Overview
- Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Attorney General Keith Ellison filed civil complaints on Friday seeking court orders under Minnesota Statute 617.94 to declare The Ville and Muddy public nuisances and bar members from associating at the State Fair.
- Court filings link the two gangs to multiple fights, assaults and shootings at the fair and elsewhere, and include a late-July social media post that allegedly promoted “the biggest battle of the summer” at the fair on Aug. 29.
- The lawsuits ask the court to make the fairgrounds a defined safety zone and to forbid named gang members from gathering, intimidating or assaulting rivals during the fair run, with injunctive relief that could carry civil and criminal penalties if violated.
- Officials say they are coordinating law enforcement and community partners on prevention plans, but reporters and leaders note it is unclear how police would reliably identify covered individuals or enforce broad associational restrictions at a crowded public event.
- Hearings are set before Judge Sara Grewing this week and the filings revive a legal tool used in St. Paul in 2009 and 2015 to limit gang activity at large festivals while raising concerns about community trust and policing of Somali communities cited in local reporting.