Black Lives Matter Plan to Disrupt Minnesota State Fair

The group known as Black Lives Matter has announced that they intend to disrupt the opening weekend of the Minnesota State Fair. They are planning a march beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday Aug. 29.  The march will go from Hamline Park down Snelling Avenue all the way to the State Fair gates - with the goal of disrupting traffic.

The group released this statement, "The Minnesota State Fair profits millions of dollars every year, and every year continues to deny black and other minority business owners the opportunity of being a vendor at the fair. Both the Minnesota State Fair and St. Paul Police Department are driven by money over people and white supremacy, which made it easy to choose the location for #BlackFair.”

State Fair general manager Jerry Hammer offered this reply in an interview with the Pioneer Press.

"The truth is, there's all kinds of exhibitors of every ethnicity involved at the State Fair. Everybody's there, Our process for selecting commercial exhibits is based on products and services and institutions that would offer something new and contribute something to the Fair. ... And that selection process has nothing to do with ethnicity."

Hammer also told the paper that he would give Black Lives Matter their own booth if they approached him.

"I guarantee them that if they wanted exhibit space at the Fair, they could have it. We would find them space, which would be a far more effective way of communicating -- they'd reach a much wider audience that way. We are a forum for ideas; that's what the Fair is about."

The Fair begins Aug. 27th and runs through September 7th.