Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara resigned from his position after it was discovered that he “interfered” with an investigation into his conduct, according to the city’s Mayor Jacob Frey. 

Frey said Tuesday that O’Hara — who led the department since November 2022 — came under scrutiny after an anonymous complaint was received last year “alleging the chief had engaged in sexually intimate relationships with city employees.” 

“An outside investigation was conducted, extensive interviews were completed, and numerous staff participated. Several months ago, that investigation concluded and we received a report stating that the allegations were not substantiated. Those allegations remain not substantiated,” Frey said. 

“However, today I received a report of findings from an additional investigation that showed Chief O’Hara interfered with the investigation process,” he added. “Specifically, investigators found that he intentionally deleted a contact card for an individual from his city-issued cell phone during the original investigation in an attempt to shield that evidence of his connection to the person from investigators. And even though he was instructed not to discuss the investigation itself with anyone, he told another city employee that his city cell phone had been taken from him for the investigation.”

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“Although the investigators have concluded that this interference does not change their ultimate conclusion contained in the original report — in other words, the allegations of relationships with city employees — the interference itself is a breach of trust. Because of that, I informed the chief that I would be disciplining him up to and including discharge, and he resigned. I have accepted his resignation,” Frey also said, calling the move an “extremely painful decision.” 

Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell will now take over O’Hara’s position, according to Frey. 

O’Hara was the head of the Minneapolis Police Department during the shooting at the Annunciation Catholic Church and during the Operation Metro Surge federal immigration crackdown earlier this year.

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“Everyone makes mistakes, including me. But what I can’t allow is a breach of trust. When you serve as chief of the Minneapolis Police Department, trust is not secondary to the job, it is the job,” Frey said Tuesday. 

“And when trust is broken, it becomes extremely difficult to continue leading effectively,” he added. “The MPD has worked hard to rebuild credibility and trust with the community and within its own ranks. Our staff and residents need to know that they can trust not just the department, but also the person leading it. While the right decision was clear, it was not made lightly.” 

The city still has 17 open complaints against O’Hara — separate from the investigation that resulted in disciplinary action — and will continue investigating, mayor’s office spokesperson Jennifer Lor told The Associated Press.

Lor could not comment on the nature of those complaints. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A married federal judge repeatedly had sex with a law enforcement officer inside courthouse chambers while clerks worked just outside the office door, then falsely denied the affair when confronted, a judicial misconduct report alleges.

Multiple clerks overheard “kissing sounds,” “moaning” and other sounds consistent with sexual activity coming from the judge’s private office over a period spanning roughly two years, the judicial complaint filed in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals stated.

One clerk reported hearing the officer say the word “affair,” while another described being so disturbed by the noises that the clerk left work for the day.

The report did not provide the name or gender of the U.S. District Court judge.

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Investigators found the judge engaged in “gross lack of judgment” by conducting the alleged affair with a prominent police commander whose department regularly appeared in federal court, creating what the panel called the possibility of conflicts of interest or the appearance of impropriety.

The judge initially denied the allegations, calling them “outrageous” and “baseless,” and suggested a law clerk fabricated the claims in retaliation for workplace discipline.

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Investigators reviewed courthouse security footage and sign-in logs, and interviewed former clerks before the judge later admitted to both the affair and having sexual intercourse inside chambers, according to the complaint.

The report also found the judge attended a partisan political event tied to a district attorney’s campaign and later made false statements to Chief Judge William Pryor and the court’s chief district judge during the investigation.

Investigators said the judge’s alleged conduct distracted staff, damaged workplace morale and risked undermining public confidence in the judiciary. The report further warned that the undisclosed affair left the judge vulnerable to potential blackmail because the relationship was hidden from the judge’s spouse and colleagues.

Despite the findings, the judicial council issued only a private reprimand. The judge also agreed to apologize to six former clerks, give up any future opportunity to serve as chief judge and indefinitely refrain from serving on judicial conference committees.