♪♪ >> ERIC: SPEAKER EMERITA MELISSA HORTMAN'S FAMILY WILL HAVE A PRIVATE FUNERAL THIS WEEKEND.

TODAY IT WAS THE PUBLIC'S OPPORTUNITY TO COME TO THE CAPITOL TO HONOR HORTMAN AND HER HUSBAND.

POLITICAL REPORTER MARY LAHAMMER TALKED WITH FRIENDS AND STRANGERS ABOUT WHY THEY CAME TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS.

>> Mary: THE FIRST WOMAN TO LIE IN STATE IS FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER MELISSA HORTMAN, ALONGSIDE HER HUSBAND, MARK, AND BELOVED DOG, GILBERT.

HUNDREDS, THEN THOUSANDS OF MINNESOTANS MADE THEIR WAY TO THE STATE CAPITOL TO HONOR THE TRIO GUNNED DOWN BY A POLITICAL SASSIN THAT STILL HAS -- AS SASSIN THAT STILL HAS SO MANY IN DISBELIEF.

>> AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO SOMETHING, TO REACT IN SOME WAY.

SUCH A STUNNING INCONCEIVABLE THING TO HAPPEN.

AND YOU NEED A WAY TO REACT TO IT.

>> BELIEVING THAT GOVERNANCE AND WORKING WITH OTHERS AND THAT MINNESOTA MODEL OF, WE'LL FIGURE IT OUT TOGETHER, AND I'M DEEPLY MOVED AND AFFIRMED THAT NOT ONLY IS MELISSA HORTMAN LYING IN STATE BECAUSE APPROXIMATE, AS MY MOM SAID, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING, I APPRECIATE ACKNOWLEDGING HER HUSBAND'S SACRIFICE AND EVEN THEIR DOG.

PUBLIC SERVICE IS SOMETHING WE'RE PROUD OF.

WE STILL ARE PROUD OF IT.

WE STILL DO IT RIGHT.

>> Mary: YOU KNEW MELISSA HORTMAN?

>> YEAH, I SPENT A LOT OF TIME WORKING ON BILLS TWO YEARS AGO, DURING THE TRIFECTA.

I WOULD OFTEN HEAR WHAT WAS GOING ON, BECAUSE I WAS BOLD ENOUGH TO TEXT MELISSA AND ASK.

>> ON THE BACK OF MY SHIRT, IT HAS ALL OF THE THINGS THAT WERE PASSED UNDER THE TRIFECTA.

AND IT'S REALLY WEIRD TO THINK THAT THE TWO AUCUS LEADERS ARE NOT THERE ANYMORE.

>> Mary: AND THIS WAS HER PHRASE FOR PEOPLE HO MAY NOT KNOW, THIS IS HOW SHE STARTED SESSION, LFG, IT STANDS FOR SOMETHING.

>> YES, LET'S FREAKIN' GO, WE'RE GOING TO FEED THE KIDS, WE'RE GOING TO FUND EDUCATION, WE'RE GOING TO PROTECT PEOPLE.

>> Mary: THIS IS NOT EASY.

>> NO, IT'S NOT EASY.

BUT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT.

I LOVE THAT GILBERT IS ALSO LYING IN STATE.

THIS ALSO DID A OT TO SCARE PEOPLE.

>> Mary: ARE YOU CARED?

>> NOT REALLY.

I KEEP THINKING OF, LIKE, WHAT MELISSA WOULD PROBABLY THINK, WHICH IS, OBVIOUSLY, PROTECT YOUR FAMILY.

BUT ALSO, LIKE, WE STILL NEED PEOPLE TO BE INVOLVED.

>> Mary: THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT REASONS PEOPLE CAME TO THE MINNESOTA STATE CAPITOL TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS, TO FORMER SPEAKER MELISSA HORTMAN, WHO BECAME THE LONGEST-SERVING FEMALE SPEAKER IN STATE HISTORY.

>> MY NEIGHBOR, LINDA, INVITED ME O JOIN, REALLY JUST STRUCK BY THE WHOLE SITUATION AND VERY SADDENED THAT THIS HORRIBLE TRAGEDY OCCURRED.

>> Mary: YOU DIDN'T KNOW HER.

YOU SHOWED UP.

>> YES, I GREW UP IN BROOKLYN PARK, I GREW UP IN CHAMPLIN.

I LOOK AT HER, I JUST SEE MYSELF, I SEE MY SISTERS, SEE MY FRIENDS.

MINNESOTA POLITICS, YEAH, IT HAS CHANGED.

I'M SHOCKED.

>> I WANTED TO HONOR THE WORK AND LIFE OF MELISSA HORTMAN AND HER HUSBAND.

AND IT'S KIND OF ONE WAY TO MAKE A STATEMENT AGAINST POLITICAL VIOLENCE, NOT ONLY JUST HERE IN MINNESOTA BUT THROUGHOUT OUR NATION.

AND WE NEED LEADERS TO STEP UP TO HELP THAT HAPPEN.

SO THAT'S BASICALLY WHY I'M HERE TODAY.

>> Mary: ARE YOU WORRIED PEOPLE WON'T STEP UP AND WILL BE AFRAID TO GO INTO POLITICS NOW?

>> THERE'S NO REAL REASON TO WORRY ABOUT IT.

I THINK WE JUST DO WHAT WE CAN DO ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND ELECT LEADERS THAT FEEL THE SAME WAY WITH RESPECT TO POLITICAL VIOLENCE.

BUT I THINK MELISSA WOULD GIVE US HOPE IN THAT DIRECTION.

SHE SEEMED TO WANT TO WORK WITH LL PEOPLE.

>> I'VE WORKED FOR THE JEWISH SPECIAL, LIKE SO MANY PEOPLE HERE INTERACTED WITH HER.

A LOT OF PEOPLE SAID SHE WAS THE BEST OF US.

I'VE BEEN HERE, LIKE YOU, A LONG TIME, AND MOST OF THE PEOPLE THAT WE'VE WORKED WITH, WHO HAVE BEEN ELECTED IN OFFICE, ARE NO LONGER IN ELECTED OFFICE, SHE'S ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE WHO PREDATE, LIKE, THE TIME I'VE BEEN AT THE CAPITOL.

I JUST CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE, LIKE, THIS PLACE WITHOUT HER.

>> AND TODAY'S MORE THAN JUST MELISSA, TOO, THERE'S SO MANY PEOPLE EXPRESSING GRATITUDE TO BE ABLE TO REMEMBER MARK AND GILBERT, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?

>> I'M GLAD THAT PEOPLE ARE THINKING ABOUT MARK.

HE DID COME WITH MELISSA ON A TRIP THAT I ORGANIZED BACK IN 2019 TO ISRAEL.

HE WAS FUN.

AND THE THING I REMEMBER ABOUT HIM IS HOW MUCH HE LOVED HER.

HOW MUCH HE ADMIRED HER.

HE WAS JUST IN AWE OF HER.

I MEAN, WEREN'T WE ALL?