Sammy Kimbrough’s annual trip to the Minnesota State Fair ended with his mouth bandaged shut after his fiancée said one accidental brush in the crowd led to a group of teenagers stomping his face into the pavement.
Kimbrough, 45, had been moving through the fair Saturday with two friends when he bumped someone in a crowd that reached 198,842 people that day, the Pioneer Press reported.
Heather Hoffman, his fiancée, told the paper the contact was almost impossible to avoid with that many people packed into the fairgrounds.
“That bump … from my fiancé to a teenager escalated,” Hoffman explained to WCCO-TV.
Hoffman said the teen turned aggressive after the contact, while Kimbrough tried to cool things down with “excuse me” and “back up.” A punch followed, and Kimbrough went down.
The teen was part of a group of about eight to 12 people, Hoffman told the Pioneer Press, and the beating continued after Kimbrough was already unconscious.
The attackers “kicked and stomped” on Kimbrough’s face, Hoffman told the outlet.
🎓Help millions think clearly and communicate with power through Hillsdale College’s free “Classical Logic and Rhetoric course! 🎓 Expand education for liberty and equip the next generation ➡️➡️➡️ TAKE THE FREE COURSE NOW!!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Hoffman told the Pioneer Press the group drove his face into the pavement while he was unable to defend himself.
The attack broke Kimbrough’s jaw in multiple places and sent him into emergency reconstructive jaw surgery, the paper reported.
He spent two days in the hospital before going home to a recovery that still left his mouth bandaged shut.
Hoffman told the Pioneer Press that one fracture sat so high in the jaw that bands were needed to hold that side in place with the opposite side, where surgeons installed plates.
“Once that that fracture heals enough for him to open his mouth, he then will have very extensive dental surgery as he has a whole lot of broken, knocked-out and loose teeth …” Hoffman told the paper.
Kimbrough works as a mason tender for a construction company and is insured, but Hoffman expected the medical bills from the beating to be expensive.
“He is still in excruciating pain,” Hoffman said.
“It was just an absolutely senseless act of violence.”
As of Wednesday morning, the Pioneer Press reported, Minnesota State Fair Police had not arrested anyone in the attack.
Hoffman said Kimbrough’s job history made the fair assault even more frustrating because he has experience handling tense crowds.
He works summer security during Friday night car shows at Roddy’s Bar & Grill in North St. Paul, Hoffman told the Pioneer Press, and knows how to de-escalate confrontations. That was the skill he tried to use Saturday, she said.
Hoffman said she and Kimbrough normally go to the Minnesota State Fair every year and have typically felt safe there.
Now, Kimbrough has talked about never going back.
He has “already mentioned that he’s done with the Minnesota State Fair for the rest of his life,” Hoffman told the Pioneer Press.
Teen chaos hit Colorado the next day when about 500 young people overwhelmed an Aurora shopping center after police said a social media-organized, unpermitted sporting event drew them there.
Aurora Police placed the crowd at Hoffman Heights Shopping Center around 1:30 p.m. Sunday and said many of those involved were ages 14 to 17.
The scene soon moved inside businesses. Social media video showed teens packed into a Burger King, where some shouted, climbed onto tables and fought each other.
At King Soopers, footage posted online showed teens taking tables and tossing food items onto the floor.
Large group of teenagers took over burger king store in Aurora Colorado. Yesterday a youtuber had a big event and many came out. But many teenagers started fighting and causing issues. Then they walked over to nearby businesses to cause more issues. When this happens nothing… pic.twitter.com/e11sOLJ0nR
— Colorado 411 (@Colorado411_420) August 31, 2026
A grocery store employee who spoke anonymously to KDVR said security could not keep the situation under control.
“It was like a nightmare,” the employee said. “Everybody was littering over here… It was like a lot of people. And I talked to security and they said yeah we are taking care of it. But obviously not.”
Aurora Police said officers first came to the shopping center to protect people and manage the swelling crowd before groups pushed into nearby stores.
Some people only ran through the businesses, police said, while others damaged property and stole merchandise.
The response grew to more than 70 officers and lasted several hours after police declared an “unlawful assembly.”
Aurora Police said the size of the response pulled a significant number of on-duty officers away from other calls across the city.
Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said the gathering became a police matter once criminal behavior began.
“We will not tolerate groups taking over roadways, disrupting businesses, damaging property or stealing under the belief that being part of a large crowd provides anonymity. It does not,” Chamberlain said.
Chamberlain urged parents and guardians to pay attention to their children’s whereabouts, companions and social media invitations.
“When hundreds of young people suddenly gather and behavior begins to escalate, the consequences can become serious very quickly,” Chamberlain said.
He said officers should not have to be pulled from other community emergencies to deal with conduct that could have been prevented.
Wisconsin saw another fairground blowup in August when fights broke out around 10 p.m. on a Sunday at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that West Allis Police Department officers assisted Wisconsin State Fair Park Police Department officers at the suburban Milwaukee fairgrounds and exhibition center.
Social media posts showed male and female teens punching, kicking, tackling and screaming at each other as the violence spread between food stands and rides.
Other videos showed groups rushing toward people at the fair and attacking them while fairgoers tried to flee and garbage cans toppled over.
Officers were seen running toward the teens, and some police moved through the crowd on horseback to break up the fights.
At least one officer was punched in the face during the mayhem. Fair officials said no other injuries were reported, and no gunfire happened despite social media claims about shots being fired.
