The Minneapolis police chief who was brought in to lead department reforms following George Floyd’s death has stepped down after interfering with an internal investigation, the mayor announced Tuesday.
Brian O’Hara chose to resign rather than face potential termination for obstructing a probe into allegations that he was having intimate relationships with city workers, Mayor Jacob Frey revealed.
Though the relationship allegations were not proven, investigators determined that O’Hara had disrupted their inquiry. According to a written reprimand obtained by The Associated Press, he removed a contact from his city phone to hide evidence and spoke about the investigation to another city worker after being told to remain silent.
When Frey informed O’Hara that he would face discipline that could include firing, the chief decided to step down instead.
“It was an extremely painful decision, obviously, but I concluded that that was necessary to maintain public trust, and this was the right way to move forward as a city,” Frey said.
“Trust is not secondary to the job. It is the job,” he added.
The city is continuing to investigate 17 additional complaints against O’Hara that are unrelated to the probe that led to his resignation, according to mayor’s office spokesperson Jennifer Lor. She declined to discuss the specifics of those complaints.
O’Hara did not respond immediately to a LinkedIn message requesting comment.
O’Hara took over as chief in 2022 while the department was under intense national scrutiny over police racism and excessive force. Floyd, a Black man, had been killed by a white Minneapolis officer two years earlier, sparking worldwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations and calls to defund police departments.
Minneapolis reached a deal with federal authorities last year to reform its police training and force policies following Floyd’s death. The U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump terminated that agreement months afterward.
O’Hara led the police response to the fatal shooting at Annunciation Catholic School last August.
He spoke out against immigration enforcement methods in December after a federal agent put his knee on a woman’s back during an arrest and attempted to pull her toward a vehicle. Minneapolis officers came under criticism from multiple groups during Trump’s immigration enforcement operations, with some saying police were either assisting or blocking federal agents and demonstrations.
Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell is now running the department while officials search for O’Hara’s replacement, Frey announced.
