Minneapolis Chief of Police, Brian O'Hara, called out the city's "bourgeois liberal mentality" following the death of George Floyd.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara called out the "bizarre" progressive ideology that overtook the city following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, in an interview Friday with the New York Post.
The outlet spoke with Minneapolis law enforcement and business owners as the city approaches the 5-year anniversary next week of Floyd’s death, which sparked global protests and riots by the Black Lives Matter movement.
O’Hara, who previously served in the Newark, New Jersey police department, joined the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) as chief in November 2022.
Even though he came from a far-left city, O'Hara said he was unprepared for how politicized policing in Minneapolis had become, saying that a "bourgeois liberal mentality" had made it difficult for "reality and facts" to break through.
"Here it’s very, very ideological and a lot of times it’s like reality and facts can’t get through the filter. It’s a very detached, bourgeois liberal mentality… It’s bizarre," he told The Post.
"There has been an unbelievable amount of trauma here from the destruction of the city that immediately followed (Floyd’s death) and the explosion of violence that came," O'Hara added.
The department faced an exodus of police officers in the aftermath of Floyd's death, reaching its lowest staffing level in four decades, according to a September 2023 analysis by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, as mass anti-police sentiment and calls to defund the police swept the nation.
Members of the progressive-leaning Minneapolis City Council criticized the police chief's remarks to The Star Tribune.
Council Member Jason Chavez, who was inspired to run for office after Floyd’s death, called the police chief’s words "not only disrespectful" but "counterproductive and condescending."
"These comments directed at our residents fail to meet the moment we are in when people’s rights are under attack from the federal government and our communities are rightfully pushing back," Chavez told the Star Tribune.
Council President Elliott Payne also took issue with O'Hara's remarks, telling the outlet, "Some people come into their politics through a more academic process, others through solidarity, others through lived experience," Payne said. "No matter how people develop their core values, one should have a deeper understanding of the diverse perspectives of our community before engaging in conversations with New York tabloids."
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, left, talks with Michael Wilson, right, on the three-year anniversary of George Floyd's death at George Floyd Square, Thursday, May 25, 2023, in Minneapolis.
Sgt. Garrett Parten, an MPD spokesperson, clarified O'Hara's remarks in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"As the chief has said previously, policing in the city has become overly politicized, making it difficult to even discuss the need for effective and adequately resourced police without it being viewed through a rigid ideological lens," Parten said. "That’s the disconnect — not with residents — but with political narratives that overshadow the real and urgent safety concerns residents are living with every day."
The city of Minneapolis did not return a request for comment.
Smoke rises from a fire on a police cruiser on May 30, 2020, in Philadelphia. The first of six people charged with setting fire to police vehicles in Philadelphia during the 2020 riots against police brutality after the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis has been sentenced.
In January, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved an
agreement with the Biden administration to overhaul the city's police
training and use-of-force policies, building on changes the force has
already made since former officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of
murdering Floyd after kneeling on his neck for about nine minutes during
a May 2020 arrest.
Derek Chauvin was sacrificed to satisfy the police hating public.
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