Brawl at Hmong New Year concert caught on video

A large fight involving more than a dozen people broke out Wednesday night during a Hmong New Year concert party at the Big Fresno Fairgrounds.

The fight started sometime after 10:30 p.m. in the Agriculture Building and was videotaped by several bystanders. By Thursday, video of the fight was making the rounds on social media. In the video you see fists being thrown by multiple people as the crowd scatters and security guards try to break up the melee.

Vicky Xiong-Lor, spokeswoman for the Hmong Cultural New Year Celebration, said the party was not organized by her organization but by an outside group, the Deev Siab record company. She estimates there may have been between 600 to 1,000 young people at the event.

After police arrived, they shut down the event and two other parties that were taking place in other locations on the fairgrounds, Xiong-Lor said.

“This is very unfortunate,” she said. “The Hmong New Year is a huge event that is supposed to unify all of us Hmong from around the nation. We do not condone these types of behaviors.”

Xiong-Lor said she is hoping the fight does not cloud participation in the annual event that concludes on Jan. 1.

“All we want is to have peace and unity for the entire community,” she said.

Fresno police spokesman Mark Hudson said it is unclear if there were any arrests or injuries as a result of the fight. And it’s unknown what triggered the free-for-all.

This story was originally published December 28, 2017 at 3:32 PM with the headline "Brawl at Hmong New Year concert caught on video."