Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman, who was shot nine times in his home in a politically motivated attack earlier this summer, told his fellow Democrats to choose "governance over grievance" and implored all Americans to reject political violence in his first public appearance since the tragedy. 

The four-term senator continues to recover from his injuries the night an accused assassin shot him and his wife, Yvette, inside their Champlin home June 14, before he murdered former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in a tragedy that rocked the state. 

Hoffman received a standing ovation as he walked on stage at the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting in Minneapolis Monday. He said the shootings served as a "wake-up call" and that it was a political attack on public service "aimed squarely and slowly at our party."

Prosecutors say the accused killer, 58-year-old Vance Boelter, had a hit list with names of several Democrats on it and that he also visited the homes of other DFL lawmakers that night. 

"We must recommit ourselves to governance over grievance, to service over self, and to action over anger. Terror in the night is not legislative reform. It's heinous. It's absolutely heinous," Hoffman said. 

He has only spoken out publicly a handful of times since the attack, including an interview on a local radio station. He also left a video message for legislators at a national conference. This marked his first in-person public appearance at an event like this. 

"I'm still slowly recovering from my gunshot wounds — nine of them," Hoffman said. "If you want to see the pattern on my body, it's the same pattern that's in my red door that I no longer have, although I do still have a long way to go."

He spent three weeks in the ICU earlier this summer, and on Monday, he wore a purple splint around his left pointer finger, which he told the crowd had a rod in it. Yvette Hoffman sustained eight gunshot wounds. 

"We must call Americans to action in ways that don't incite intimidation and political violence, right? Having our own homes violated by pure evil cannot be the new normal, right? Amen," he said. "I believe all Americans and Minnesotans want to talk to each other again without being demeaned and without the threat of violence."

Melissa Hortman remembered for her leadership, 'LFG' mantra

Hoffman — whose Senate district includes the late Hortman's House district in the north Twin Cities metro — also remembered his colleague, friend and "political kid sister" who died in the attack, calling her the most consequential House speaker in state history. 

Hoffman said it's the job of Democrats to honor the speaker emerita's legacy and uphold the values she and her husband Mark held dear.  

There were also touching tributes to Melissa Hortman from DNC Chair Ken Martin and from Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, who worked as her campaign manager many years before he worked alongside her in the Legislature.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Gov. Tim Walz, and Attorney General Keith Ellison also reflected on her life and legacy on day one of the three-day DNC meeting.

"We lost a giant, a friend, a fighter, a quiet revolutionary who led with brilliance and humility, with grace and grit, the kind of leader who doesn't come around very often, and certainly one who can never, ever be replaced," an emotional Martin, who led the Minnesota DFL Party before being elevated to his national role, said. 

Martin recalled Hortman's mantra "LFG," which stands for let's go with an expletive in between those words. She used the phrase during the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions when Democrats took back total control of the State Capitol. 

They had just a one-seat majority in the Senate and narrow margins in the House, but Hortman, alongside the late DFL Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic, ushered in some of the most consequential state policies in a generation, passing progressive priorities like paid family and medical leave, carbon-free energy standards, legalizing recreational cannabis, codifying abortion rights, restoring felon voting rights and much more. 

"Instead of playing it safe, instead of being cautious, instead of putting a finger in the wind, worrying what in the hell would happen if they led and seeing every decision through the lens of how you get reelected. Melissa said, 'LFG,'" Martin said. 

Hoffman invoked the saying as he closed his remarks. 

"I hope that the decisions that we all make will help move our party and our country forward and into a better future for everyone, and as Melissa would say, let's f******* go."