Minneapolis Police Chief "disgusted" by negativity towards new Somalian-American and Mexican immigrant recruits

The Minneapolis Police Department has recently added 23 officers. with two of them making history. One is a Somali-American woman, Ikran Mohamed. Another is a woman, Lesly Vera, who came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was four and became a permanent resident.

Despite what the department is calling positive hires, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told WCCO's Adam and Jordana Tuesday that he's disgusted by all the hate that's been directed at them.

"It bothers me," O'Hara says. "I don't know why I didn't anticipate how disgusting it would be, particularly from people who claim that they're law enforcement supporters, some former law enforcement officers and chiefs. Even Elon Musk tweeting about it . It's gross. It's disgusting."

The tweet O'Hara refers to from Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter) along with Tesla and SpaceX, is a retweet of an article from Not the Bee, a right-leaning website that was critical of the hires and incorrectly stating that Vera is in the U.S. and working illegally. According to federal and state law, the department can hire her.

"Near the fall of the Roman Empire, the Roman Army also increasingly relied on non-citizens," Musk says.

In late 2022, the Minnesota Legislature changed state law allowing for applicants who are either citizens or “eligible to work in the United States under federal requirements.” Vera would be classified as a lawful permanent resident and part off the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

O'Hara says some of the hate stems from people believing the two women are illegal immigrants. He says they both have received a lot of hate and that has struck a nerve with O'Hara who was clearly angered by it.

"I know all of these new officers, they have tremendous stories," he explains. "They're unbelievably good people who have the balls to stand up and come to Minneapolis and be the police. Despite all this stuff going on and all the negativity. And to have all this hate turn against these two women who are courageous, who have earned this just like everybody else is disgusting."

O'Hara made it clear they're looking for the content of people's character, not what they look like on the outside. He also pointed out that the New York City Police Department was originally filled almost entirely by Irish immigrants and their children, drawing parallels to the hiring of immigrants in Minnesota.