page indicates that he spent many years working in food production before becoming the general manager of a 7-Eleven. More recently, he worked at funeral homes, the New York Times reported.
Boelter was facing financial stress after quitting his job to embark on business ventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Carlson, the Star Tribune reported.
The website for a private security firm lists Boelter as the “director of security patrols,” and his wife as the CEO. He purchased some cars and uniforms but “it was never a real company,” Carlson told the Strib.
Carlson said Boelter is a Christian who strongly opposes abortion, the New York Times reported.
The reporting on Boelter’s religious life suggests that his beliefs were rooted in fundamentalism, though he doesn’t appear to have been ordained in any particular denomination, said Rev. Angela Denker, a Minnesota-based Lutheran minister, journalist and author of books on Christianity, right-wing politics and masculinity.
“What this kind of theology says is that if you commit violence in the name of whatever movement you’re a part of, then you’re going to be rewarded,” Denker said.
The gunman shot John Hoffman nine times, and Yvette Hoffman eight times, according to a statement from Yvette.
The Hoffmans’ nephew, Mat Ollig, wrote on Facebook that Yvette used her body to shield her daughter. John Hoffman is “enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,” Yvette Hoffman said in a statement.
On the steps of the State Capitol Sunday, mourners created an extemporaneous memorial for Hortman, who will be known as one of the most consequential progressive leaders in recent state history.
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com.
Speaker emeritus Rep. Melissa Hartman talks to colleagues during a special legislative session Monday, June 9, 2025 at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
House Democratic-Farmer-Labor caucus leader Melissa Hortman, who was among the most influential Minnesota elected officials of the past decade, died on Saturday morning after a man impersonating a police officer shot her in her Brooklyn Park home, Gov. Tim Walz said.
Hortman’s husband was also shot and killed, the governor said.
Walz, appearing emotional at a press conference in the north metro, said they were killed in an apparent “politically motivated assassination.”
“Our state lost a great leader, and I lost the dearest of friends,” Walz said. “(Hortman) was a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota.”
Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot multiple times earlier in the evening in their Champlin home. Walz said they were out of surgery, and that he’s “cautiously optimistic they will survive this assassination attempt.”
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said Champlin law enforcement received a call at about 2 a.m. that a person shot Hoffman and his wife.
Brooklyn Park Police Department Chief Mark Bruley said his officers assisted with the Champlin shooting; a sergeant suggested checking in on Hortman’s home. They live about five to eight miles away from each other. When Brooklyn Park police officers arrived at Hortman’s home, they encountered a person who was dressed like a police officer who “immediately fired at them,” Evans said. Police exchanged gunfire with the person, but they were able to escape.
The shooter is still at large, and Brooklyn Park is under a shelter-in-place order. Hundreds of police officers and SWAT teams are conducting a manhunt for the person, officials said.
On Saturday afternoon, authorities asked for the public’s assistance in locating Vance Luther Boelter, the suspect connected with the shootings. They said he was last seen Saturday morning in Minneapolis wearing a dark long-sleeved shirt and a cowboy hat.
Bruley said that when they arrived at Hortman’s home, they saw a police SUV with its lights on and saw the suspect was impersonating a police officer.
In the SUV, police found a “manifesto,” with a list of lawmakers and other officials on it. Hortman and Hoffman were on the list. According to an official who has seen the list, the targets included prominent pro-choice individuals in Minnesota, including many Democratic lawmakers who have been outspoken about their policy positions.
Hortman, who has two adult children, was first elected to the Legislature 2004 and served as House Speaker from 2019-2024. She lost two elections before winning, which she said gave her an understanding of what it takes to win swing seats and hold them.
Her speakership will be remembered as among the most consequential in recent Minnesota political history. With Walz and Senate GOP Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, she guided the state through the pandemic before helping Democrats achieve a trifecta in the 2022 election.
During the 2023 legislative session, she helped bridge the wide gulf between moderates and progressives in her caucus to achieve a historic legislative agenda. Democrats codified abortion rights in law; invested in education, including universal schools meals, as well as transportation and housing; created paid family leave; legalized cannabis; and passed gun control laws.
The encomiums poured in Saturday. “There is no greater champion for Minnesota’s working people than Melissa Hortman,” said Joel Smith, President and Business Manager of LIUNA Minnesota and North Dakota, the laborers union.
Hoffman was elected in 2012 and is known for his work on human services.
Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin. Photo by Senate Media Services.
The Reformer sat down with Hortman at the Capitol on Thursday to discuss the 2025 session, which ended on Monday.
During his remarks Saturday, Walz denounced political violence and said the people involved in the shooting would be caught and held responsible.
