Minneapolis council leaders to react to chief’s resignation

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Minneapolis City Council leaders are poised to give their reaction to the resignation of Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Minneapolis Police Chief resigns

The backstory:

Now-former chief O’Hara resigned suddenly on Tuesday following the release of a shocking report that showed he had likely interfered with an investigation into him carrying on sexual relationships with city employees.

The new report found that O’Hara had deleted a contact card for one of the employees in question on his city-issued phone to apparently “shield himself” during the investigation. Investigators also say O’Hara failed to abide by instructions to maintain confidentiality during the investigation because he alerted another city employee about the case.

It should be noted that investigators were never able to substantiate the initial sex allegations against O’Hara and the parties involved all denied engaging in any relationship. However, investigators were never able to fully examine O’Hara’s personal phone.

Local perspective:

When the latest report was issued on Tuesday, Mayor Frey notified the chief he would reprimand the chief with punishment rising to the level of discharge. The chief opted to resign instead.

Mayor Jacob Frey announced O’Hara’s departure at a Tuesday evening press conference.

The surprising departure comes less than three weeks after Frey nominated O’Hara for a second term as police chief.

Big picture view:

O’Hara had overseen a remarkable turnaround for the Minneapolis Police Department, leading the force out of the pandemic and through post-George Floyd reforms.

He also took over the department when the city was dealing with staggering highs in crime not seen since the 1990s. During his reign, homicides saw a 33-percent drop from the pandemic high in 2021, and shootings in north Minneapolis for the start of 2026 were at an all-time low.

What’s next:

Following O’Hara’s departure, Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell has been named interim police chief.

City council reaction

What we know:

Minneapolis city council leaders have scheduled a news conference for Wednesday afternoon to discuss the sudden departure.

Council President Elliott Payne and Council Members Robin Wonsley and Jason Chavez are slated to speak at 1:30 p.m.

You can watch that news conference on the player above and on our YouTube channel.

Dig deeper:

O’Hara’s nomination faced opposition on the council, with several members critical of his response to two controversial cases: the shooting of Davis Moturi by his neighbor and the death of Allison Lussier.

An audit earlier this year found the former chief had made harmful public statements during both of those cases.

At the same time, the council is also battling with the mayor over the nomination of Public Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette. For Barnette, the council has raised an issue with the department’s overspending in 2025.

Currently, Barnette’s nomination remains locked in limbo after the council denied it and the mayor has vetoed their denial. That has left Barnette serving as commissioner on an interim basis until one side budges. The council has until early August to make a decision, otherwise Barnette would be removed as commissioner. But Frey could just reappoint him, which would start the whole process over again.