{"id":3658,"date":"2026-05-27T15:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T15:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/27\/minneapolis-police-chief-resigns-after-scandal-over-sexual-misconduct-investigation\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T15:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T15:40:13","slug":"minneapolis-police-chief-resigns-after-scandal-over-sexual-misconduct-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=3658","title":{"rendered":"Minneapolis police chief resigns after scandal over sexual misconduct investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"200c8c0a-f1ac-434a-bdee-c2c5fd3b114c\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a man speaks\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/cfc8e0f4b7f9d724b7413767e1259cd658e66470\/217_1_3106_2486\/master\/3106.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"372.17965228589827\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Brian O&#8217;Hara speaks during a news conference on 10 January 2026 in Minneapolis.<\/span> Photograph: Jen Golbeck\/AP<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"200c8c0a-f1ac-434a-bdee-c2c5fd3b114c\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Brian O&#8217;Hara speaks during a news conference on 10 January 2026 in Minneapolis.<\/span> Photograph: Jen Golbeck\/AP<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">Minneapolis police chief resigns after scandal over sexual misconduct investigation<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>A report found that Brian O\u2019Hara probably interfered with investigation in what mayor called a \u2018breach of trust\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/minneapolis\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Minneapolis<\/a> police chief, Brian O\u2019Hara, resigned on Tuesday after a report found that he probably interfered with an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">O\u2019Hara stepped down after a meeting with the Minnesota city\u2019s mayor, Jacob Frey, who earlier this month nominated him to serve a second term after his appointment in 2022 to steady a police department still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2023\/jun\/16\/us-attorney-minneapolis-police-excessive-george-floyd\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">in turmoil<\/a> after the murder of George Floyd two years earlier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Frey issued O\u2019Hara with a \u201cserious misconduct\u201d reprimand after receiving the report on Tuesday, and warned he faced discipline up to and including dismissal, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/05\/26\/us\/minneapolis-police-chief-resigns.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Frey announced O\u2019Hara\u2019s resignation at a Tuesday evening press conference, at which he said he had lost confidence in the chief\u2019s ability to lead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cTrust is not secondary to the job, it is the job,\u201d Frey said. \u201cWhen trust is broken it becomes extremely difficult to continue leading effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The investigation into O\u2019Hara\u2019s conduct found no evidence to confirm allegations he had improper sexual relationships with city employees, the Times said, but concluded he had likely deleted a contact from his phone last year while facing a previous internal investigation, amounting to interference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cYour behavior, as substantiated by the investigation, demonstrates poor judgment, is inconsistent with the level of integrity this role requires, and has made it extraordinarily difficult for you to continue effectively in your role,\u201d Frey\u2019s letter to O\u2019Hara stated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">O\u2019Hara has not yet commented publicly about his resignation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The mayor said assistant police chief Katie Blackwell would take over acting leadership of the department until a permanent replacement could be found. Blackwell is expected to be among the candidates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">O\u2019Hara was appointed in November 2022 with a mandate to reform the Minneapolis police department, which had just seen four of its officers sentenced for their involvement in Floyd\u2019s 2020 murder. They included Derek Chauvin, who received a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/jun\/25\/derek-chauvin-george-floyd-murder-sentencing\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">22.5-year prison term<\/a> for the killing, and a subsequent, concurrent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2022\/jul\/07\/derek-chauvin-sentenced-violating-george-floyd-civil-rights\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">21-year term<\/a> for violating Floyd\u2019s civil rights that saw the former officer moved to federal prison.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A two-year justice department investigation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2023\/jun\/16\/us-attorney-minneapolis-police-excessive-george-floyd\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">concluded<\/a> in 2023 that the department engaged in a pattern of excessive force and years of unlawful discrimination against Black Americans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Frey, at the Tuesday press conference, credited O\u2019Hara with rebuilding public trust in the department, but said that trust needed to extend to the person leading it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cEveryone makes mistakes, including me, but what I can\u2019t allow is a breach of trust,\u201d Frey said. His comments were a reversal from his position earlier this month when Frey said O\u2019Hara was \u201cthe right leader for this moment and for this city\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Announcing his support for the chief to serve another term, he added: \u201cMinneapolis didn\u2019t ask for small steps, we demanded real, measurable change. And under his leadership, that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019ve been seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">O\u2019Hara is credited with reversing a stem of resignations from the police department, and heading off a call from some Black lawmakers for it to be disbanded, a proposal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/nov\/02\/minneapolis-police-department-vote-result\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">rejected by voters<\/a> in 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">More recently, he has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/feb\/01\/minnesota-twin-cities-ice-protests\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">immigration enforcement surge<\/a> into Minneapolis, which saw the deaths of two unarmed US citizen protesters, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in January by federal officers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">He condemned the shootings in a 25 January <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/minneapolis-police-chief-says-people-have-had-enough-after-fatal-shooting-by-federal-agents\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">appearance<\/a> on CBS\u2019s Face the Nation, during which he said Minneapolis residents had \u201chad enough\u201d of the violence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThis is the third shooting now in less than three weeks,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Minneapolis police department went the entire year last year, recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds and hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn\u2019t shoot anyone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cAnd now this is the second American citizen that\u2019s been killed, it\u2019s the third shooting within three weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The June 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/jun\/17\/minnesota-killings-melissa-hortman\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">murders<\/a> of Democratic Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband; and a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/aug\/27\/minneapolis-annunciation-catholic-school-shooting\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">mass shooting<\/a> at Annunciation Catholic school in south Minneapolis two months later, also came during O\u2019Hara\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe saw Chief Brian O\u2019Hara encountering some of the most difficult moments that our city has ever faced, and he did so with poise,\u201d Frey said on 7 May at the nomination event, noting that the number of Minneapolis police department officers had climbed from 550 to more than 640, applications were up by 200%, and that crime had fallen across the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/minneapolis\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Minneapolis<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/minnesota\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Minnesota<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-police\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US policing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/george-floyd\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">George Floyd<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Minneapolis%20police%20chief%20resigns%20after%20scandal%20over%20sexual%20misconduct%20investigation&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/27\/minneapolis-police-chief-resigns?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F27%2Fminneapolis-police-chief-resigns&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/27\/minneapolis-police-chief-resigns\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brian O&#8217;Hara speaks during a news conference on 10 January 2026 in Minneapolis. Photograph: Jen Golbeck\/AP View image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}