Minnesota’s Republican Party chairman is accusing protesters of racial intimidation after a disturbance at a GOP dinner. This incident occurred while the state’s first Black female House speaker delivered a speech, and it involved demonstrators holding a sign that referenced the Ku Klux Klan.
Alex Plechash, the chair of the Minnesota GOP, criticized the protesters following the Lincoln Reagan Dinner held in Eagan. During the event, demonstrators displayed a sign that read “RepubliKKKan Party” while House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who is also a Republican gubernatorial candidate, was speaking.
“Last night, radical protesters stormed the stage at our Lincoln Reagan Dinner and held up a KKK symbol while Speaker Lisa Demuth spoke,” Plechash expressed in a statement shared on social media by the Republican Party of Minnesota.
He went on to clarify that the protesters, who he described as left-leaning, were targeting a symbol of racial terror towards a Black woman leader at a dinner that honored the president who abolished slavery.
The Sunrise Movement Twin Cities, a progressive activist group, took responsibility for the protest, asserting that it was meant to call attention to Republican policies perceived as detrimental to immigrants and marginalized communities, as reported by local news.
The activists stated, “We disrupted this fundraiser because we refuse to give a moment’s peace to the people bankrolling racial violence.” They also emphasized that they are not associated with Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
Footage from the event showed demonstrators approaching the stage, including one sign that prominently featured the letters “KKK” in red. At one point, a protester shouted, “You love Trump and you will not stand up for Minnesotans,” as Demuth spoke onstage.
As security began to remove the protesters, attendees started chants of “Lisa,” which transitioned into “USA.” Plechash later noted that the protesters managed to enter the dinner by purchasing tickets and passing through security.
He mentioned that there were two disruptions during the evening, the first occurring while Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michele Tafoya was speaking, and the latter during Demuth’s address. He estimated that three or four protesters pushed toward the front, and the disruption lasted about 30 seconds, suggesting that the demonstrators did not pose any physical threat.
Plechash stated that Eagan police issued trespass orders and potential charges were still being considered. Furthermore, he called out Minnesota Democrats, specifically referencing the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party as well as Senator Amy Klobuchar and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan.
“Intimidation, criminal behavior, and racist rhetoric have no place in Minnesota politics,” Plechash wrote. He added, “Republicans debate ideas, and we’d welcome the DFL to show up and do the same. Their silence is deafening.”
Demuth, who won the Minnesota Republican gubernatorial primary in August, is set to face Klobuchar, the Democratic nominee, in November’s election to replace Governor Tim Walz.
