Mayor Frey Defies Trump As Feds Move To Kill Minneapolis Police Reform

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday said it is moving to dismiss its police reform case against the Minneapolis Police Department, but state officials and Mayor Jacob Frey say they will continue implementing sweeping changes anyway.

The DOJ under President Donald Trump is seeking to unwind federal consent decrees filed during the final days of the Biden administration, including one jointly agreed upon by Minneapolis and federal officials in January.

That agreement, still pending in court, aimed to overhaul police policy, training, and supervision in the wake of George Floyd’s May 2020 murder.

In a statement, the DOJ called the Biden-era lawsuits "factually unjustified" and said they relied on "flawed methodologies."

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the proposed consent decrees would have handed control of local police departments to "unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats," including some that were "anti-police," and imposed unnecessary costs.

But state and city leaders pushed back.

"We’re doing it anyway," Frey said in a statement Wednesday. "We will implement every reform outlined in the consent decree—because accountability isn’t optional."

Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Minneapolis has already made more progress in one year under state oversight than nearly any other city operating under a federal decree.

"MPD had already accomplished more in one year than any other city under a consent decree," O’Hara said. "But we’re not stopping there. Our goal is to make MPD the best police department in the country.”"

The federal judge overseeing the consent decree must still rule on the DOJ’s motion to dismiss. Regardless, Minneapolis leaders said reforms will proceed under a separate agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

Since the state settlement began in 2023, the city has reported a drop in violent crime, better officer morale, and a surge in police applications, according to a recent independent monitoring report.

"While the Department of Justice walks away from their federal consent decree nearly five years from the murder of George Floyd, our Department and the state court consent decree isn’t going anywhere," said Minnesota Department of Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero.

"Under the state agreement, the City and MPD must make transformational changes to address race-based policing. The tremendous amount of work that lies ahead for the City, including MPD, cannot be understated. And our Department will be here every step of the way."