Brian O'Hara

So what happened was we had a protest start outside of a hotel where people believed federal law enforcement might be staying.

Right, exactly.

During the course of that protest and march, it sort of transitioned into an unlawful assembly.

And things that typically happen in cities happen, and a woman who was disoriented drove her car onto a sidewalk, and the police were called to respond.

So while the police car was there dealing with...

regular police work, suddenly they realized they had become surrounded by this crowd, which had become unruly.

So our officers called in that they were unable to drive out.

And I was in the area personally with other police officers.

We quickly ran in to back the crowd out to get a path for the police car to come out.

And I think because we did that, I think that may have contributed to emboldening an already unruly crowd.

And we very quickly called in well over 200 additional police officers.

And then ultimately, we wound up placing 30 people under arrest for unlawful assembly and releasing them.

It's been very taxing for all members of the police department.

And this is a situation that has been building up for several weeks.

A lot of the disturbances and chaos that's been happening here as a result of the manner in which some federal enforcement activity is happening is requiring our officers to respond and step into situations and try and restore the peace, where oftentimes they themselves then become the target of people's frustration.

About a month ago in December, it seemed like the public messaging was largely political, and it was a result of a real problem that does exist in the state, and that is a problem with fraud.

Dozens of people have been prosecuted by the FBI and the U.S.

Attorney's Office here in Minnesota.

Well, I'm from about 10 miles from lower Manhattan is where I grew up.

I was a police officer for over 20 years in Newark, New Jersey, but I had not known any Somali Americans until I moved to Minnesota.