Statement on City of Minneapolis’ persistent failure to address harms to people experiencing Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence
DISCLAIMER: This statement contains references to Domestic Violence and Intimate Partner homicide that may be distressing to readers. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, help is available.
Domestic Abuse Service Center: Call 612-348-5073
Minnesota Day One: Call 1-866-223-1111 or text 612-399-9977
On February 24, 2024, Allison Lussier was found deceased in her North Loop apartment. Despite multiple calls to police reporting violence and threats from her Abuser, MPD failed to intervene. Although MPD attributed her death to an overdose, the Medical Examiner’s office found her cause of death to be a subdural hematoma – a traumatic brain injury. On February 11, 2025, the City Council passed a Legislative Directive to receive a formal After-Action report due on July 31, 2025; this report is overdue, and the City Auditor has communicated a lack of cooperation from MPD.
On September 14, 2025, Mariah Samuels was murdered by her Abuser just steps from her front door. She was granted an Order for Protection (OFP) a few weeks earlier and had formally reported escalating violence and threats against her and her children. Minutes before she was killed, she posted to social media lamenting MPD’s inaction. Despite the OFP, multiple 911 calls, and a request from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to further investigate, MPD did not assign an Investigator to her case until after she had been killed.
Today I write with a heavy heart because I have arrived at the conclusion that City of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey lacks the intrinsic leadership, effective due diligence, and moral resolve to pursue community safety for all Minneapolis residents – especially as it relates to domestic, intimate partner, and gun violence.
I arrive at this conclusion because on October 22, I had a deeply troubling and unproductive meeting with Mayor Frey and City of Minneapolis executive leaders. Later that evening, my worst fears were validated: City of Minneapolis Auditor reported that MPD has not cooperated and has delayed the long overdue After-Action reports for two murders last year.
Since 2018, Mayor Frey has been the sole elected leader responsible for the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD); he appoints the Police Chief and is the only elected official with direct authority over MPD. In 2022, he became the first and only Mayor of Minneapolis with expanded executive authority – in part because he asserted that police accountability could only be possible with further authority placed in the Mayor’s seat.
Any gap in performance, transparency, or accountability related to MPD has always resided with the Mayor of Minneapolis. Mayor Frey’s lack of proactive leadership to respond to these system failures is dangerous to our shared constituents, especially women, victims, survivors, and children who have been threatened by violence.
How did I get here?
On August 21, a Northside woman and mother named Ms. Mariah Samuels called 911 to report a violent assault. Her Abuser had pistol-whipped her and caused physical, mental, and emotional harm. The Abuser fled the scene by the time MPD arrived, which is common and referred to as Gone on Arrival (GOA). In accordance with stated commitments regarding the 4th Precinct Pilot, the responding officer conducted a Lethality Risk Assessment, a series of questions that allows lethal risk to be assessed objectively and with data – versus lethal risk assessed by individual judgement from the officer.
Also on August 21, MPD referred eight GOA felony cases to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO). HCAO designated No Feedback for Ms. Samuels’ case because more evidence was needed – and importantly, the HCAO requested MPD to further investigate the case in order to establish contact with the victim, Ms. Samuels, and to collect evidence that could determine a potential charge against her Abuser.
On August 25, the Abuser’s name was placed on an Arrest List for 72 hours due to the conditions of the GOA case. Heartbreakingly, this means that MPD had the authority to arrest Ms. Samuels’ Abuser on August 25, August 26, August 27, and likely on August 28.
On August 26, Ms. Samuels came into the Domestic Abuse Service Center (DASC), which is housed within the HCAO. With DASC, Ms. Samuels completed and submitted an Order for Protection (OFP) to the Hennepin County District Court.
On August 27, the Court granted the OFP, which was a very comprehensive document that included details from the August 21 assault as well as specific names and addresses because the Victim was truly fearing safety for herself, family, and minors.
On August 29, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) served the OFP to Ms. Samuels’ Abuser.
On August 30, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On August 31, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 1, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 2, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 3, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 4, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 5, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 6, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 7, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 8, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 9, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 10, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 11, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 12, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 13, no MPD Investigator was assigned.
On September 14 in the early hours of the morning, Ms. Samuels called 911 for help. Again, the Abuser fled the scene by the time MPD arrived, meaning a second GOA. Inconsistent with stated commitments regarding the 4th Precinct Pilot, the responding officer did not conduct a Lethality Risk Assessment; instead of allowing an objective assessment of lethal risk, the police report asserted individual judgement and stated that Ms. Samuels did not “seem scared” – but why would anyone call 911 at 3:30am if they were not scared? Since a Lethality Risk Assessment did not take place for the second GOA, then objective review is needed to compare the written account provided in the police report with the corresponding body camera footage.
After the police left her home on September 14, Ms. Samuels posted on Facebook in the early morning to alert her community that she was not safe. And just a few hours after calling 911 – Ms. Samuels was shot in front of her home and murdered by her Abuser.
On September 17, I sent this letter to Mayor Frey, Public Safety Commissioner Barnette, and MPD Chief O’Hara. My objective was to understand the timeline of events for Ms. Samuels’ case, for the purpose of understanding systemic patterns to improve our systems.
On September 24, I received this letter from MPD Deputy Chief Olson; the letter reported that an Investigator had been assigned to the case. I also met in person with Mayor Frey, Commissioner Barnette, and City of Minneapolis executive leaders. During the meeting, I shared that I would engage in a due diligence process in order to gain understanding regarding this specific case as well as to uncover any systemic gaps in order to resolve and prevent future tragedies. Notably, there has been absolutely no communication, interaction, or meeting attendance from MPD Chief O’Hara.
To date, the September 24 MPD letter remains the only written communication I have received from the City of Minneapolis on this topic, despite numerous emails and meeting requests. Most infuriatingly, I confirmed on October 22 that a vital piece of information within the September 24 letter was inaccurate – although there has been no written correction, Mayor Frey confirmed verbally to me in person that no Investigator was ever assigned to Ms. Samuels’ case from August 21 to the time of her murder on September 14.
On October 6 and 7, I had hoped to meet with Mayor Frey because I had identified several areas of difference between MPD’s account and other sources. At this point, I placed my questions in writing via email in order to continue in my due diligence process. Disappointingly, subsequent emails from the Mayor’s office sought to redirect me to meet with appointed staff only; however, I repeatedly requested his presence as a policymaker alongside any other staff he sees fit.
On October 17, I wrote a lengthy letter to Mayor Frey and copied City Councilmembers since the Council had unanimously passed a Resolution in support of justice for Mariah Samuels.
On October 22, I met with Mayor Frey and City of Minneapolis executive leaders in person at City Hall. My provided agenda was to receive data on: (i) