MINNEAPOLIS— Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara has something he really wants people to know Officer Jamal Mitchell.
“Agent Mitchell chose us. Like me, he is from the East Coast, moved to Minnesota four years ago and chose to become a Minneapolis police officer after 2020,” O’Hara said. “He chose to come here despite all the challenges, difficulties and criticism we faced. And it’s not just about the way he died, it’s about how he lived his life as a man and as a human being. member of this department.”
In their grief, Minneapolis police officers continue to respond to dangerous calls, including two murders this weekend that echoed Mitchell’s fatal encounter.
“We all know it, but by the grace of God it could have been any of us who just got out of a car, saw someone in need of help and walked over to help them. That’s what happened to Jamal. But despite that, our men and women still go to these scenes,” O’Hara said.
So far, the number of shots fired in Minneapolis has dropped from 2,754 last year to 2,222 this year, but attacks on police officers in the region have increased. In the past fourteen months, there have been at least a dozen law enforcement officers in and around Minnesota have been murdered or injured by gunfire. The chief says the number of illegal guns is only part of the reason.
“Certainly in the wake of George Floyd, but I think it’s something that’s built up over time,” O’Hara said. “People need to know that words have meaning and a lot of violence against groups of people, whatever groups of people they are, based on religion, ethnicity or otherwise, starts with words, and we must condemn this and not allow it. It is just as ignorant as if it were against someone just because of their religion or ethnicity.”
O’Hara said he couldn’t discuss more details about what happened because it is all still under investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
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