Since losing both his parents in a politically motivated attack, Colin Hortman has channeled his grief into a simple goal: preventing another family from experiencing a similar loss.

The big picture: In recent months, the 31-year-old programmer met privately with members of Minnesota's divided House, participated in workshops on bridging the partisan divide, and gave his first public talk on the need to lower the temperature when talking politics.

• "When someone is framed as a danger to survival or as fundamentally immoral, as an enemy, it invites fear. And fear, when repeated often enough, turns into permission," he said at an April event in Rochester. "Permission to harass, permission to threaten, and eventually, permission to act."

"I'm standing here — the human cost of the shift," he told the crowd.

Context: Early on June 14, 2025, a gunman disguised as a police officer shot and wounded the Hoffmans before killing Hortman's parents in their home.

• The brazen attack, which authorities say was part of a broader plot targeting state lawmakers, put the growing threat of political violence in American society into grim focus.

Experts say that dialing back dehumanizing rhetoric — and holding leaders accountable for when they use it — can help reverse the trend.

That's where Colin Hortman hopes sharing his story can help; that talking about the toll the political violence has taken on his family could deter it in the future.

• In Rochester, he opened up about his grief and PTSD diagnosis and the medication that's helping him cope.
• He also reflected on the months-long effort to repair the damage the violence inflicted on his childhood home, and the peace he's found in returning there to cook and listen to music, as his parents loved to do.

And he described in vivid detail what made his parents so special, down to the favorite cocktails they had sipped the night they were killed (a margarita with fresh lime for his mom and a whiskey with cherries for his dad).

What he's saying: "Humanizing both of them is super important, because when we talk about political violence, it can be very abstract," Hortman told Axios during an interview in his mom's former Capitol office.

• "This was my mom and dad."

While many hoped the shootings would be an inflection point, more violent words and acts — including the September slaying of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk and the April attempt on President Trump's life — seem to have only furthered the divide.

• Threats against members of Congress and federal judges rose last year, according to tracking from Princeton University's Bridging Divides Initiative.

Even in Minnesota, legislators have at times retreated to their corners, engaging in some of the same combative rhetoric that was used before the attacks, as the Star Tribune documented.

• "There seems to be that continuation of polarization that's occurring. It's not OK," Hoffman, who survived being shot nine times, told MPR News.

America remains stuck "in this persistent climate of hostility that is headed the wrong direction," said Bridging Divides executive director Shannon Hiller.

• She told Axios the problem spans parties and ideologies, noting that 75% of local officials surveyed said the risks are impacting how they do their job.

Hiller sees the ongoing use of dehumanizing and divisive language at the highest levels of national politics, including by the president, as "absolutely a huge part of the challenge."

Still, "many other countries have turned a corner of worse conflict," she noted. "It's always a combination of individuals, communities and leaders rejecting that continual escalation."

Between the lines: While Hortman agrees that top leaders need to be part of the turnaround, he isn't interested in publicly litigating who's to blame for the rise in divisive rhetoric — one of his underlying goals is to craft a message that won't alienate people on either side of the aisle.

• He consulted with Republicans — including family and some of his mom's former colleagues — on drafts of his talk.

He also tries to give his audiences clear — and realistic — actions they can take to be part of the solution, such as downloading the Dignity Index app to learn how to identify and avoid divisive language.

Hortman isn't Pollyannaish about the national headwinds. Processing Kirk's assassination was especially difficult because the disinformation and commentary that circulated online in its aftermath hit so close to home.

• "It just showcased how this is not a party-line issue," he said. "The threats and the actionable violence exist on both sides of the aisle."

Yes, but: Hortman was encouraged by what he saw as a slowing of the "exponential" growth in divisive rhetoric here in Minnesota, even amid the heightened emotions surrounding the assassinations, the Annunciation shooting, and Operation Metro Surge.

• "It's not perfect," he said of the Legislature. "[But] I think that space is better than most."

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🕯️Yvette Hoffman is asking the public to leave a candle on their doorsteps at dusk on Sunday to honor her family, the Hortmans and all other lives lost to political violence. (Fox9)

⚖️ The man responsible for the killings, Vance Boelter, pleaded guilty yesterday after federal prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. (Axios)

• Minnesota's U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen told reporters Boelter agreed to serve two consecutive life sentences.

⚕️ Minnesota's Department of Human Services is resuming payments to most of the providers it temporarily booted from Medicaid services programs last month. (Minnesota Reformer/Background via Axios)

🛑 The Minneapolis City Council voted 10-2 to reject a redevelopment plan for the former gas station at George Floyd Square. (Background via Axios)

🥐 Gavin Kaysen is opening a new Bellecour on the ground floor of the Wells Fargo Center. It's the bakery's third location. (Star Tribune)

One year ago, in the midst of heart-rending grief, Colin and Sophie Hortman gave us a roadmap for honoring their parents' memory. They told us to:

• "Plant a tree."
• "Visit a local park and make use of their amenities, especially a bike trail."
• "Pet a dog. A golden retriever is ideal, but any will do."
• "Tell your loved ones a cheesy dad joke and laugh about it."
• "Bake something — bread for Mark or a cake for Melissa, and share it with someone."
• "Try a new hobby and enjoy learning something."
• "Stand up for what you believe in, especially if that thing is justice and peace."

The bottom line: "They were the happiest people to be alive," Colin told us this week, paraphrasing his sister.

• "They loved living so much, and … they were just the best mom and dad a kid could ask for."