Lawsuits filed to prevent rival gang members from gathering at Minnesota State Fair
The Ramsey County attorney and the the state attorney general filed lawsuits Friday in an attempt to prevent two rival gangs from gathering at the Minnesota State Fair.
Members of the two gangs, known as The Ville and Muddy, took part in several fights and assaults at the state fair in the last two years, the lawsuits say.
In 2025, members of Ville fought rival gang members near the Midway, and in 2024, a Muddy member shot a rival outside the gates on the last day of the fair.
Outside of the state fair, members have been arrested in connection to shootings at the 2025 Burnsville High School graduation and the Metro State graduation earlier this year, according to the lawsuits.
In late July, a Ramsey County deputy noticed an Instagram account advertising "THE BIGGEST BATTLE OF THE SUMMER" at the state fair, listing Ville and other rival gangs, one of the suits says.
"They're literally advertising that they're gonna have a big fight at the fair, and we simply have to stop this before it happens to preserve public safety," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in an interview with WCCO on Friday.
The Ville used the fair to "bolster their reputations, assault and batter their rivals, and be a public nuisance to all fair goers. What is also clear is the Ville's intent to escalate this behavior," one of the lawsuits says.
The suits ask the court to prohibit the gang members from associating with or intimidating each other within the fairgrounds. It references Minnesota's "civil gang nuisance law," which can impose "reasonable requirements" to prevent gangs from engaging in gang activity.
"It stops them from engaging in and being in company with people who are known gang members. And it stops them from any activity that amounts to intimidation of opposing gang members," Ellison said.
In 2015 and 2009, St. Paul filed similar injunctions to limit gang activity at the Cinco de Mayo festival.
"The evidence filed in our civil cases against two separate gangs is overwhelming as it relates to the concerning level of retaliatory and predatory violence and most specifically the alarming escalation of threats and settling of scores planned to take place at the Minnesota State Fair," said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Ellison in a joint statement. "We cannot tolerate such a possibility, and it is our responsibility to intervene and prevent it without fear or favor."
Choi and Ellison say they're working with law enforcement and community partners to develop intervention strategies for before and after the fair.
The Minnesota State Fair said in a written statement that its number one priority is to "create a safe and secure environment for everyone" and that it's working with local, state and federal law enforcement to protect fairgoers.
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said in a statement of his own that the state fair is one of the safest places in Minnesota.
Hearings on the motions are scheduled for Thursday.
The state fair begins on Aug. 27 and runs through Labor Day.
