About two dozen people gathered outside the Bakersfield Federal Courthouse on Tuesday evening for a candlelight vigil honoring Minnesota Sen. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, who were killed in June in what authorities described as a politically motivated attack.

The vigil was organized by retired journalist and former Bakersfield College and CSU Bakersfield instructor John Harte, and intentionally scheduled to coincide with the federal observance of “Charlie Kirk Day of Remembrance.” 

“This vigil tonight is about Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark,” Harte told the crowd. “I believe what happened to them was virtually a forgotten political assassination.”

In September, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at a Utah university, an assassination that led President Donald Trump to declare Oct. 14 the National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk. 

By holding the vigil on the same day, Harte said he wanted to link the Hortmans’ killings with that broader reckoning over political violence, reminding attendees that such acts “should never be reduced to one side or one victim.”

Harte noted that, unlike after Kirk’s assassination, there was no national day of mourning or order to lower flags following the deaths of the Hortmans. 

Trump later said he was “not familiar” with the Minnesota senator’s killing but would have considered lowering flags “if someone had asked.”

Hortman, 55, was a Democratic lawmaker from Minnesota who served as speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2019 until her death. 

A native of Fridley, Minnesota, she earned degrees from Boston University, the University of Minnesota Law School, and Harvard University.

During her two decades in office, she was known for her work on environmental protection, women’s reproductive rights, and police reform following the death of George Floyd in 2020. 

At Tuesday’s vigil, Harte said the couple’s deaths received little sustained national attention outside Minnesota. 

He quoted Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s eulogy at their funeral, in which Walz described Melissa Hortman as “the most consequential speaker in Minnesota history.”

Attendee Ann Gallon with the Sierra Club said she was originally from Minnesota and said she felt compelled to attend. 

“It touched me because I’m from Minnesota,” she said. “I wanted to observe this time with others who care to show up and express their sadness over something that’s happening in our country now.”

The vigil concluded with a moment of silence for the Hortmans and others affected by political violence.

Scenes from Tuesday’s vigil outside the Bakersfield Federal Courthouse honoring Minnesota Sen. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman.