MINNEAPOLIS — Hateful comments toward two Minneapolis Police recruits have Chief Brian O’Hara boiling.
“It was definitely disturbing to see this stuff on social media that’s just purely racist, hatred, and just lies,” he said. “We don’t need people, we don’t need former law enforcement or former law enforcement executives to be fanning the flames of violence against my cops. That’s gross.”
Last week, Ikran Mohamed and Lesly Vera made MPD history. Mohamed is the first Somali woman to wear the uniform, and Vera is the first permanent resident, a green card holder, to be sworn in as an MPD officer.
O’Hara said Mohamed came to the United States when she was 10 years old, living in southern Minnesota. She was a corrections officer before she joined the department.
“She could have gone anywhere in the state of Minnesota. She chose Minneapolis
He said Vera came to Minnesota when she was 4 years old and has lived in southern Minneapolis her entire life.
“She’s a permanent resident and because of a law change she is able to be a police officer and there is nothing wrong with that… and she worked extremely hard to get this position just like everyone else did,” he said. “She should be entitled to protect and serve her community just like the other recruits are.”
O’Hara said the hatred toward these women needs to stop.
“We’ve gotten calls to Minneapolis from around the country for people expressing hate about these two women all week, so it’s not just the stuff on social media. There’s been at least one post that we have found that the FBI and the BCA are aware of that is calling for violence against them,” O’Hara said.
He said these hateful messages could lead to violence toward his officers and is concerned for their safety.
“A lot of violence starts with words, and it’s just not OK to use my cops as props to try and political grandstand,” he said. “These public officials who are out there that have been saying this hateful stuff should be aware of the consequences of their actions and if something were to happen these folks have blood on their hands.”
O’Hara said he wants the best people to work for the police department and said these women have become a part of the fabric of the community who lives here.
“If we are trying to get the best naturally, we’re going to come up with folks from our communities. We’re going to come up with more women, we’re going to come up with more ethnicities and people who have not been represented before,” he said.
He said the department has struggled with recruitment but said they’ve seen an increase in applications and in different programs that lead to sworn officer positions.
He’s looking to hire more good people with strong characters like Mohamed and Vera.
“I’m very proud of these women. I’m proud of all of them, the r recruits, who again are stepping up to do the most difficult job in policing in America today is to be here in Minneapolis,” O’Hara said.