Critics question mayor's response to complaints against ex-MPD chief

Jacob Frey's City Council critics hammered the Minneapolis mayor on Wednesday over his decision to nominate Brian O'Hara to remain police chief despite an off-and-on investigation into his workplace conduct.

• O'Hara abruptly resigned after independent investigators concluded Tuesday that the chief deleted evidence from his phone during their 2025 probe.

Why it matters: The fallout is putting fresh scrutiny on Frey's judgment and oversight of the police department during a politically sensitive reform process.

• City Council President Elliott Payne asked why Frey continued to support the chief even after the city twice turned to an outside law firm to investigate allegations against O'Hara.

Catch up quick: Last summer, the firm's investigators concluded there was "insufficient evidence" to back up a complaint that O'Hara had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate.

• But a witness came forward in December 2025 with new information that prompted investigators to reopen their inquiry.
• On May 6, with the clock running out on O'Hara's original three-year term, Frey formally asked the City Council to reconfirm him.

Frey said the complaints alone weren't enough to punish O'Hara.

• "I don't make decisions based on rumors and anonymous complaints because that would mean making decisions based on optics, not facts," the mayor said in a statement.
• But after the final report arrived Tuesday, "Everything material happened within a single day: the final report was delivered … discipline was issued, and the resignation followed," a spokesperson for Frey added.

The other side: Council Member Robin Wonsley argued there's precedent for placing a top police official on administrative leave during a workplace conduct investigation, as Metro Transit did with former transit police chief Ernest Morales III.

The intrigue: Rumors about O'Hara appear to have given one of Frey's typical allies, Council Member Michael Rainville, pause about reconfirming the chief.

• "I had outstanding questions about Chief O'Hara. … One of those questions has now been answered," Rainville wrote in a statement Wednesday.

Friction points: Payne faulted the mayor for keeping the council in the dark at a press conference on Wednesday.

• Payne heard from Frey informally that last summer's investigation had turned up nothing.
• But Payne said the mayor did not inform the council that an outside firm was involved, nor did he brief members on the results of either probe: "We discovered the depth of these investigations last night."

What we're watching: Payne challenged Frey to take a more active role in overseeing public safety functions, rather than continuing to delegate to a community safety commissioner.

• "We can no longer allow the mayor to deflect that responsibility," he said.

Frey's office pledged the mayor will work with the council "on next steps for a police chief."