MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara has something he really wants people to know about officer Jamal Mitchell.

“Officer Mitchell chose us. Like me, he is from the east coast, he moved to Minnesota four years ago and he chose to become a Minneapolis police officer post-2020,” O’Hara said. “He chose to come here despite all of the challenges and all of the difficulties and the scrutiny that we faced. And it’s not just about the way he died, it is about how he lived his life as a man and as a member of this department.”

In their grief, Minneapolis police officers are continuing to respond to dangerous calls, including two homicides this weekend that had echoes of Mitchell’s fatal encounter.

“We all know but for the grace of God that could have been any of us that just got out of a car, seeing somebody down in need of help and walked up trying to help them. That’s what happened to Jamal. But despite that, our men and women are still going out to these scenes,” O’Hara said.

Year to date, shots fired in Minneapolis are down from 2,754 last year to 2,222 this year, but attacks on police officers in the region are up. In the last 14 months, at least 12 law enforcement officers in and around Minnesota have been killed or wounded by gunfire. The chief says the number of illegal guns is only part of the reason.

“Certainly in the aftermath of George Floyd, but I think it’s something that had been building up over a period of time,” O’Hara said. “People need to know words have meaning and a lot of violence against groups of people, whatever groups of people it is, by religion, by ethnicity or otherwise, starts with words, and we should condemn and not allow. It’s equally as ignorant as if it was against someone just because of their religion or their ethnicity.”

O’Hara said he could not discuss more specifics of what happened because it is all still under investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

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