MPD Chief O'Hara on violence decrease, defamation lawsuit and leadership changes

Minneapolis PD Chief O’Hara full interview

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara spoke with FOX 9’s Amy Hockert on All Day Live about a wide array of topics, such as the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit, the decrease in homeless encampments in Minneapolis, a change in leadership, and addressing a group's data release suggesting there was no communication among city officials in the case of John Sawchak.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Chief Brian O'Hara from the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) spoke live Wednesday on FOX 9's All Day on an array of topics in the city, including downward violent crime data, a judge dismissing a defamation lawsuit filed by an assistant MPD chief and changes coming to local law enforcement leadership.

Minneapolis decline in gun violence

MPD Chief talks decrease in shootings, homicides

Police Chief Brian O’Hara discusses the decrease in homicides and shooting victims in north Minneapolis in the first part of 2025.

By the numbers:

The Minneapolis Police Department sent out a public information release on April 4 that said the year so far showed a "significant and encouraging decline in both shooting and homicide victims" in 2025's first quarter.

Both Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Chief O'Hara touted the new numbers, pointing to the long stretch of time without any homicides in the city.

The news release said the city's last homicide was on Feb. 15, 2025.

Chief O'Hara believes this is the result of prosecutors prioritizing violent crime cases, his department's community policing work and the city's response to homeless encampments.

Alpha News defamation lawsuit

MPD Chief responds to defamation lawsuit ruling

A defamation lawsuit filed by Minneapolis Police Department Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell in October 2024 against Alpha News and others has been dismissed by a Hennepin County judge. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara spoke with FOX 9’s All Day crew to offer a reaction to the decision.

What they're saying:

A judge dismissed a civil defamation lawsuit brought forward by MPD Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell against Alpha News reporter Liz Collin for claims made about the Derek Chauvin trial in 2020.

Blackwell filed the lawsuit in October 2024 against Collin, who questioned the honesty of Blackwell’s expert witness testimony during the 2021 trial on the murder of George Floyd.

Chief O'Hara responded to the judge's ruling, adding that the most important thing for him is to be supportive of all his police officers.

"It is not about the veracity of [Blackwell's] testimony, it is very specifically about that, the speech that was made in that documentary, is clearly protected," Chief O'Hara said. "Which makes perfect sense to me, and just even reading through the judge's rationale, the judge makes it clear that a lot of the statements were ambiguous in nature."

Chief O'Hara continued speaking on "The Fall of Minneapolis" documentary, as well as the book, "They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and the Death of George Floyd," that that lawsuit was based on, saying, "The implication that Derek Chauvin was somehow a scapegoat, that he did not know what he was doing was wrong […] implying that, is just ridiculous."

Minneapolis neighbor shooting data request

MPD Chief addresses neighbor shooting data request

Chief O’Hara addresses data shared by the group Minneapolis for the Many on Wednesday, claiming that there was a lack of communication between city leaders in the days after Davis Moturi was shot until his neighbor was arrested.

Dig deeper:

A man who was actively warning authorities about being threatened by his neighbor was shot in the neck while cutting a tree in his front yard.

The neighbor accused of shooting him, 54-year-old John Sawchak, was arrested days later amid political fallout.

Chief O'Hara was questioned on a claim made by Minneapolis for the Many, a group that supports progressive candidates in the city, which said a public data request shows there were no texts or emails between himself, Mayor Frey and Public Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette.

"It is propaganda, it is trying to use the police department to play politics and go after the mayor," said Chief O'Hara said. "And it is totally ridiculous, completely ridiculous, and false, to say that there was no communication."

The chief said he welcomes an independent review of the incident from the Minneapolis City Council.

New U of M police chief, U.S. attorney for Minnesota

Chief O’Hara talks family, changes in leadership

Police Chief Brian O’Hara discusses his family and some of the changes in leadership within the law enforcement community.

Local perspective:

Minnesota will also soon have a new United States Attorney after the resignation of Andrew Luger.

Luger was appointed by President Obama and reappointed by President Biden in 2022, after which he led significant prosecutions, including gang violence and Feeding our Future fraud cases.

The new top federal prosecutor in the state will be appointed by President Trump.

"If Minneapolis succeeds, the region succeeds, the rest of the state succeeds. So I think whoever is appointed is going to want to continue to win, and if they want to do different things to address street crime in different ways, I'm all for it."

University of Minnesota Police Chief Matt Clark is also set to leave his post in May after serving in the role for almost a decade.

"We've seen a decrease in crime around the university campus," Chief O'Hara said. "We have a late-night safety plan that is in place every weekend, the university police participate in that with us, as well as, over a year now, they've expanded their jurisdiction, and they've responded to 911 and certain calls for service immediately surrounding the university, which is helpful for us. Regardless of who's in charge, our officers interact and support each other on a daily basis. I would expect successes around there to continue as well."