“This was an act of targeted political violence. Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint,” Walz said.
According to a source close to Walz, the governor spoke to Vice President J.D. Vance about the targeted attacks in Minnesota. The governor thanked the vice president for the coordination between federal law enforcement and Minnesota public safety officials.
House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, who worked closely with Hortman in the Legislature to negotiate a state budget this year, said she was horrified by Hortman’s murder.
“I am horrified by the evil attack that took place overnight, and heartbroken beyond words by the loss of Speaker-Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark,” Demuth said in a statement.
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com.
U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump stand together at the end of the U.S Army parade on June 14, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
This report has been updated.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Saturday celebrated his 79th birthday reviewing a parade of tanks, armament and marching soldiers gathered in the nation’s capital for the Army’s 250th anniversary celebration, amid heightened political tensions across the country and anti-Trump “No Kings” protests.
The nearly 90-minute parade cycled through the Army’s history, beginning with soldiers marching in Revolutionary War uniforms and ending with symbols of the Army’s future, including small robots carrying the U.S. Army flag and new West Point cadets about to be sworn in.
Massive tactical vehicles rolled down Constitution Avenue one after another. Sherman tanks used by the military in World War II were followed by early 2000s-era howitzers and HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, that can launch newly developed precision missiles that reach up to 310 miles away, according to the Army.
HIMARS were among the weaponry the U.S. provided to Ukraine’s forces under President Joe Biden.
Members of the U.S. Army march in the 250th birthday parade on June 14, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“The Army keeps us free,” Trump said in brief remarks at the conclusion of the parade, after Vice President J.D. Vance introduced him. “Every other country celebrates their victories, it’s about time America did too. That’s what we’re doing tonight.”
But tragedy and deep conflict marked the hours and days leading to the event. Early Saturday, a Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker and her husband were assassinated in their home in an “act of political violence,” said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, while another legislator and his wife were shot and gravely wounded.
Late Friday, dozens of veterans breached barricades around the U.S. Capitol in protest of the Army parade. On Thursday, a Democratic U.S. senator from California was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a press conference with the head of Homeland Security.
Last weekend, multi-day protests erupted in Los Angeles after immigration raids swept across several Home Depots, typically where undocumented day laborers search for work, as Trump’s mass deportations continue to be carried out.
And the president is in a legal standoff with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, after Trump ordered more than 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to be sent to LA without Newsom’s consent and Newsom sued. The Guard troops remained in LA Saturday after a federal appeals court froze a lower court’s order directing Trump to return command to Newsom.
The city saw a large protest Saturday afternoon, according to local media reports. A curfew of 8 p.m. Pacific time remained in effect, Mayor Karen Bass’ office said in a morning press release.
And on Saturday night, the Salt Lake City Police Department said it was investigating a shooting that occurred during a “No Kings” protest and officials urged people to disperse the demonstration.
‘Yeah, I wanna be there’
In Washington, spectators from across the country began lining barriers along the Army parade route hours before the event’s start.
Scott Aiken, 59, of Athens, Georgia, drove 10 hours for the parade. Aiken, who told States Newsroom he voted for Trump in the last three presidential elections, said he wanted to support the anniversary of the Army.
Scott Aiken, 59, of Athens, Georgia, at the Army parade on June 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
“My father was in the Army, and my wife’s father was in the Army, and we’re a supportive military family. And when I heard the parade was going to happen, I thought, ‘Yeah, I wanna be there.’ So we drove up from Athens on Thursday, and did the Capitol tour yesterday, and here we are.”
When asked about the timing of Trump’s birthday, Aiken said “whether it’s on his birthday or not, I don’t care. That’s not the purpose of this.”
Members of Trump’s Cabinet and other allies on social media posted well wishes and greetings. “Wishing a very happy birthday to our incredible President Donald J. Trump!” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem posted on X. Trump said on his social media site, Truth Social, “President Putin called this morning to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday, but to more importantly, talk about Iran,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and a recent attack by Israel on Iran’s military leaders.
Not everyone at the parade was wishing Trump well. Angelica Zetino, 24, and Shoshauna Brooks, 27, from Rockville and Gaithersburg, Maryland, stood out among the crowd as they carried signs protesting Trump’s administration, particularly recent immigration raids.
The pair began their morning at a “No Kings” protest in Rockville before heading to D.C.
“They (the administration) just want to put on a show, which is OK, but we’re here to support the people that can’t have a voice for themselves,” Brooks said.
Tom Moore, 57, of the District of Columbia,, took issue with Trump’s words this week that any parade protesters would be met with force.
“That’s not acceptable. He didn’t say violent protesters. I wasn’t planning on coming down here before that,” said Moore.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on June 10 that any protests at the military parade “will be met with very heavy force.”
