How progressive.
Via MinnPost:
The DFL caucus in Ward 6 Precinct 3 has a unique distinction among Minneapolis’ 119 gatherings Tuesday night: It’s the only one shut down by the authorities.
The caucus at the Brian Coyle Center in Cedar-Riverside produced an overflow crowd of more than 300, a pre-caucus argument handled by the police and a subsequent physical attack on one of the participants.
Eventually, staff from the Coyle center decided to shut down the event, and police quickly dispersed the crowd.
Emotions had been running high more than an hour before the scheduled 7 p.m. start and escalated even more by caucus time in the Cedar-Riverside Somali stronghold.
The cause of the uproar was the strong feelings among backers of longtime Rep. Phyllis Kahn and her challenger, Minneapolis School Board Member Mohamud Noor, who has strong support in the Somali community.
A large number of Noor supporters had congregated at the community building more than an hour early. Shortly after, an argument over procedures broke out between the Kahn and Noor supporters. […]
Kahn was on hand for part of the caucus and had hoped to address the participants, but she never got the chance. The clearly uncomfortable veteran Democrat spoke cordially with district Democrats as the high-passion arguments raged.
“Emotions do run so high, so, you know, I can’t comment on that,” Kahn said of the conflict between her camp and Noor’s supporters.
Police had already calmed the excited crowd once before shouts of “MJ! MJ! MJ!” overtook the gym, but then the event turned violent.
Ilhan Omar, a staffer for Minneapolis Council Member Andrew Johnson and vice chair of the Senate district, was attacked by a group of about five people. Then a Noor supporter launched herself into the fray and was eventually shoved into a police officer’s grasp.
Police dragged the woman out of the building and handcuffed her, but eventually let her free. Omar escaped without serious injuries.
Update: Phyllis Kahn was previously charged with theft for stealing Republican campaign literature (HT: Nick)
Update: Video added.
HT: Jay