On Sunday night at home with her children she took a dark turn for Michigan Democratic congresswoman, Hillary Scholten, when she says that the state police delivered the horrible news that she was in the alleged list of objectives of an alleged murderer.
“It was really chilling,” Scholten told ABC News on Tuesday, describing the moment he says that the authorities told him that he was among 45 people attacked by the suspect accused of killing the state representative of Minnesota, Melissa Hortman, and her husband at home on Saturday.
The alleged alleged armed man, Vance Boelter, supposedly maintained detailed surveillance notes about his planned victims, including democratic politicians, defenders of abortion rights and medical care officials, according to police sources.
The representative Hillary Scholten speaks at a press conference after a meeting of the Chamber’s democratic Caucus in the Capitol building, on January 25, 2023.
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Boelter is also accused of injuring Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Before the fatal shooting at Hortman’s house, the authorities say they had already tried to reach two other legislators who were not in their residences.
For Scholten, a mother of two children, her first instinct was to be a protector.
“As a mother, my first instinct, of course, was to protect my two children who were at home with me,” he said.
Scholten told ABC News that the Local Police responded immediately and parked the soldiers outside their home throughout the day while the suspect was generally in a nearby state. She also wants answers to why she was on Boelter’s alleged list.
“You know, I think that is one of the things we are still trying to discover, and that we are really pressing the FBI and the Capitol Police to get answers,” said Scholten.
“We will not be intimidated or silenced by an individual like this,” said Scholten. “As the first woman in history to do this job, I feel that it is very important, yes, always be intelligent and safe, but continue rejecting this type of violence.”
While most legislators have condemned the shooting. Utah’s Republican senator Mike Lee published images about the suspect with the title, “Nightmare on Waltz Street”, an apparent reference to the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz.
Senator Mike Lee participates in a hearing of the Senate Judicial Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office building, May 13, 2025.
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“What a shame, shame. Senator, you know better than that,” Scholten told ABC News. “We are talking about a public service partner who was killed by the work she chose to do; he must immediately knock down these horrible and offensive positions and apologize for them. I also hope that my republican colleagues in the Chamber and the Senate condemn these actions.”
Lee ignored journalists’ questions about the positions in the Capitol on Monday night, and eliminated the positions on Tuesday.
Scholten told ABC News that he faced threats before and emphasized the need for a bipartisan condemnation of political violence.
“We need to unite, regardless of the party, when this type of violence raises our heads and condemns it in the strongest possible terms,” he said, and said that Democratic legislators joined in condemning violence when the Republican representative of Louisiana, Steve Scalise, was filmed in 2017.
Despite postponing a meeting of the City Council due to security concerns, Scholten said he is determined to continue his work.
“I am making it very clear that we are not going to stop this work,” he said, characterizing as “true domestic terrorism” destined to silence legislators to serve their voters.