Rallies opposing Trump
Throughout Saturday, protests unfolded across the U.S. bearing the theme “No Kings” to decry Trump’s military display on his own birthday and the mass immigration arrests.
The “No Kings” national organizers said in a press release that as of 2 p.m. Eastern, protesters had rallied at more than 1,500 sites across the country, with 600 more events scheduled through the rest of the day. “No Kings” was organized by liberal groups and labor unions including Indivisible, the American Federation of Teachers, American Civil Liberties Union, Public Citizen, MoveOn, 50501, Interfaith Alliance, Stand Up America, Common Defense, Human Rights Campaign and League of Conservation Voters.
Angelica Zetino, 24, and Shoshauna Brooks, 27, from Rockville and Gaithersburg, Maryland, stood out among the crowd as they carried signs protesting Trump’s administration, particularly recent immigration raids, at the U.S. Army parade in Washington, D.C. on June 14, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
Approximately 60 protesters were arrested outside the U.S. Capitol Friday evening, according to the U.S. Capitol Police. Veterans for Peace, a group that organized the demonstration, posted photos of the arrests and of several demonstrators wearing “Veterans Against Fascists” t-shirts.
Police said 75 people peacefully demonstrated outside of the U.S. Supreme Court.
“A short time later, approximately 60 people from the group left the Supreme Court so as a precaution, our officers began establishing a perimeter,” a police spokesperson told States Newsroom in an email. “A few people pushed the bike rack down and illegally crossed the police line while running towards the Rotunda Steps. Our officers immediately blocked the group and began making arrests.”
Among those arrested was an elderly Vietnam veteran using a walker, Capitol Police confirmed.
Two mules and a dog
A trickle of red “Make America Great Again” hats and apparel displaying support for the Army intermingled as supporters shuffled into the parade grounds Saturday afternoon.
The parade featured soldiers from every division, 150 vehicles, 50 aircraft, 34 horses, two mules and one dog, at a price tag in the tens of millions of dollars, according to the Army.
Among the vehicles and equipment that rolled down Constitution Avenue between 15th and 23rd streets were Abrams tanks, first used in 1991 for Operation Desert Storm; and 9,500-pound titanium M777 lightweight Howitzers that fire 105-pound shells up to 24 miles and are currently in use on Ukraine’s battlefields.
An Army M1 Abrams tank moves along Independence Avenue as it arrives at West Potomac Park on June 10, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Military aircraft that could be seen above Washington in ceremonial flyovers, from AH-64 Apaches, UH-60 Blackhawks and CH-47 Chinooks. Army Golden Knights parachuted down to the White House South Lawn, red smoke in their wake, to present Trump with a folded flag. The president has never served in the military.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed concern in the weeks leading up to the parade about the heavy tactical vehicles causing damage to the city’s streets. The Army Corps of Engineers had installed large steel plates ahead of the event to reinforce the roads.
A HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, in the U.S. Army parade on June 14, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
The parade coincided with the Army’s 250th birthday celebration festival, which has been in the works for a year.
The parade appears to have been a late addition to the festivities. According to documentation obtained by local D.C. news outlet WTOP, America250 applied on March 31 for a permit for the parade. A May 21 press release about the parade from America250, which describes itself as a “nonprofit supporting organization to the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission,” celebrated Trump’s role in the event.
Trump wanted a military parade during his first term, but the idea was dismissed because of cost, NBC reported at the time.
The last time the U.S. staged a celebratory military parade was in 1991 under former President George H.W. Bush to recognize the victory in the first Gulf War.
Immigration enforcement and military
The big Army celebration early in Trump’s second term came as the president has intertwined the U.S. military with his immigration policy, as shown in LA and elsewhere.
In his first days in office, Trump signed five executive orders that laid out the use of military forces within the U.S. borders and extended other executive powers to speed up the president’s immigration crackdown.
He’s directed the Department of Defense to use a naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to detain migrants. Military planes have been used in deportations – rather than standard commercial airplanes.
In April, he signed a proclamation creating a military buffer zone that stretches across Arizona, California and New Mexico just north of the U.S.-Mexico border. It means any migrant crossing into the United States would be trespassing on a military base, therefore allowing active-duty troops to hold them until U.S. Border Patrol agents arrive.
President Donald Trump’s speech was displayed on large screens as people watched near the Washington Monument at the conclusion of the Army parade on June 14, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
National and military experts have raised concerns that giving control over the Roosevelt Reservation to the military could violate the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 law that generally prohibits the military from being used in domestic law enforcement. A statutory exception in the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, is the Insurrection Act of 1807.
