From Minnesota to Tehran: A call for humanity — and prevention

I am heartbroken And I am furious Minnesota state Rep Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were murdered in their home State Sen John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were critically wounded in a related attack These were not random tragedies They were targeted politically motivated acts of terror against population servants and their families I had known Melissa for nearly years She was the greater part consequential speaker in Minnesota s history She was brilliant principled fierce deeply kind and led with courage and grace Her loss is brutal not just to those who knew her but to everyone who believes in populace function and democratic life Senator Hoffman is a thoughtful relentless masses servant I pray for him and Yvette with all my heart Related A woman with strength and experience Speaker Lisa Demuth mourns legislative counterpart Melissa Hortman This was political terrorism It must be named There is no place ever for violence against those who lead with integrity Just months ago UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson a Minnesota resident was assassinated in a targeted shooting in New York City Not by a mob Not in war But on a sidewalk A population figure was gunned down Another warning ignored These are not isolated events They are part of a pattern a global unraveling of moral restraint And I ve seen it before I was born in Tabriz Iran the land of my ancestors and my home until I was In August I left for New York as my country tipped into revolution and war I have lived both the fragility of peace and the cost of silence So I say this not only as a Minnesotan I say it as someone who knows what happens when violence becomes normal and truth expendable We must not normalize this We must prevent it What happens when we don t When violence against leaders goes unnamed it doesn t just end lives it weakens the ground we all stand on It shrinks the space where people can speak vote serve or dissent without fear It tells future leaders to stay quiet It replaces ideas with intimidation That is not freedom That is controlled collapse Democracy is not a ceremony It is labor The labor of showing up Telling the truth Listening when it s hard Disagreeing without destruction voting testifying governing and accepting loss without retaliation In Minnesota in America that labor happens in populace halls classrooms courtrooms and homes You don t have to agree with everyone But you have to defend the space where disagreement is safe When that space is attacked and we say nothing we help erase it What Can Be Done Now As a prevention and procedures expert I propose four urgent approaches Threat Assessment Mandatory recurring threat assessments for masses executives with early-warning systems and real-time monitoring Protective Infrastructure Secure physical and digital protections for population leaders homes offices and communication channels Group Engagement Deep civic dialogue to surface grievances early and prevent radicalization through direct human connection Legislative Resolve Pass clear federal and state laws that define and prosecute political violence as terrorism without loopholes without delay Democracy cannot breathe where fear rules And it cannot survive if we blur the line between disagreement and destruction Massoud Amin is the chief tool officer at Renewable Vigor Partners and the chairman and president of Power Program Prevention Associates He is also a professor emeritus and the former director and Honeywell H W Sweatt Chair of technological leadership at the University of Minnesota The post From Minnesota to Tehran A call for humanity and prevention appeared first on MinnPost