Alpha News has obtained a copy of an anonymous letter that was addressed to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in September 2022 — just weeks before Frey nominated Brian O’Hara to become the city’s police chief.
The letter, dated Sept. 11, 2022, contained detailed allegations about O’Hara’s conduct and leadership during his time in Newark, New Jersey, where he served as public safety director and later deputy mayor — including claims that closely mirrored the issues that later surfaced in Minneapolis.
New questions emerge surrounding former chief’s driver
Crime Watch Minneapolis reported Friday that multiple sources now claim Minneapolis police officer Abdisamad Ahmed — O’Hara’s former driver — has been relieved of duty.
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Several sources are now saying that driver Absisamad Ahmed has been relieved of duty.— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) May 29, 2026
According to Crime Watch, Ahmed had been scheduled to return to patrol duty Sunday in the Fifth Precinct after no longer being needed in the chief’s detail following O’Hara’s resignation.
Crime Watch reported that Ahmed was identified as “Employee 1” in investigative findings released following O’Hara’s resignation earlier this week.
According to Crime Watch, Ahmed allegedly acted as an intermediary between O’Hara and at least one female city employee amid fallout tied to the investigation into alleged “sexually intimate relationships with city employees.”
O’Hara is currently married to Wafiyyah O’Hara, a lieutenant with the Newark Police Department, where he previously served as deputy chief.
Resignation followed investigation findings
O’Hara resigned Tuesday after Mayor Frey received an investigative report substantiating that O’Hara had interfered with a city probe examining claims he engaged in “sexually intimate relationships with city employees.”
“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.
Frey’s formal reprimand letter stated that while investigators did not substantiate the underlying relationship allegations themselves, O’Hara’s interference “risked the integrity of the investigation and constitutes a significant breach of trust.”
According to Frey, O’Hara had been informed he would face discipline — up to and including termination — before submitting his resignation.
The resignation came just weeks after Frey renominated O’Hara for another term as chief. Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell is now serving as interim chief.
O’Hara’s departure from Minneapolis was swift. On Wednesday morning — the day after his resignation — he was spotted moving out of his condo with a U-Haul truck.
SUBMITTED: Now-former Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara was spotted moving out of his condo Wednesday morning.
“Looks like he was in a hurry to get out,” the tipster said. pic.twitter.com/Q3TEuuXtS7
— Liz Collin (@lizcollin) May 28, 2026
Warnings surfaced years earlier
The anonymous 2022 letter also criticized O’Hara’s broader leadership record in Newark, with the letter warning Mayor Frey directly: “Don’t be fooled like Mayor [Ras] Baraka or by Mayor Baraka, who would love nothing more than to have Minneapolis, MN, take O’Hara off his hands. If you thought Derek Chauvin caused chaos for your city, wait until you get a load of O’Hara. It will be ugly.”
It remains unclear what, if any, steps Minneapolis officials took to independently investigate or verify the allegations contained in the anonymous letter before O’Hara’s appointment.
Alpha News sent the letter to Frey’s office this week and asked if the city reviewed the allegations during O’Hara’s hiring process or conducted any follow-up inquiry. The mayor’s office did not respond.
Problems in New Jersey
Long before O’Hara resigned in Minneapolis, his leadership in Newark had already become politically controversial.
In 2022, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka removed O’Hara from his role as public safety director following a documented increase in crime during his tenure.
While Baraka publicly described the move as an “elevation” into a newly created deputy mayor position, local reporting at the time questioned that characterization and cited anonymous sources who said the mayor was unhappy with rising crime trends.
Two unnamed sources quoted in the report described the deputy mayor position as a “face-saving repository” for O’Hara after just 14 months as director. The mayor’s office denied that characterization.
Newark Superior Officers Association President John Chrystal acknowledged at the time that “the mayor wanted some changes.”
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.
