Minneapolis council threatens police chief

Minneapolis politics is having a very specific fight right now — not over whether the city should have a police chief, but over whether Brian O’Hara is still the one who can hold the job. On Thursday, May 7, Mayor Jacob Frey said he will nominate O’Hara for another four-year term, even though the vote count at City Hall has looked shaky for weeks. That makes this more than a personnel story. It’s a power test between a mayor who wants continuity and a council that has grown much more willing to say no. (kstp.com) ### Why is O’Hara suddenly in danger? Because his first term already expired. O’Hara’s three-year term ended in January 2026, and Frey had until roughly July to send up a renomination. Instead of moving quickly, the mayor waited while allies tried to count votes — a sign that the outcome was not secure. KSTP reported on April 7 that if the council had voted then, O’Hara would have lost. (kstp.com) ### Didn’t Frey support him the whole time? Basically, yes. Frey kept signaling support even while avoiding the formal nomination. Then on May 7 he made it official and backed O’Hara for another term. The hesitation mattered, though, because everyone at City Hall understood what the delay meant: the mayor did not want to force a losing vote. (kstp.com)cil changed. Minneapolis now has a newer and more independent 13-member council, and it already showed it would reject one of Frey’s top public safety picks. In April, members voted 7-6 against reappointing Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette, the official who oversees police and other public safety agencies. That vote mattered because it showed the mayor no longer has easy control over public safety appointments. (fox9.com) ### So how many votes does O’Hara have? Not enough in public, at least. By late April, only a few members had clearly signaled support. KSTP identified Vice President Jamal Osman and council member Jamison Whiting as yes votes, while others either would not commit or said they were still evaluating him. Council President Elliott Payne’s answer was ca(fox9.com) a whip count you want if you need a majority. (kstp.com) ### What is driving the resistance? Part of it is politics, but part of it is substance. In April, the city auditor released a blistering review of how the Minneapolis Police Department handled two 2024 cases — the shooting of Davis Moturi and the death of Allison Lussier. Auditors reviewed 49,000 pages, 75 hours of body-camera footage, and more than(kstp.com)es, and leadership messaging that was described as premature and inaccurate. (mprnews.org) ### Why did that audit hit O’Hara personally? Because it was not just about line officers. The review said O’Hara made incorrect public statements in both cases, and in Lussier’s case the department never even requested the official autopsy report, which helped fuel wrong assumptions about how she died. That kind of failure lands directly on leadership — especially in Minneapolis, where police credibility is already fragile. (kare11.com) ### Is this only about reform politics? No — that’s the catch. O’Hara also has supporters who point to falling violent crime and say he has been visible in neighborhoods and serious about rebuilding the department. So the council is not choosing between “pro-police” and “anti-police.” It is deciding whether incremental improvement is enough in a city that still expects deep accountability after years of police scandal and federal scrutiny. (kstp.com) ### What happens next? The council gets a confirmation fight that could define the year. If O’Hara wins, Frey proves he still controls the city’s public safety direction. If O’Hara loses, the council will have blocked both the safety commissioner and the police chief — a huge rebuke to the mayor’s whole approach. (kstp.com)n. It’s about whether Minneapolis thinks its police leadership has earned more time — or whether patience at City Hall has run out.