The assistant police chief for the Minnesota State Fair is accusing the fair and the Ramsey County sheriff of retaliation after he reported concerns of officer conduct during last year's fair.
Michael Coffey, a Cottage Grove officer who has worked as the assistant police chief of the fair since 2022, filed the whistleblower lawsuit against Fletcher and the State Agricultural Society — which governs the fair — last week.
After he reported the incidents, the lawsuit says Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher threatened to withhold police resources from the fair, and the fair's CEO limited Coffey's hours.
The lawsuit centers around three incidents that happened during the last days of the 2025 state fair.
On Aug. 30, there was a large crowd of attendees and law enforcement — including Fletcher — gathered around the Midway. There was an altercation between one attendee and the deputies, and the suit says a Ramsey County officer sprayed the crowd with chemical munitions.
Coffey believed the use of chemical munitions used "against people who had not broken the law" was unlawful excessive force, the lawsuit says. He approached Fletcher about his concerns but the suit says it was clear "Sheriff Fletcher did not appreciate this interaction or agree with Coffey's remarks."
The next day, Coffey received a video that depicted a young man on the ground and several law enforcement officers on top of him. The video shows "Sheriff Fletcher deploying a canister of chemical munitions to the...
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