The Cost of Our Words

The Cost of Our Words was founded after the assassination of Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, by their son, Colin. Following their deaths in June 2025, it was clear the state of political rhetoric and discourse in the United States had played a significant role in their fate. In the midst of his grief and suffering, Colin felt called to ensure his family's experience would be unique only to them. He established the Cost of Our Words later that year, with a mission to lower the temperature and to protect American democracy and its civil servants.