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Speaking with FOX 9 All Day on Wednesday, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara voiced his concerns about a scenario where the National Guard was deployed to Minneapolis by President Trump. Chief O'Hara raises concerns What they're saying: Appearing on FOX 9 All Day, Chief Brian O'Hara voiced concerns about the possibility of the National Guard coming to Minnesota. One thing the chief worries about is communication and chain of command. "The biggest concern is that we would not have authority over how people would be used, but on the higher level, again, that there just would not be adequate communication," the chief worried. "Whether it's outside law enforcement or any other National Guard or any kind of agency coming into the city, there should be communication with the police chief – regardless of whatever politics are going on. I would hope people would be willing to listen to us because we are the agency that's responsible for providing public safety. We're the ones that are here day in and day out with our residents, and hopefully we would be in a position to advocate for what would be appropriate and what's not appropriate under the circumstances." The backstory: Since June, President Trump has deployed the National Guard in five cities. The first was the deployment of guard members to respond to ICE protests in Los Angeles in June. In August, the guard was deployed to Washington, D.C. in an effort to crack down on crime. Similar deployments have since been made in Chicago, Portland, and Memphis. What was unusual about most of these deployments is they came without the request of the state's governors. Big picture view: Governor Tim Walz raised concerns about the National Guard being deployed for law enforcement in Minnesota in October after the guard was deployed to Chicago. "It would be logical for them to come here," Walz said in part. "We fall into exactly what it looks like they’re trying to target – blue cities in places that he wants to make an impact. You can certainly chill voting in states like Minnesota if you target Minneapolis and St. Paul." Despite those concerns, there has been no indication that the Trump administration will send any troops to Minnesota or elsewhere. The chief says he's had no communication from the federal government about any deployment. But, O'Hara notes: "In some cases, chiefs have found out from seeing news reports."
