Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert addresses ‘alarming’ increase with political violence

DULUTH, Minn.– The rise in political violence is as real as ever in the United States.

In Minnesota just this year, two lawmakers and their spouses were shot multiple times at their homes.  House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her spouse were shot and killed.  Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were shot multiple times and survived.

Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert told FOX 21 that local elected officials are now even becoming a target from their own community.

Reinert said everybody can have their differences and choose whatever party represents their views. But he said the way some people are handling themselves at the city council meeting in particular has begun to shift to threatening levels.

The behavior ranges from foul language at the podium to “aggressive bullying.”

But beyond council, Reinert said he’s worried our own community is getting too complacent on the issue of political threats and violence.

As he realized and now recalled an experience from a recent public event.

“We were at the Chamber dinner, you know, a few weeks ago, and the Chamber president, said to an audience of 1,300 plus people that he had, received a couple different death threats, and I sort looked around the room and it was like, that’s normal.  And I’m like, we cannot decide as a community that that’s normal behavior,” explained Reinert.

Mayor Reinert believes civility around free speech goes a long way when it comes to a city’s reputation.

Whether that’s making a statement at the council meetings or even online.

“I think everyone in our community has a responsibility to speak to this and call it out, because I fundamentally don’t believe that that’s where Duluthians are at,” added Reinert.

And that civility, he says, could help encourage great candidates to run for political office.

Because he believes the normalcy of this behavior is deterring them away from potential opportunities.