Trump has considered invoking the Insurrection Act, but has stopped short. The Insurrection Act is an existing presidential authority that would grant the president access to use all federal military forces, more than 1 million members.
The Insurrection Act has only been invoked 30 times, and is typically focused on an area of great civil unrest that has overwhelmed law enforcement.
The last time a president used it was 1992, during the Los Angeles riots, after four white police officers were acquitted in the brutal beating of Black motorist Rodney King.
In calling in the National Guard in LA last week, Trump cited a rarely used statute known as the protective power – 10 U.S.C. 12406 – to use National Guard troops to protect federal personnel and property, but not for broad law enforcement functions.
Left to right, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul are sworn in before the start of a hearing with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at the U.S. Capitol on June 12, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Three Democratic governors from states that leave immigration enforcement to the federal government said Thursday they oppose President Donald Trump’s decision to send more than 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines into Los Angeles without the consent of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The lengthy and tense U.S. House hearing where the trio appeared — highlighted by a shouting match among members and accusations of Nazi tactics — came as the nation’s capital prepared for a major military parade and Trump’s birthday Saturday, along with thousands of “No Kings” protests across the country.
In Los Angeles, a U.S. senator was tackled and removed from an immigration press conference by federal law enforcement agents accompanying Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The governors, whose states have submitted an amicus brief to a lawsuit by Newsom challenging Trump, said the decisions to bring in the military should be made by local officials.
“It’s wrong to deploy the National Guard and active-duty Marines into an American city over the objection of local law enforcement, just to inflame a situation and create a crisis, just as it’s wrong to tear children away from their homes and their mothers and fathers, who have spent decades living and working in our communities, raising their families,” Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois told members of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee.
The hearing with Govs. Pritzker, Tim Walz of Minnesota and Kathy Hochul of New York marked the second time House Republicans have called in leaders in blue states that have policies of non-cooperation with federal immigration officials in enforcement efforts. Those policies do not bar immigration enforcement from occurring.
The eight-hour hearing came after multi-day protests in Los Angeles sparked when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers began widespread immigration raids at Home Depots in their communities in an effort to carry out the president’s mass deportation efforts.
The governors stressed that the president’s decision to send in the National Guard set a dangerous precedent and posed a threat to democracy.
Republicans on the committee defended the president’s actions and instead accused the governors of violating federal law because of their state policies, dubbed as “sanctuary cities.” Immigration policy is handled by the federal government and states and localities are not required to coordinate with officials.
Shouting match over Noem
More than four hours into the hearing, video circulated of California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla being forcibly removed and handcuffed by Secret Service agents while trying to ask a question of Noem during a press conference in LA.
Democrats on the panel, such as Arizona Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari, slammed the video and raised concerns that a “sitting senator was shoved to the ground.”
It led to a shouting match, with Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost asking the chair of the panel, James Comer of Kentucky, if the committee would subpoena Noem.
Comer said Frost was out of order and tried to move on.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was next in line for questioning, heckled Frost and said that Democrats “can’t follow the rules.” Comer eventually told Frost to “shut up.”
Pritzker said that he could not “believe the disrespect that was shown to a United States senator” who was trying to ask Noem a question.
Democrats on the panel such as Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez and Dan Goldman of New York called for Noem to appear before the committee.
“Anyone with two eyes that can see, can see that was authoritarian, lawless behavior that no person in America, much less a senator conducting congressional oversight, should receive,” Goldman said.
‘People are living in fear’
The Democratic governors defended their immigration policies and criticized the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown, pointing to ICE officers wearing face coverings to arrest immigrants.
“People are living in fear in the shadows,” Hochul said. “People can’t go to school, they can’t worship, they can’t go get health care. They can’t go to their senior center. What is happening has been traumatic.”
Several Republicans including Reps. Comer, Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, took issue with comments by Walz at a commencement speech in May, in which he accused the president of turning ICE agents into a modern-day Gestapo, the official secret police of Nazi Germany.
Republican Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri said that Walz should apologize.
Walz said that as a former history teacher, he was making an observation about ICE tactics — such as wearing a face covering to arrest people — that were similar to those used by secret police.
The top Democrat on the panel, Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, defended Walz’s statement, and said that ICE is operating like a modern-day Gestapo.
Lynch pointed to the video of the international Tufts University student who was approached by masked men on the street and taken into a van for writing an op-ed in defense of Palestinian human rights.
“ICE agents wearing masks and hoodies detained Rümeysa Öztürk and those of you who watched that, that abduction, when you compare the old films of the Gestapo grabbing people off the streets of Poland, and you compare them to those nondescript thugs who grabbed that student, that graduate student, it does look like a Gestapo operation,” Lynch said.
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