‘A Breaking Point’: The Minneapolis Police Chief on ICE
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What warning did Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara give before the ICE shooting?
We are living in interesting times, a turning point in history. Are we entering a dark authoritarian era? Or are we on the brink of a technological golden age or the apocalypse? No one really knows, but I'm trying to find out. From New York Times Opinion, I'm Ross Douthat. And on my show, Interesting Times, I'm exploring this strange new world order with the thinkers and leaders giving it shape. Follow it wherever you get your podcasts. From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Just hours before a federal immigration officer killed Renee Good in her car, the Minneapolis police chief warned that a tragedy involving ICE and the people of his city seemed inevitable. Today, I speak with that police chief, Brian O'Hara, about his experience with ICE in Minneapolis and why, in his mind, the president's campaign of mass deportation is undermining faith in police departments like his.
It's Monday, January 12th. Chief O'Hara, thank you for making time for us on a Sunday, no less, and a very busy weekend for you.
Sure. Thank you for having me.
The past 48 hours. were pretty extraordinary from the perspective of an outsider. There were these enormous protests. I believe you yourself ended up in the middle of one of them. I've tried to make sense of the video. I mean, what has this been like for you?
So what happened was we had a protest start outside of a hotel where people believed federal law enforcement might be staying.
They believed ICE agents were staying there, right?
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.
Well, you're hinting at all this. The reason we're talking to you, of course, is because of the fact that ICE is there, but because specifically of what an ICE agent did in the middle of last week. The shooting of a Minneapolis resident, Renee Good. a shooting that killed Ms. Good. And at this point, millions of people have watched the video of that shooting from every conceivable angle on social media, on TV news. But there was a lead up to that shooting that a lot of us didn't watch as closely and didn't see on TV or on YouTube. And that was the arrival of a large number of immigration and customs enforcement agents starting in early December. And so that's where I want to begin. Take me back to that period for you as police chief.
What was your understanding of why the president decided to send these agents to your city?
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.
You're referring to the fraud that had been specifically highlighted in the Somali community in Minneapolis.
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