Brian O’Hara

Introduction

Brian O’Hara served as police chief of Minneapolis, Minnesota, until Mayor Jacob Frey announced his resignation on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, following an internal investigation into misconduct. At a news conference that day, Frey alleged that O’Hara had attempted to interfere with a prior investigation that included allegations he had “engaged in sexual intimate relationships” with city employees, and that he had “intentionally” deleted a contact card for a city employee from his work cell phone. O’Hara stepped down the same day the allegations were laid out publicly. The claims were the mayor’s allegations from an internal investigation — they were not adjudicated, and no criminal charges are reported in the source.

Background Information

According to the report, O’Hara was brought on to the Minneapolis police force shortly after the Black Lives Matter movement in the city. His tenure as chief coincided with an especially turbulent stretch for Minneapolis: he led the city through President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown, an uptick in ICE officers in the city, and recent fraud raids led by federal officials. In December 2025, he appeared at an interfaith prayer for the Somali community of Minnesota held as ICE increased activity in the state. Only shortly before his resignation, O’Hara had been re-nominated as police chief by Frey himself, with the mayor saying he was the right leader. The speed of the reversal — from re-nomination to resignation — was among the most striking elements of the announcement.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

According to Frey, the internal investigation centered on misconduct by the chief, including allegations that he had “engaged in sexual intimate relationships” with city employees. The city employees involved were not named in the report.

The mayor’s more serious charge concerned what happened to the investigation itself. Frey alleged that O’Hara attempted to “throw a wrench into” the prior investigation, and that he “intentionally” deleted a contact card for a city employee from his work cell phone. The purpose of that deletion, Frey said, was to hide evidence from the investigator.

“Interference with the investigation risked the integrity of the investigation and constitutes a significant breach of trust,” Frey said of O’Hara. In the mayor’s account, the obstruction was not a side issue but the heart of the breach: a chief accused of misconduct had, per Frey, tried to shape what investigators could see. The allegation that evidence was deleted from a work phone gave the case its concrete, documentary character — and, in Frey’s framing, its gravity.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The announcement came at a Tuesday news conference at which Frey detailed the allegations himself — an unusual public reckoning for a sitting chief he had recently re-nominated. “Trust is not secondary to the job; it is the job,” Frey said. “When trust is broken, it becomes extremely difficult to continue leading effectively.”

Frey simultaneously announced Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell as the acting police chief of Minneapolis, effective immediately, giving the department day-one leadership as the chief’s chair emptied. The report framed the resignation as a leadership and trust matter rather than a legal proceeding: no criminal charges are reported in the source, and nothing in the article indicates the allegations were tested or adjudicated. What is documented is the mayor’s account, the chief’s resignation, and the immediate transfer of command to Blackwell.

Current Status

As of the May 26, 2026 report, O’Hara had resigned as Minneapolis police chief, and Katie Blackwell was serving as acting chief effective immediately. The source reports no criminal charges in connection with the matter and does not describe formal disciplinary findings beyond the mayor’s allegations. Any further proceedings are not addressed in the source.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The resignation ended O’Hara’s run leading the Minneapolis Police Department — a tenure publicly reaffirmed only shortly before by his re-nomination. Having been brought in shortly after the Black Lives Matter movement and kept at the helm through a federal crime crackdown, an ICE surge and fraud raids, he departed not over those crises but over the mayor’s misconduct and interference allegations. For a chief whose standing rested on the mayor’s confidence, the loss of that confidence proved decisive: within a single news conference, O’Hara went from recently re-nominated leader to former chief. The source does not report what O’Hara plans after stepping down, nor does it describe any penalty beyond the loss of the office itself.

Sources

• The National News Desk/FOX 11, “Minneapolis mayor announces resignation of police chief after misconduct investigation” — source