The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office and Ramsey County Attorney’s Office together have filed lawsuits to keep two rival Somali gangs away from the Minnesota State Fair when it starts later this month.
The two lawsuits filed in civil court came to light on Friday and seek injunctions against “Muddy,” “The Ville,” and 10 named affiliates to keep them from carrying out gang activity inside or outside the immediate area of the fairgrounds.
NEW: Ramsey County is civilly suing the Somali gangs "Muddy" and "Ville" alleging they are "criminal gangs" and constitute a "Public Nuisance."
The lawsuits seek to bar the defendants from engaging in gang related activity and seek to bar them from the Minnesota State Fair… pic.twitter.com/D0V4I4VB35
— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) August 7, 2026
The court documents allege that the “criminal gangs” constitute a “public nuisance” and have been connected to multiple violent incidents across the Twin Cities, including a triple shooting outside the fairgrounds in 2024, chaos and brawls at the State Fair last year, shots fired at Burnsville High School’s graduation last year, and a shooting that occurred during the Metro State graduation near Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul this spring.
A sworn affidavit included in court filings from Ramsey County Deputy and gang expert Ben Seidl outlines the gangs’ structures and violent activities and states that they have regularly used the Minnesota State Fair in recent years to engage in criminal activity and are planning to do so at the 2026 Minnesota State Fair. An image of a social media post that appears to foreshadow gang confrontations at the State Fair was included in the affidavit.
https://alphanews.org/state-ramsey-county-sue-to-keep-somali-gangs-from-minnesota-state-fair/