Protesters disrupt Minnesota GOP dinner with KKK sign as Black gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth speaks

The demonstration interrupted a speech by Demuth, the state’s first Black gubernatorial nominee from a major political party.

A Minnesota Republican fundraising dinner was disrupted by protesters displaying a sign referencing the Ku Klux Klan as Black gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth addressed attendees, drawing condemnation from state GOP leaders.

The demonstration occurred Friday, Oct. 9, during the Minnesota Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Reagan Dinner at the Omni Hotel in Eagan, according to CBS News Minnesota. Video of the incident showed protesters interrupting Demuth’s remarks, including one woman holding a sign reading “RepubliKKKan Party.”

Demuth, the Minnesota House speaker, is the first Black woman to hold that position and the first Black person to become a major party’s gubernatorial nominee in the state.

The Sunrise Movement and Climate Defiance, two activist groups, claimed responsibility for the protest. The groups said their demonstration was intended to challenge Republican policies they view as contributing to racial inequality and harm.

“The KKK’s legacy of racial violence and hierarchy is alive and well within the GOP,” a spokesperson for the groups said in a statement cited by CBS News Minnesota. “We disrupted this fundraiser because we refuse to give a moment’s peace to the people bankrolling racial violence.”

The Minnesota Republican Party condemned the demonstration. Chair Alex Plechash criticized the use of Ku Klux Klan imagery during a speech by a Black woman seeking the state’s highest office.

“[The protesters used] a symbol of racial terror at a Black woman leader, at a dinner named for the president who ended slavery,” Plechash said, referring to Abraham Lincoln.

Plechash also said the imagery had no place in political discourse, particularly when directed at a Black woman pursuing statewide office.

Eagan police told eight people to leave the event, CBS News Minnesota reported. As of Monday, it was unclear whether criminal charges would be pursued.

The incident comes as Minnesota Republicans seek to win a statewide election after a lengthy losing streak. Demuth’s candidacy also carries historic significance, as she could become the state’s first Black woman governor if elected.

The protest has put racial politics and the treatment of Black political candidates back in the spotlight, with both the activists and Republican leadership framing the confrontation as a reflection of broader disagreements over race, power and political accountability.