Democrat nominating convention ends in shouting match, some blows

An endorsing convention to choose a Democrat Farmer Labor candidate for Minneapolis City Council ended after dissolving in loud shouting.

The Minneapolis Democrat convention…

The Democrat Farmer Labor Party was holding an endorsing convention in Minneapolis’ Ward Ten on Saturday (May 13), at the Ella Baker Center. The trouble started after supporters of incumbent Minneapolis City Council Member Aisha Chugtai went on stage. Supporters of her challenger, Nasri Warsame, erupted in rage, for reasons no one has made clear.

This video shows five Chugtai signs taped in a row to the rim of the stage, near its center. From the beginning, everyone in the venue is shouting, some at the top of their lungs. One Chugtai supporter shouted “Point of order! Point of order!” but the chairman didn’t hear, even when someone standing next to him tried to point him out. The chairman, for his part, banged his gavel on a table, and repeatedly shouted, “Sit down! Sit down!” without result. Those are about the only coherent words the videographer was able to pick up.

People wearing Warsame T-shirts and carrying Warsame signs were clearly doing most of the disrupting. They mostly yelled at others in the audience, and occasionally landed a few blows – mostly among themselves. When a group of them rushed the stage, the Chugtai people exited, stage left, through a stage door leading outside.

According to a sketchy report, a high-ranking Democrat, whose name is unavailable, punched Nasri Warsame’s campaign manager. The blow sent the manager to the hospital. This could be the “man in his thirties” whom CBS reported had gone to hospital.

… and how it ended

Someone called police and reported “people fighting.” Police did arrive shortly after 2:00 p.m. Central Time, but saw no fights and made no arrests. But the video ends with Chairman Sam Doten shouting, “This is embarrassing! We are shutting this down! This is no longer safe!” That transcript comes from The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, as one cannot make out Doten’s words over the din.

Nasri Warsame confirmed on Facebook that someone – whom he said was a member of another campaign’s staff – did assault his campaign manager.

Ken Martin, state-wide Democrat Farmer Labor chairman, blamed Warsame and his supporters, and apologized to Chugtai and her supporters.

Harassment and violence are unacceptable, and we expect candidates and their campaign teams to work hard to curb such behavior when it comes from their supporters, staffers, or volunteers. Warsame and his team took the opposite approach at today’s convention by escalating the situation and encouraging conflict.

He then said he would call an emergency Executive Committee meeting to “remove” those he deemed responsible.

The Mayor of Minneapolis weighed in:

The influencer who first reported the assault on Warsame’s campaign manager dropped this thread:

And this tweet:

Note the nearly identical tweets in the composite of screencaps. “Somebody at the top sent out the script,” he said.

Reports came in from The Daily Mail, CBS News, and The Minneapolis Star-Tribune.