MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Leaders of the Minnesota Democratic Party met in a closed executive session on Zoom Thursday evening to discuss a rule change that would permanently bar people involved in violence from party activities, just days after chaos erupted during a weekend convention to endorse a candidate for a Minneapolis City Council race.
Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic Party’s state organization, called the fight that broke out Saturday night “unacceptable.”
Video circulating on social media shows that the disturbance began after supporters of incumbent Aisha Chughtai took the stage to seek the support of delegates for the Ward 10 City Council seat. cause a scandal among the supporters of his rival, Nasri Warsame. Some jumped on stage, shouting, banging tables and waving signs. At least two people were injured and the convention broke up without any collateral.
Martin said on Twitter that it was “clear the conflict was instigated” by Warsame supporters. He continued to blame some of Warsame’s supporters on Thursday.
Martin said some mistakes were made, but “none of those mistakes, big or small, justify some bad actors in the Warsame campaign taking matters into their own hands and inciting, encouraging and participating in violence against others participants of the DFL”.
He proposed two statutes that would essentially ban people who engage in “physical assaults, terroristic threats, or acts of violence” from party activities. The first would immediately and permanently disqualify a person from soliciting party support if they or their campaign supporters engage in such acts. The second would permanently bar a person who engaged in such acts from any elected or appointed office within the party, including serving as a delegate or alternate at a convention.
“Disagreements about how a convention was organized is not an excuse for violence. Not understanding the convention process is not an excuse for violence,” Martin said. He later added, “The reality is that if we don’t act, it’s only going to encourage people in the future to use this as a tactic to essentially force a suspension of conventions.”
Thursday’s meeting was an emergency meeting of the party’s executive committee. His recommendation would go to the DFL State Central Committee for final approval.
Both candidates are Democrats in an overwhelmingly Democratic city where campaigns for party support often get heated. Warsame, a political newcomer, is a Somali immigrant.
Chughtai is a longtime activist who managed the 2018 campaign of US Rep. Ilhan Omar. She is the daughter of Pakistani immigrants and has the support of some prominent Somali American politicians, including Omar and state Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, and other Muslims, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Chughtai has endorsements from a long list of progressive and labor groups, including the Democratic Socialists of America. Warsame has campaigned on a message of law and order.
Warsame said at a news conference Wednesday: “I don’t condone violence. I don’t condone intimidation or harassment of any kind.” Before Thursday’s closed-door session, Warsame campaign director Abshir Omar told the executive committee he supported Martin’s message condemning the violence but was dismayed by statements blaming Warsame supporters , saying party officials never reached out to the campaign to side with him. of history
Samuel Doten. who presided over Saturday’s convention, told the committee that the chaos developed because of the actions of about five to 10 people and was not representative of all Warsame supporters. He urged the committee to prevent the Somali community from participating in the process.
Chughtai issued a statement Wednesday saying the video does not match the Warsame campaign’s version of events.
“Campaigns that are winning and have the support of the people don’t violently disrupt the process,” he said. “As a campaign and as a movement, we are on the path to a safer and fairer Minneapolis and we look forward to continuing to share that vision with the people of Ward 10.”
