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Two members of police oversight commission in Mpls resign
The resignations of two commissioners were revealed publicly for the first time on Monday evening. It’s yet another departure within the Department of Civil Rights.
MINNEAPOLIS — Two members of the Community Commission on Police Oversight in Minneapolis have departed from their positions in recent days, leaving important vacancies on a civilian board tasked with reviewing MPD policies and discipline.
The resignations were confirmed publicly for the first time during the commission’s meeting on Monday night. According to emails provided to KARE 11, the members are Ward 6 Representative AJ Awed and Ward 8 Representative Fartun Weli. Awed did not respond to requests for comment, while Weli said that “I am no longer a Commissioner — resigned and I can’t say more about it.”
The commission, known by the acronym CCPO for short, works under the umbrella of the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department. That department has been rocked by turmoil lately, after Mayor Jacob Frey fired Civil Rights Director Alberder Gillespie last month. His administration accused Gillespie of “threatening the City’s ability” to carry out police reforms mandated through a state settlement agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. At the same time, another top civil rights official — Office of Police Conduct Review Director John Jefferson — also left his post.
Chair Mary Dedeaux-Swinton opened Monday night’s CCPO meeting by saying she would not allow any discussion of the departures within the Civil Rights Department, citing “personnel matters which are not within the purview of this body.”
That led to immediate pushback from Ward 9 Commissioner Stacey Gurian-Sherman.
“It does affect us,” Gurian-Sherman said. “It’s the biggest upheaval we’ve had, and plus we have two commissioners that resigned! Are we just going to ignore what’s in front of us?”
Margaret Anderson Kelliher, the City Operations Officer who serves in Mayor Frey’s cabinet, has taken over interim duties as the temporary leader of the Civil Rights Department following Gillespie’s firing. She addressed the commission on Monday evening to update members on the hiring process for the new civil rights director and provided more data on the backlog of police discipline cases in the Office of Police Conduct Review, which was mentioned in a city memo as part of the reason for Gillespie’s firing.
Anderson Kelliher also declined to address the specific departures within the Civil Rights Department, but she said the Frey administration plans to begin interviewing candidates for the director position after the job posting closes Monday night. The city hopes to have a new director installed next month, she said.
As for the future of the civil rights division in Minneapolis, she said this uncertainty would not interfere with the department’s work in implementing the state settlement agreement on police reform. She also noted that the city is working with the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement to create a training plan for civilian oversight commissioners in Minneapolis, to help them carry out their duties.
“This commission has not always been given the support that it needs,” Anderson Kelliher said in an interview with KARE 11. “We really are committed to getting justice for people who are filing complaints against police officers… we’re very committed to meeting the settlement agreement.”
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The chief was discussing the shooting of Davis Maturi, who for months had been contact with the MPD about escalating harassment from his neighbor, John Sawchak.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his department “failed” after a man was shot, allegedly by his neighbor in the city.
“We failed this victim. 100%, because that should not have happened to him,” said O’Hara in a Sunday evening press conference.
The chief was discussing the shooting of Davis Moturi, who for months had been contact with the MPD about escalating harassment from his neighbor, John Sawchak.
Sawchak was charged with shooting Moturi as he was pruning a tree on his front yard on Oct. 23.
Moturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion.
O’Hara and the MPD came under a heavy attack from the Minneapolis City Council after it was revealed that the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office had charged Sawchak, but the MPD had not arrested him.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
“We failed to act urgently enough,” said O’Hara, before citing staffing concerns as a contributing factor.
It was a stark difference from the tone the chief initially took on Friday, then saying “If we wound up in a deadly situation, the headlines would read ‘MPD shot mentally ill person’.”
On Sunday, O’Hara said his previous comments were meant as a response to accusations that the MPD “didn’t care,” about the case.
“This is the result of over-politicizing policing in Minneapolis,” said O’Hara.
O’Hara stated that the MPD will, for the moment, continue waiting for Sawchak to exit his home to arrest him, but the chief added “We are running out of options before we have to escalate the matter.”
The heated back-and-forth between the city council and the chief continued earlier Sunday when Minneapolis City Council member Emily Koski released a statement questioning O’Hara and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey actions in the matter.
“Our Chief of Police is hiding behind excuses, and our Mayor…is just hiding.” said Koski in the statement.
Cities across Minnesota expanded voting hours and locations for the upcoming presidential election.
MINNEAPOLIS — Expanded early voting hours and locations are giving Minnesotans more opportunities to cast their ballots before the general election.
Over 1,000 people visited Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services over the weekend to make their voice heard.
“We have always voted as a family. We have this right as Americans to vote, and we wanted him to know right from the get-go that you’ve got to vote in every single election because this is our voice, this is our opportunity to really pick the future that we want based on the candidate that we vote for,” said Kelly Wallander.
Kelly and her husband, Claude, picked up their son Harrison from college, so they could all vote in the general election for the first time as a family.
“It’s interesting. It’s cool to see elections on TV, basically as long as I can remember, and now know that I’m a part of it and being able to vote with my parents is cool,” Harrison said.
“I like voting early just because exactly you miss the line and you get it in there,” Claude said.
Director of Elections and Voter Services for the City of Minneapolis Katie Smith said the past two days have been busy.
“We’ve had really solid turnout. We’ve had about 42,000 people who have already voted in this election,” she said.
She anticipates next weekend will be even busier.
“Every year we kind of looking at how many people we’re planning for and how many people are coming through. We try to always expand our service hours as we get closer and closer to the election,” she said.
Smith said they’ve also started using pop-up voting locations to reach more people.
“In 2023, there was a legislative change that allows for us to have sites around the city that are open for different lengths of time as well as different dates form our main site. We’ve really taken the opportunity to host some one-day early vote pop-ups… in some unique and really great spaces throughout the city,” Smith said.
Sunday’s pop-up was at the Capri Theater. Paige Gayle voted here along with her sister.
“I like early voting because it’s convenient, it’s fast and it’s quick,” she said. “I work on actual election day, so for me it was important to get out beforehand.”
Smith said offering more voting opportunities for people in Minneapolis is crucial to their work.
“It’s so important to be able to offer all of these voting methods so that people can find something that works really well for them and make their voting plan,” Smith said.
Voters tell KARE 11 one of the perks to early voting is little to no wait. Voting early also gives them peace of mind and is one less thing to do on election day.
“It’s so much more convenient. This way I don’t have to worry about it. I’ll still be working on election day, so I would have had to go in before or after work. Now, I don’t have to worry about it. I know my vote will be counted,” Macy Bauers said.
Bauers said she votes in every election and hopes more people take advantage of early voting in the coming days.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
MINNEAPOLIS — Three people were shot, two of them fatally in a Minneapolis encampment on Sunday afternoon, according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
The shooting occurred on the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue shortly after 3 p.m., said the MPD.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
A woman was also taken to the hospital after the shooting and is in critical condition, said the MPD.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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