Minneapolis deals with another police reckoning after resignation of Chief O'Hara

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced Chief O'Hara faced disciplinary action for interfering with an investigation on accusations he was engaging in intimate relationships with city employees, accusations Frey says weren't substantiated.

"Although the investigators have concluded that this interference does not change their ultimate conclusion contained in the original report, in other words, the allegations of relationships with city employees, the interference itself is a breach of trust," Frey explained.

O'Hara was found to have deleted a contact card from his city-issued cell phone in an effort to hide evidence. He also told another city employee about the investigation after he was told not to discuss it.

There's been swift reaction Wednesday morning after O'Hara's resignation.

WCCO Radio political analyst Blois Olson says there was some prior knowledge of the ongoing investigations into O'Hara, leading to plenty of rumors.

Frey faces criticism from council members

There's also already been criticism about Frey's decision to re-nominate him for another four-year term recently, despite ongoing investigations.

"Mayor Frey should not waste an ounce of political capital in reappointing him if there's any chance it's true," Olson said Wednesday on the WCCO Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar. "I think that the mayor thread the needle pretty tight on this one. His decisiveness in saying there was going to be discipline, I think was there. I also think there's more that's going to come out."

The city still has 17 open complaints against O'Hara, all separate from the investigation that resulted in disciplinary action, and will continue investigating them according to the mayor's office.

Ward 3 Minneapolis City Council member Michael Rainville says Frey acted swiftly when it came to disciplining now former Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara on the WCCO Radio Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar.

"He did what he could do. In America, we have a thing called due process. Accusations mean nothing, but proof is everything," said Rainville. "And as soon as the proof got there, the mayor made a decisive move. And I'm shocked, but that does not take one thing away from the great men and women of the Minneapolis Police Department."

But Ward 2 City Council member Robin Wonsley said the issues with O'Hara is more evidence that there needs to be reform across the entire MPD.

"We need to reevaluate what's going on with this department," Wonsley adds. "There's been a culture festering of just permissive will, and the allowance of MPD to just overspend their budget time and time again while not making our community safer, by selling our residents time and time again."

Also appearing on the WCCO Morning News, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan talked about O'Hara's resignation, and said the citiy has been through so much, and deserves better.

"They deserve strong leadership of the Minneapolis Police Department that is grounded in public safety, and trust, and that's what the people of Minneapolis deserve in rank and file members of MPD," said Flanagan.

Flanagan adds that despite the criticism of Frey, she has full confidence in him.

"I feel confident in the leadership of the city of Minneapolis, including Mayor Frey and the City Council, that they will determine who the best person is to lead the Minneapolis Police Department," she explains.

In a statement, Minneapolis City Council President Elliot Payne, a long time critic of the mayor and chief, called the revelations a massive error in judgement by both Frey and public safety commissioner Todd Barnette. Payne, along with fellow City Council members Wonsley and Jason Chavez will hold their own press conference Wednesday afternoon discuss O'Hara's resignation.

Just weeks ago, Frey re-nominated O'Hara and the first hearing on that appointment in front of the city council was to have take place next week.

But Frey said Tuesday night the conduct from O'Hara was something they city couldn't tolerate, despite his earlier vote of confidence in him.

"This is not about being intolerant of mistakes," adds Frey. "Everyone makes mistakes, including me. But what I can't allow is a breach of trust. When you serve as chief of the Minneapolis Police Department, trust is not secondary to the job, it is the job."

Search for a new chief comes at a crucial juncture for Minneapolis

Olson says one of the main roles for the Minneapolis police chief is to instill confidence across the region on the state's largest city.

"And I think that's where the challenge to find the next chief will be, is making sure that the region kind of has confidence that Minneapolis can stay on track of recruiting officers, keeping crime down, etc. And that's a fragile confidence in my mind," adds Olson who thinks the City Council needs to be clear in who they support as chief, instead of just critical of Frey.

O'Hara became the chief in 2022 as the department was at the center of a nationwide reckoning over racism and brutality in policing. Two years prior, Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white officer in Minneapolis, igniting global Black Lives Matter protests and calls to defund the police.

Last year, Minneapolis entered an agreement with the federal government to overhaul its police training and use-of-force policies in the wake Floyd's murder. The U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump canceled the agreement months later.

O'Hara oversaw the law enforcement response to the deadly Annunciation Catholic School shooting last August.

He criticized immigration enforcement tactics in December after a federal agent kneeled on a woman's back during an arrest and then tried to drag her to a car. Minneapolis police faced scrutiny from all sides during Trump's immigration crackdown by people who thought the officers were helping or hindering federal agents and protests.

Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell has stepped in to lead the department during the search for a new chief, Frey said.