Did Keith Ellison beat his girlfriend?
Executive summary
The public record shows a specific allegation from former partner Karen Monahan — amplified by her son’s social-media post claiming a video — that Rep. Keith Ellison physically dragged Monahan off a bed in 2016, an incident Ellison denies and which has not been produced publicly [1] [2] [3]. Multiple news organizations reported the allegation, noted Ellison’s denial, and described reviews or non-investigations by institutions; however, there is no public criminal conviction or independently released evidence that proves Ellison “beat” his girlfriend [4] [5] [6] [7].
1. What was alleged and who said it
In August 2018 Karen Monahan’s son posted on Facebook that he had seen a video showing Ellison dragging Monahan off a bed while screaming obscenities, and Monahan publicly confirmed aspects of her son’s statements, calling herself a #MeToo survivor and saying the relationship included abuse she described as narcissistic; those claims were widely reported by outlets including NPR, BBC and The Hill [4] [5] [8].
2. Ellison’s response and how institutions reacted
Ellison flatly denied the physical-abuse allegation, saying the video does not exist and characterizing the claim as false, while the Democratic National Committee said it would review the allegations and several news reports noted he nonetheless won his primary during the controversy [4] [9] [5]. The Minneapolis Police Department later said it would not investigate because of a conflict of interest and Monahan did not file a police report, according to AP reporting [6].
3. Documentary and third-party material available publicly
Monahan posted a medical progress note from 2017 on social media in which she told a doctor she had been in an abusive relationship, and her son asserted there were text messages and a video, but the purported video has not been released publicly and mainstream outlets reporting the claim have not produced independent corroboration of physical assault [2] [1]. Fact-checkers have also warned against misleading viral posts using unrelated imagery to illustrate the allegations, and PolitiFact described some social-media insinuations as inaccurate or “Mostly False” when they conflated timing or used unrelated images [7].
4. Other allegations and contested patterns
Some later commentary and partisan outlets cited additional past accusations by other ex-partners — for example, claims that a 2006 partner alleged pushing and verbal abuse — but those reports come through secondary sources and political commentary and were part of the broader media debate rather than criminal findings [10] [11]. News coverage reflects competing viewpoints: advocates urging that allegations be taken seriously, Ellison’s defenders questioning motives and evidence, and partisan actors using the story in electoral contests [12] [13].
5. Bottom line: can reporting support the claim that Ellison “beat his girlfriend”?
Based on available mainstream reporting, there is an allegation of a physical incident from Karen Monahan and assertions by her son that a video exists, Ellison has denied the incident, no publicly released video or independent forensic documentation proving criminal assault has been presented in the press, and law enforcement declined to investigate citing conflict and the absence of a police report — therefore the factual record in news reporting supports that an allegation exists but does not establish a proven criminal act that Ellison “beat his girlfriend” [1] [3] [6] [2] [4]. Journalistic and fact-checking sources note the seriousness of the accusation and the lack of public evidence; readers should distinguish between an unproven allegation reported by multiple outlets and a legally established finding [9] [7].