Amy Klobuchar canceled a rally in her home state of Minnesota after it was derailed by protesters.
Demonstrators shouting, “Black Lives Matter,” “Free Myon,” and “Klobuchar has got to go,” occupied a stage set for the Minnesota senator in St. Louis Park for an hour late Sunday, delaying the rally organized ahead of Super Tuesday when Democrats there weigh in on 2020 presidential primary.
ST. LOUIS PARK, MN — Protesters in Senator Klobuchar’s home state have stormed the stage at her campaign rally, with dozens chanting, “Free Myon!” and “Klobuchar has got to go!” pic.twitter.com/n0MLZK3mO7
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) March 2, 2020
The event was eventually canceled.
The event has now been CANCELLED.
— Lissette Rodriguez (@Lissette_Rod) March 2, 2020
Klobuchar, 59, was chief prosecutor for Minnesota’s most populous county, including Minneapolis, before arriving in the Senate in 2006 and after working for several years in corporate law.
During her tenure as district attorney for Minnesota’s Hennepin County, she sent Myon Burrell, a black teenager, to prison for life for the 2002 death of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards. Edwards was killed by a stray bullet while doing homework in her house.
But an Associated Press investigation published in January just days before the Iowa caucuses raised questions about the integrity of the investigation and suggested Burrell could be innocent, prompting calls for Klobuchar to drop her White House bid. Those calls that were echoed in TV interviews with Fox News Sunday and ABC’s The View, and to a lesser extent, from voters on the campaign trail since her underdog status saved her from the scrutiny given to top-tier candidates.
Similar protests disrupted several stops hosted by Pete Buttigieg, sparked by his own record with the black community in his hometown of South Bend, Indiana. Buttigieg, 38, was Klobuchar’s chief rival in the race before he suspended his campaign earlier Sunday.
Klobuchar’s presidential aspirations hang in the balance ahead of Tuesday’s multistate nominating contest. After stronger than expected finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, her lack of appeal with minority Democrats hurt her in Nevada and South Carolina, more diverse early-voting states. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 78, the field’s front-runner to become the Democratic standard-bearer, is even making a play for Minnesota and is in striking distance of denying his senatorial colleague a win in her home state next week.
