WASHINGTON — Kentucky lawmakers are condemning the shootings that killed a Minnesota state representative and her husband and injured a state senator and his wife.
Spectrum News has learned the shootings have led to a new review of security at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort.
“The safety and security of our legislators, staff and facilities where we work remain top priorities,” Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, told Spectrum News in a statement. “We assess security regularly and have done another review to strengthen current measures in light of the Minnesota murders.”
Vance Boelter, who faces federal and state murder charges, is accused in the shooting deaths of Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark in Minnesota on Saturday.
Boelter is also accused of shooting and injuring Democratic State Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette.
Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, called the attacks “horrifying.”
“This brutal act underscores the urgent need to reject any normalization of political violence in our society,” McGarvey wrote in an online post.
Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., recalled a shooting that injured several people at a congressional baseball practice in 2017, as well as an attack by his neighbor the same year.
“Republican or Democrats, we come together about this,” he said. “I was there at the shooting in 2017 when Steve Scalise almost died just feet away from another young staffer that was shot just next to me, so I’m aware of this. I’ve been the victim of political violence. I had six ribs broken and part of my lung removed, so we know about this. We’re very aware of it, but our hearts and prayers go out to the families.”
Dewey Clayton, a professor of political science at the University of Louisville, said political rhetoric has ramped up over the last 15 years, and it’s not getting better.
“I think it’s a very scary time, particularly as it relates to allowing younger people who are watching how our adults are behaving and acting,” Clayton told Spectrum News Monday. “We’re not sending a good message to them at all … That really bothers me. In fact, we need to realize that words have consequences, and lethal consequences as well.”
A spokesperson for Kentucky House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, told Spectrum News security is “constantly being evaluated” and as of Monday morning, there were no plans to change security for members.