Minneapolis Police Chief Downplays Role In Hiring Controversial Cop

MINNEAPOLIS —Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said he wasn't aware of a video showing a man's "use-of-force incident" before he was hired on as an officer in January.

Following recent media scrutiny, O'Hara downplayed his role in hiring Tyler Timberlake. O'Hara fired Timberlake last week over an incident that dates back to Timberlake's time as a police officer in Virginia.

Body-camera footage shows Timberlake shooting Lamonta Gladney with a stun gun on June 5, 2020, in Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Timberlake was later charged with three misdemeanor counts of assault and battery in the shooting but was acquitted in court. However, Fairfax County agreed to pay Gladney $150,000.

O'Hara said he knew of Timberlake's past during the interviewing process but hadn't watched video of the June 2020 incident.

"On my second day of employment with the MPD, I observed Mr. Timberlake’s interview," O'Hara said in a statement Sunday. "He was hired thereafter."

O'Hara added that "to imply that I had known about this video at the time of hire and later lied is false."

O'Hara's defensive statement came after the Minneapolis Police Federation accused him of caving to outside pressure.

According to the union, "The hiring of Timberlake was not an issue until an April 19th news article created a politically charged narrative of his hiring, which, grew in intensity, when Chief O’Hara stated 'I am extremely concerned about what I have just learned pertaining to the hiring of this individual who is currently in agency training and yet to be deployed into service.'"

The union added that "Releasing an officer with nearly 1,800 hours of training, years of prior experience and is qualified to work in the state of Minnesota, seems counterproductive as the police department continues to struggle to meet staffing needs and has approximately 42% less sworn officers, than what it had 3 years ago."