Some politicians cautious about safety in July Fourth parades after lawmaker shootings

Waiting in a lineup of floats ready to embark on Eagan’s annual July Fourth parade, DFL Rep. John Huot flinched when he heard a loud pop.

It was a balloon tied to a van behind him, bursting from the heat. But Huot and his family felt a little on edge on the bright, sweltering morning of Independence Day, just a few weeks after the assassination of former DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.

There were no volunteers in “Huot for House” shirts to help work the crowd this year. Huot was hesitant even about his wife and two of his adult sons joining.

A conversation with local police convinced him it would be safe to participate. Still, he and other lawmakers were being careful about their plans, sure not to divulge their locations publicly before the festivities.

Politicians are a summertime parade fixture. Alongside high school marching bands and kids scrambling for candy, state and local political figures can usually be spotted working the crowd, shaking hands or waving from cars.

That tradition persisted this Fourth of July, despite elected officials reckoning with safety questions in the weeks after the shootings of the two state legislators and their spouses.

For Huot, concern about his safety started even before that unprecedented explosion of political violence. Earlier this year, he received a series of threatening messages as DFL legislators boycotted the beginning of session in a conflict over control of the House chamber. That convinced him to pursue a license to carry a concealed firearm, something his wife, Angela, is still unsure about.

The Huots have had many more discussions about their safety in recent weeks. The state representative, whose district spans Eagan, Rosemount and Apple Valley, said the slayings have made him question whether to run for a fifth term — though as of now, he’s still running.

Questions have swirled in Angela Hart-Huot’s mind about another bid, but she said she is fully supportive of her husband.

“I don’t want someone [in the seat] who doesn’t support our values,” said Angela, who works as a nurse in a St. Paul mental health and rehabilitation hospital where many patients rely on Medicare.

Sen. Jim Carlson, DFL-Eagan, was also out waving at the crowds Friday at the parade.

A few weeks before, he found out his name was among the dozens on a list purportedly written by Vance Boelter, who has been charged with murdering Hortman and her husband and attempting to kill DFL Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

Carlson has participated in the parade for about two decades and said he doesn’t view it as a big risk this year. With crowds of people around, he said someone attempting an attack “wouldn’t get very far.”

Some politicians, including those with young families, have been wary in the aftermath of the political attacks.

Carlson said he is also concerned about safety — he had police protection at his home the night after Hortman and her husband were murdered and had a squad car outside his sister’s house during a fundraiser there last week.

But the 78-year-old said his age has made him respond differently than some of his younger colleagues. He said he has been “a little bit belligerent” following the shootings, and has been wearing a Minnesota Senate shirt non-stop.

“I want people to know that I’m a senator here in Eagan and I don’t care who knows it and who sees my shirt, because if you threaten me you’re going to be found,” he said. “I can’t explain that belligerency.”

Despite the nerves ahead of the Eagan event, the parade proceeded calmly. Huot crisscrossed the parade route as heat rose from the pavement. He greeted watchers huddled under tents and umbrellas for shade, told children that lollipops would be shuttled out from the family’s slow-moving car and posed for the occasional picture.

As he walked, he carried a sign that said “Thank you Melissa,” with a smiling picture of Hortman on it.

Hortman, he said earlier, was “like a mother,” an incredibly supportive leader of a caucus with a wide spectrum of opinions.

Huot got a particularly loud round of applause for his sign from Julie and Trista Whitted, who were sitting in camp chairs along the parade route.

Trista Whitted, who said she also attended this year’s Pride parade, said she’d cried multiple times between the two celebrations, including during a tribute to the Hortmans at Pride.

She called lawmakers “brave” for walking in the parade.

The political violence of last month is “just not what the United States is about,” Whitted said, adding, “I just want to be proud of our country.”