Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara resigned Tuesday after Mayor Jacob Frey said an investigation found he interfered with a probe into allegations involving sexually intimate relationships with city employees — a leadership collapse that now leaves Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell in charge of the department on an interim basis.
“Today, I received an investigative report with concerning substantiated findings regarding Chief O’Hara’s leadership,” Frey wrote in a letter obtained by Alpha News and Crime Watch Minneapolis.
According to Frey, investigators determined O’Hara interfered with a prior investigation involving allegations that he engaged in “sexually intimate relationships with city employees.”
“Although the investigators have concluded that the underlying allegations from the original investigation remain not substantiated, your interference with the investigation risked the integrity of the investigation and constitutes a significant breach of trust,” Frey wrote in a formal reprimand letter.
Frey said O’Hara was informed he would face discipline, up to and including termination, before resigning.
The resignation comes just weeks after Frey renominated O’Hara for another term as chief.
Blackwell’s past controversy resurfaces
Now, Blackwell — one of the Minneapolis Police Department’s most controversial figures following the Derek Chauvin trial — has assumed leadership of the department as acting chief.
Blackwell previously sued Alpha News, journalist Liz Collin, and others over reporting tied to the documentary “The Fall of Minneapolis” and Collin’s book “They’re Lying.”
However, Hennepin County Judge Edward Wahl dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that multiple challenged statements questioning Blackwell’s testimony were “substantially true.”
The documentary’s “core message—that [Blackwell’s] statements conflicted with MPD’s policy manual—is substantially true,” Wahl wrote.
As part of that case, 14 current and former Minneapolis police officers signed sworn declarations saying they believe Blackwell perjured herself while testifying during Chauvin’s trial — a fact that Alpha News attorney Chris Madel drew attention to on social media Wednesday. A total of 33 officers signed declarations saying the restraint Chauvin used during the George Floyd incident was trained by the Minneapolis Police Department.
Wahl also wrote that portions of Blackwell’s testimony could reasonably be interpreted as “incomplete or misleading by omission.”
Following the dismissal, Blackwell signed a declaration affirming that all of Judge Wahl’s findings were “accurate, true, and correct,” and agreed to pay $75,000 toward attorneys’ fees.
Reminder to Minnesota media that 14 former Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officers signed sworn declarations which say they believe MPD Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell perjured herself when testifying in former MPD officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial.
I know this sounds…
— Chris Madel (@CWMadel) May 27, 2026
Complaints against Blackwell closed without discipline
The controversy surrounding Blackwell extended beyond the courtroom.
In April 2025, Rep. Paul Novotny — a former police officer and current chair of the House Public Safety Committee — filed complaints against Blackwell, who was in charge of the Minneapolis Police Department training division during the Chauvin trial.
Rep. Novotny submitted the complaint to the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) after learning about the 14 officers who accused Blackwell of perjury.
The Minnesota POST Board — whose members are appointed by Gov. Tim Walz — ultimately took no action on the complaint against Blackwell. Rep. Novotny also submitted a complaint with the Minneapolis Office of Police Conduct Review, which closed the case with no discipline.
Alpha News made multiple inquiries to Erik Misselt, executive director of the Minnesota POST board, seeking comment on whether Blackwell has ever been evaluated for placement on a Brady-Giglio list.
“We are wondering why POST has taken no action against someone serving as Assistant Police Chief in Minneapolis and now Acting Minneapolis Chief when you are in possession of 14 sworn court declarations stating that she committed perjury in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial (likely Minnesota’s most high-profile case in history),” Alpha News said in an inquiry.
Misselt did not respond.
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
