Minneapolis City Council members cancel iftar planned at city building

A group of Muslim Minneapolis City Council members canceled a Ramadan event scheduled to be held at a city building after being informed they couldn’t use city resources to host a religious event.

Council Member Jamal Osman posted on Facebook that an iftar co-hosted by City Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai and Council Members Jeremiah Ellison and Aurin Chowdhury would no longer be held at the city’s Public Service Building on Friday.

An iftar is the nightly breaking of the fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan.

“We have been notified that we can no longer host our interfaith gathering in a City-owned building or utilize any City resources for this event,” Osman wrote. “As a result, we deeply regret to inform you that we must cancel the gathering.”

A flyer advertising the “Minneapolis City Council Community Iftar” included the official city logo.

In a statement, Minneapolis city spokeswoman Jess Olstad said the event was a prohibited endorsement of religion using government resources.

“This prohibition applies regardless of religion—whether this was an Iftar, Seder, or a Lenten fish fry, the advice would have been the same: City resources can’t be used for religious events,” Olstad said. “Council members could have moved their event to a non-City location and used non-City funds, but apparently Council members made the decision to cancel.”

The Minneapolis Police Department pushed back on apparent allegations by Chughtai that Police Chief Brian O’Hara had hosted a similar event using city resources.

MPD spokesman Sgt. Garrett Parten said O’Hara had hosted two iftars in the past, but no city resources were used.

“Why she’s ignoring this fact and spreading misinformation is both puzzling and disappointing,” Parten said of Chughtai.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to Chughtai, Chowdhury, Ellison and Osman for comment and has not heard back.