Rioting erupts as Somalian supporters of Democrat Minneapolis city council candidate turn to 'political violence'

A riot erupted in Minnesota during Democrat nominations for Minneapolis City Council on Saturday, which led to no candidate being chosen in Ward 10 after officials were forced to shut down the event over safety concerns.

Somalian supporters of city council candidate Nasri Warsame turned to political violence and reportedly assaulted Minneapolis city council member Aisha Chughtai and her supporters when she took the stage to speak at the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party's endorsing convention, the Star Tribune reports.



Video shows Warsame supporters forcefully jumping on stage, banging on tables, waving signs, and shouting over both Chughtai and her supporters.

Unable to contain the disruption, convention chairman Sam Doten was forced to adjourn the meeting without a candidate being chosen citing safety reasons, and called the situation a great "embarrassment", the outlet reports.

Later that evening, Chughtat released a statement about the event on her website and alleged that Warsome's supporters "assaulted" more than a dozen of both her supporters and DFL staff when they "charged the stage" as she was about to begin her campaign speech.

Ken Martin, Minnesota DFL Chairman, apologized to Chughtai and her staff in a statement posted to Twitter on Saturday evening which stated that violence was perpetuated by Warsame's supporters.

"After reviewing video evidence & talking to convention participants it is clear that the assaults and violence at the Ward 10 convention were perpetrated by supporters of Nasri Warsame. There is no place in the @MinnesotaDFL for this type of behavior," Martin said.

Martin's statement was published shortly after Warsame claimed on his website that his campaign manager was assaulted by Chughtai's supporters during the disruption, placing blame on his opponent.

Minneapolis police spokesman Brian Feintech told the Star Tribune that no arrests were made and that one person was treated at the hospital for non-life threatening injuries. A second individual injured during the altercation was treated at the scene.