Scores of mourners tearfully bid farewell to Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, on Saturday during a private funeral for the couple who were slain this month in what officials have called an act of “targeted political violence.” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who has described Melissa Hortman as his closest political ally and dear friend, delivered the eulogy Saturday to the grieving crowd at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis. Walz said he would remember Hortman, a top House Democrat, as “the most consequential speaker in Minnesota history” and “the most talented legislator I’ve ever known.” “She saw the humanity in every single person she worked with, and she kept things focused on the people she served,” Walz said, crediting the slain lawmaker with marshaling legislation that brought free lunches to public schools and expanded funding for clean energy and public transportation. “Her mission was to get as much good done for as many people as possible. It was the Golden Rule instilled [in] her by her father, and the passion to serve she learned from her mother.” At the start of the funeral, the rector of the Basilica of Saint Mary, Rev. Dan Griffith, spoke of the threat that political violence poses to the country. “Here in Minnesota, we have been the ground zero place — sadly — for racial injustice. The killing of George Floyd just miles from our church today,” he said. “And now we are the ground zero place for political violence and extremism. Both of these must be decried in the strongest possible terms, as they are respectively, a threat to human dignity and indeed, our democracy.” The Hortmans were shot and killed in their home just north of Minneapolis by a gunman impersonating a police officer this month. Vance Boelter , 57, from Green Isle, Minnesota, is facing state and federal murder charges for the predawn killings. He is also accused of shooting state Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife, Yvette, who were seriously wounded in the attack. Authorities have not yet publicly identified a motive for the shootings but say notebooks found inside a fake police vehicle parked outside the Hortman home after they were killed included names of numerous Democratic political figures from Minnesota and other states. The killings have deeply shaken the state , which prides its politics as being “Minnesota nice” — unfailingly polite and kind. Former president Joe Biden and former vice president Kamala Harris sat next to Walz and his wife, Gwen, in the front pews during the roughly three-hour-long funeral. Harris and Walz, who’ve rarely been seen together since November, shared a hug before the service began. Throughout the event, the speakers — whose eyes occasionally drifted toward the twin caskets draped in white — extended their condolences to the Hortman’s adult children, Colin and Sophie, praising the siblings for their strength and resilience. “Sophie and Colin, please know this. You will feel the presence of your parents throughout your lives, you will feel them present in big moments in your life and in small, quiet moments, they will continue to be present to you,” Griffith said. Griffith recalled details about the Hortmans gleaned from conversations with friends and family. He described a warm, outgoing couple who opened their home — dubbed the Hortman Hotel — to all; a dedicated public official who “manifested a servant’s heart in her work as a legislator”; a husband with a curious mind who loved mountain biking and building furniture; and the family’s beloved golden retriever, a former service dog-in-training named Gilbert. “Gilbert had quite an attachment to Melissa, no doubt, because she fed him many, many dog treats,” Griffith said. Gilbert was with Melissa Hortman and her husband at home when the couple was fatally shot. Gilbert also received multiple gunshot wounds, and despite attempts to save him, was later euthanized. Melissa Hortman, who turned 55 in May, served for two decades in the state legislature. She was speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives for a six-year run that concluded in January. Mark Hortman, her husband of nearly 32 years, worked as a program manager for nVent Electric, a manufacturing company. In the days following her death, Melissa Hortman has been remembered by colleagues as a fierce negotiator who championed deeply progressive priorities without shying away from reaching across the political aisle. But on Saturday, close friends remembered the Hortmans as a loving couple who enjoyed hosting monthly card games and dinner parties in their Brooklyn Park home. There’s “a part of the story that belongs only to those who were fortunate enough to know those people behind the legacy. That part of the story doesn’t take place in some freezing, dimly-lit room at the Capitol,” Walz said. “It takes place at CR Billiards, where Mark loved to shoot pool on Monday night. It took place in that garden, where Melissa fussed over her lilies like they were a wayward member of that caucus. It took place in that kitchen, where Mark fed his sourdough starter, Melissa mixed the margaritas and baked the cakes and Gilbert sat there begging for scraps and the sound of that kitchen filled with laughter.” Robin Ann Williams, who said she met Melissa in 1995 when they both worked at the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis, spoke about their last dinner together — on June 6 — where they discussed children and politics over Italian. “We ordered one dessert that night with four spoons and at 8:30 p.m., which was always Melissa’s witching hour, she announced that it was time for her to go home and go to bed,” Williams said. “As we walked to our cars in the chill of that June night, I thought to myself about what a lovely dinner we had had, and how Paul and I looked forward to many more dinners this summer with Mark and Melissa.” “We are buried in sorrow right now, but I do believe that we will experience joy again. And Mark and Melissa would not want it any other way,” Williams said. “Goodbye, my friends.”