Dan Wolgamott thought it strange when a man showed up at his house asking him to pay for his college tuition.

What initially seemed weird soon became worrying.

The man sent Wolgamott, a DFL state representative from St. Cloud, hundreds of texts. He showed up at his house one day bearing gifts for Wolgamott and his daughter. And he was there again five minutes after the state lawmaker returned from an out-of-town trip.

Spooked, Wolgamott called the police. That prompted a no-trespassing order. But the texts and calls kept coming. Months later, the man declared on social media that he would hold Wolgamott accountable at an upcoming town hall. St. Cloud police planned for Wolgamott’s safety but the man, whom the Minnesota Star Tribune is not naming because he was never charged with a crime, sat silently at the event.

A few weeks later, the safety of elected officials became international news when state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed at their home. State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot that night.

But a Minnesota Star Tribune review of hundreds of police records reveals that Minnesota lawmakers were already dealing with a sharp increase in intimidating and threatening behavior, including stalking and death threats, in the year before the shootings of the Hortmans and Hoffmans.

Some threats are never reported to police, and many lawmakers are reluctant to discuss them out of fear they may inspire copycat actions by others. But recent instances of threatening behavior and actions suggest that the grisly events of last summer have done little to temper the violent rhetoric directed at elected officials of either party.

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar was sprayed with what was later found to be apple cider vinegar as she spoke at a public town hall in January. A Park Rapids, Minn., man is charged with making online death threats to Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe, last month and also calling Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office and threatening to execute people at the State Capitol.

Just days after the Hortmans’ deaths, Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, received threatening voicemails. Two callers blamed her for the slayings and said she “will pay for this,” reports show.

“I hope we can all have a little more grace for each other, knowing what we’re all experiencing after the horrific events of last summer and the rise in threats against lawmakers,” Demuth said. “We’re in this together, regardless of how much we may disagree on policy, and I believe we can come together and lead in a different way to remove the vitriol from politics.”

Vance Boelter is facing first-degree murder charges in state and federal court in the killing of the Hortmans and the shooting of the Hoffmans. Prosecutors allege Boelter impersonated a police officer and carried a list of political targets on the night of the shootings. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

As speaker of the House, Demuth will play a key role in deciding whether legislation aimed at increasing legislator security becomes law. Legislative proposals include making it harder to find personal information on current and former state legislators, increasing penalties for impersonating a police officer and banning guns at the State Capitol.

But the prospects for bill passage are uncertain considering the Legislature has a near-partisan split. Lawmakers are also working in a shorter session during an election year that includes the race for governor and every legislative seat.

To get a sense of the danger politicians are facing, the Star Tribune dispatched a team of 21 journalists to request service calls to the homes of more than 200 elected officials in 2024 and part of 2025, amounting to 226 addresses from 125 law enforcement agencies.

The reports show a wide range of threats at lawmakers’ homes, at public events and online, but it’s only a narrow window into the potential dangers to elected officials. Not every incident was reported to police and not all complaints are based on a home address.

There was at least one call for service at about 70% of the addresses surveyed, but the vast majority were welfare checks during the weekend of the Hortmans’ killings.

There was also a significant rise in the number of threats made toward those working at the Capitol in recent years. Minnesota State Patrol data shows a fourfold increase in the number of threats between 2024 and 2025.

As a result, Gov. Tim Walz’s administration has beefed up security at the State Capitol and nearby buildings, where visitors are now required to go through metal detectors.

More than half a dozen direct threats were made against Walz in the first half of 2025, including the day of Hortman’s assassination, according to a review of Capitol incident reports.

“Before summer is over you and the rest will be hung,” was one message left with his office.

Another email sent to him the day of Hortman’s killing said, “Know this, there are hundreds of Boelters waiting to attack. Democrats are the enemy.”

The St. Paul Police Department’s bomb squad was also dispatched to the governor’s residence the week after then-Vice President Kamala Harris picked Walz as her running mate.

Walz responded to the Star Tribune’s findings by saying there’s nothing theoretical about the threats to elected officials.

