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The Minneapolis Institute of Art(MIA) is breathing a sigh of relieffollowing an altercation between members of a right-wing groupand anti-fascistsinside its galleries. Punches were thrown, though no artwork was damaged in the incident, according to the New York Times.

February 25 was a normal day at the museum. Save, that is, for the 50-or-so protesters from the Twin Cities General Defense Committee (GDC), part of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) labor union,gathered outside. At first glance, it appeared they were speaking out againstthe anti-immigrant sentiment being stirred up by President Donald Trumps administration by the proposed border wall, increased deportation efforts, and the travel ban targeting seven Muslim majority countries. In actuality, their message had a more immediate target.

By Ben Davis, Feb 11, 2017

According to a statement from the GDC, the protesters had gathered after getting word ofa planned White Lives Matter rally from a group called AltRight MN at the museum.

A statement from AltRight MN contests this narrative, claiming that we were there only to meet a few new faces and enjoy the Minneapolis Institute of Arts collection of traditional art. However, when we got there, the IWW protesters were waiting. We had no idea that it had anything to do with us until two of our members were attacked upstairs.

They allege that the anti-fascist protesters had learned of their meetup by posing as a Trump supporter to gain access to a private chat room.

Conflict broke out when the two groups came face to face. On its website, GDC has shared a photo of a man appearing to give a Nazi salute in response to the gathered protesters. One witness told Twins Cities news outlet City Pages there were shouts of Heil Trump!

Image of alleged fascist protester at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.Courtesy of the Twin Cities General Defense Committee.

According to theStarTribune, three men who appeared to be neo-Nazis, one of whom allegedly sported neo-Nazi imagery on his jacket, entered the museum. IWWprotesters followed, leading to a heated encounter in a gallery of 18th-century art, home to French armchairs, English landscape paintings, and a piece of Svres porcelain.

In their statement, the GDC alleges that one of the groups involved wasIdentity Evropa, which hasadopted classical European art as a symbol of defending white culture. For instance, Identity Evropa has taken credit for the appearance of posters of MichelangelosDavidwith the words Lets Become Great Again around the Minneapolis area last year.

A search of the internet reveals that Identity Evropa has been on a postering campaign across the country, targeting campuses.

I heard voices that were louder than usual for a museum. There [was] a large man with a buzz cut arguing loudly with some people. They were getting in each others faces and quickly started pushing each other, Vijit Nanda, a visitor who witnessed the incident, told theTribune. The people who were fighting started throwing punches.

A female security guard reportedly broke up the fight after a protester knocked one of the men down and was hitting him.

She was terribly brave, MIA director KaywinFeldman told the New York Times. As you can imagine, our security officers are trained not to put themselves in harms way ever. And so this was just a reaction on her part to protect another human.

In his account, Nanda added that, as he was leaving the museum, a group dressed in mostly darker colors walked out in front of us chanting and pumping their hands in the air. I honestly do not remember the exact words, but it was something along the lines of Nazi scum get off our streets!'

TheTribune reported that there were no arrests made, but that police responding to the scene did impound a large knife from one of the individuals involved in the fracas. AltRight MN claims that the weapon was found on one of the assaulters, while the GDC claims that they disarmed a man with a nazi flag shirt carrying a large folding knife after he started a physical brawl.

Link:
Alt-Right and Anti-Fascists Face Off at MIA | artnet News - artnet News