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How conservative X accounts promoted a wild theory implicating Gov. Tim Walz in a lawmaker’s killing

Poynter · Madison Czopek · last updated

Hours after the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, prominent conservative influencers spun unsubstantiated theories that the suspect was a left-wing extremist who targeted the Democratic-aligned leaders for voting against party lines, and did so with the blessing of the state’s top Democrat, Gov. Tim Walz.

Authorities said a man posing as an officer shot state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette in their home early June 14, and then shot and killed state Rep. Melissa Hortman, a former Democratic speaker, and her husband Mark in their home a few miles away.

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