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.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz gave this statement overnight after state police apprehended the suspect in the assassination of State Rep. Melissa Hortman, the former Speaker of the Minnesota House, and her husband after a two-day manhunt.

Within hours of the shooting of two lawmakers and their spouses in the US state of Minnesota, social media posts began claiming, without evidence, that Governor Tim Walz ordered a "political hit" on his rivals,