House votes to toughen penalties for impersonating police

On June 14, 2025, Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, her husband, Mark, and dog, Gilbert were killed, and Sen. John Hoffman (DFL-Champlin) and his wife, Yvette, wounded by a gunman at their front door.

The charged shooter was wearing a police uniform and arrived in a vehicle altered with police markings.

Those tragic events are the genesis of HF3404.

Sponsored by Rep. Ginny Klevorn (DFL-Plymouth), the bill to increase criminal penalties for impersonating a peace officer from a misdemeanor to a felony with a maximum prison sentence of two years, among other things, was passed unanimously by the House Thursday and sent to the Senate.

Klevorn did not want the House Floor discussion to focus on that fateful Saturday last summer; she wants to prevent a similar tragedy from happening in the future.

“Minnesotans place their lives and trust in trained police and peace officers every day. When an individual impersonates a law enforcement officer, they destroy that hard-earned trust,” she said.

“This bill that we have today won’t bring Mark and Melissa back and it won’t undo the damage that is forever in our hearts. But what it will do is make it very crystal clear that the men and women who proudly serve us in blue should never, ever, be taken advantage of in this way,” said Rep. Kristin Bahner (DFL-Maple Grove). Her home was also visited by the alleged gunman, but she and her family were not there.

It would also increase penalties for impersonating a peace officer to gain access to buildings, impersonating a peace officer while possessing a firearm, and falsely operating a vehicle marked with “police” or a similar marking indicating the vehicle is a law enforcement vehicle.

Per the bill, a person working as a peace officer must identify their employer, provide their name, and provide their identification number when they are performing acts regularly performed by peace officers, such as stopping, detaining, or arresting individuals.

Klevorn said there are provisions in the bill that would make exceptions for peace officers working undercover.