MINEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police Chief Brian O’Hara has resigned from the Minneapolis Police Department following an investigative report with “concerning substantiated findings” that were to result in discipline and possible termination, according to an internal email by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

The email comes ahead of a planned news conference Tuesday evening.

“Today, I received an investigative report with concerning substantiated findings regarding Chief O’Hara’s leadership. This evening, I informed the chief I would be disciplining him up to and including discharge, and he resigned. I have accepted his resignation,” Frey said in an email to members of the Minneapolis Police Department, obtained by the Minnesota Star Tribune.

“I know this news comes as a surprise to many, and I want you to hear directly from me that this was not a decision I made lightly.”

O’Hara, a former police chief in Newark, N.J., came to Minneapolis in 2022. The City Council unanimously confirmed him for the job, blessing his desire to usher in a new era of policing in the city after one of the darkest chapters in its history.

At his swearing-in ceremony, O’Hara said that he’s the “type of leader who prefers the street corner to the corner office.”

Through regular media appearances, including monthly TV and radio slots, O’Hara built a polished brand, asserting himself as one of the most accessible chiefs in recent memory. At community meetings and in frequent interviews, he spoke candidly to the public and made a point to prop up officers who remain on the police force, which he described as depleted and demoralized in the aftermath of 2020. He vowed to restore credibility to the badge.

Although activists have called for his firing following various PR flubs – including the department’s handling of the Davis Moturi shooting in 2024, the botched death investigation of Allison Lussier and shortfalls in domestic violence response – he remains popular with Minneapolis residents. Many view him as a transparent, hard-charging chief willing to support his cops and push back against the political winds inside City Hall. Frey has credited him with bolstering recruitment, reducing violent crime and rebuilding public trust.

O’Hara’s national profile reached new heights as he navigated Operation Metro Surge, but he appeared to lose the support of some more moderate council members, whose votes are crucial because the more progressive majority is skeptical of the chief’s track record.

Their frustration largely centers around the pace of police reform since George Floyd’s 2020 murder; MPD overspending its budget by nearly $20 million last year; and the department’s unwillingness to intervene as federal agents aggressively swept into the city during the Trump administration’s 12-week immigration crackdown.

Several council members have publicly derided O’Hara and his officers for not doing more to rein in federal agents.

A public hearing on O’Hara’s reappointment was scheduled for next Tuesday, June 3.

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