00:00Hi everyone, this is Congresswoman Yasemin Ansari. I just want to take a few minutes to talk about
00:05the tragedy that occurred in Minnesota over the weekend and just the rise of political violence
00:11in this country. So I'm sure everybody has heard, but over the weekend, a former Minnesota House
00:20Speaker and a State Representative, Melissa Hortman, and her husband, along with another
00:25state senator and his wife were shot. One was assassinated, Melissa and her husband were
00:30assassinated in their home in the middle of the night by a man who was pretending to be a police
00:38officer who came to their door in the middle of the night and gunned them down and killed them,
00:43murdered them. And the state senator and his wife, thank goodness, are alive. They survived 17 bullets.
00:52And just yesterday, after a two-day manhunt, the assassin was finally found and arrested. And I'm
01:01so grateful to law enforcement who worked tirelessly, who put themselves in harm's way in Minnesota to
01:07find him. And now he will face justice. But what has happened over the weekend coming after just
01:15last Thursday when a senator from California, Alex Padilla, was assaulted by, at a press conference in
01:24California, attending to go ask questions of the DHS secretary, comes after many, many politically violent
01:33attacks and attempted attacks here in Arizona. This is an issue we have been dealing with for many years. Of course,
01:40former congresswoman Gabby Giffords is from Arizona. We have had campaign offices vandalized, window shot,
01:48state lawmakers who have had violence outside their homes. This is unacceptable. And what is happening
01:57in this country? Obviously, we are incredibly divided politically. We do have a president who has
02:05pardoned violent criminals who were insurrectionists at January 6th at the Capitol, you know, leadership
02:14on the right who fuel this hate and fuel violent rhetoric and normalize it. And it is terrifying and
02:24it's unacceptable. No public official, no elected official should have to fear for their life, not feel
02:31safe in their own home simply for doing their job. No kids should have to be afraid to go to school.
02:37People should not be worried when they're attending peaceful protests or going to their places of worship
02:43or going to an abortion clinic. This is really, really, really scary. And I really just wanted to come on here
02:52and implore folks to operate in a way that is respectful with humility. Even if we disagree with one another,
03:02it's really important to be mindful of the language that we use and the way we talk about, you know,
03:09our colleagues or people with different political views, because this has to stop. It is unacceptable that
03:15in the United States of America in 2025, this is happening. I am just completely heartbroken for
03:22Minnesota and for those lawmakers. The assassin had a list of 70 people, including many of my colleagues
03:29in Congress that were on his target list. And it's just really troubling. So please, please, please
03:38keep that in mind. It's really going to take all of us across the country in every state
03:43to operate differently, to lead by example, to be more, you know, cautious and civil with one another.
03:50And we can debate and discuss issues and talk about policies without inciting violence. And again,
03:56my heart just goes completely out to Melissa Hortman's family and everyone across Minnesota and across the
04:03United States.
04:12And I think that's a great question.
04:16I think that's a great question.
04:18I think that's a great question.
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