Minneapolis Council Demands Answers on Chief's Exit as Mayor Renominated Him 3 Weeks Earlier
Updated
Updated · FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul · May 27
Minneapolis Council Demands Answers on Chief's Exit as Mayor Renominated Him 3 Weeks Earlier
5 articles · Updated · FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul · May 27
Wednesday's City Council briefing pressed Mayor Jacob Frey to explain why members were not told about formal investigations into Chief Brian O'Hara before his renomination and sudden resignation.
Tuesday's investigative report said O'Hara likely interfered with a probe into alleged sexual relationships with city employees by deleting a contact card from his city phone and warning another employee about the case.
Frey said the original complaint was unsubstantiated and that he could not act on rumor or anonymous allegations; after new evidence emerged, he moved to reprimand O'Hara up to discharge, and O'Hara resigned.
Katie Blackwell has been named interim chief after O'Hara's exit, which came despite a tenure in which homicides fell 33% from the 2021 pandemic-era high and shootings in north Minneapolis hit an all-time low early in 2026.
The clash deepens an already strained mayor-council fight over public safety leadership, with Frey and the council also deadlocked over Public Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette's nomination until at least early August.
What damning evidence forced the mayor to oust the police chief he had just re-nominated three weeks earlier?
The chief deleted one phone contact out of 600. What was he so determined to conceal from investigators?