“Public servants, regardless of party, get into this work to improve lives,” Walz said in a statement. “In this country we settle debates through discussion, legislation, and elections — not violence. You shouldn’t need a bulletproof vest to run for school board."

Records also show that a female legislator, whose name was redacted in a Capitol incident report, was left a voicemail by someone upset by the legislator’s views on gender issues in youth sports. The caller threatened to “choke you until your eyes popped out.”

Others feared for their safety during constituent interactions.

During a committee hearing in December 2024, Rep. Elliott Engen was questioning the Minnesota Department of Corrections commissioner for appearing on a podcast with a former inmate who had assaulted a prison guard.

Engen, an outspoken Republican from Lino Lakes, did not realize the former inmate was in the audience. After the meeting ended, the man approached Engen and asked for a photograph. A police report says Engen noticed on the man’s phone that he had googled Engen’s name and address, though Engen said he doesn’t recall that detail.

“I just shook his hand and said I’d love to have a conversation, because you don’t want to feel fear in that moment,” Engen said.

Engen generally tries to de-escalate when confronted by a member of the public, he said.

But in this case, he said he felt nervous and mentioned it to a House sergeant who requested local police visit Engen’s home that night. Incidents like that, and the Hortman assassination, have Engen and his wife on edge constantly “looking out our window when we see too bright of a light.”

Other elected officials took extraordinary steps after being threatened.

State Sen. Erin Maye Quade received death threats last fall after she shared social media posts about the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, a right-wing political activist. The original posts written by others referenced Kirk’s takes on gun violence and white nationalism.

Maye Quade, who was included on Boelter’s alleged hit list, changed her appearance for a time. She straightened her curly hair or wore it up, with contacts replacing her usual glasses. She also altered her driving routines and talked to her child’s day care about safety precautions.

Invoking the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith has dealt with a Subaru reportedly pulling into her driveway more than a dozen times over a period of months. It would travel the circular driveway a couple of times before speeding off, according to police records.

“Serving in elected office should not be a life-threatening endeavor,” Smith said in a written statement. “It is a terrible thing when public servants have to worry about their personal safety and the safety of their families in such a tangible and scary way.”

Smith, who is not running for reelection, emphasized that the uptick in political violence did not factor into her decision to step aside but called the volume of threats unsustainable.

But others have reconsidered whether holding public office is worth it.

DFL Rep. Kari Rehrauer wasn’t sure she wanted to speak publicly about her experience with threats.

There is fear it will lead to more, she and other lawmakers said.

Eight of Rehrauer’s campaign mailers were sent back to her between 2022 and 2024, cut up and rearranged in a ransom-note style. Over time, the messages became more “hostile” and included profane language.

After Hortman’s death, Rehrauer sat down with her family to discuss whether she should even run for reelection.

Politicians need to be able to discuss opposing views without fear of violence, Rehrauer said, and leaders from Washington to the local level need to “role model being a decent person.”

She is running to retain her Coon Rapids-area seat.

“I work really hard to try to scrub my residence from the public,” she said. “I think it’s important for everybody to work with us to assure that we are not unjustly being doxed and endangering our families. As you know, I’ve got four kids. I always worry about what that means for them.”

U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer was the target of a “swatter” in 2024, when someone who falsely claimed he lived at Emmer’s home tried to draw police and a hostage negotiator there. Emmer’s staff didn’t respond to requests for comment but Emmer condemned the attack at the time, calling it an “illegal abuse of police resources.” No one was arrested for the incident.

Wolgamott endured months of intimidation despite blocking his alleged stalker on social media. Friends saw the man’s provocative posts about guns and often called the representative to ensure he was safe. His wife no longer felt safe at home and his young daughter worried the man would visit her school to hurt her. His staff also discouraged him from holding the 2025 town hall.

The stalker had became an inescapable and psychological presence, Wolgamott said, and “we just couldn’t have a moment’s peace.”

And then a few weeks after the town hall, the man stopped all contact, Wolgamott said. Had he been a newer lawmaker, he’s not sure he’d have held the town hall attended by the alleged stalker.

The “dehumanization” of politicians from the country’s most powerful people encourages others, Wolgamott said, and it’s “just absolutely toxic for our democracy.”

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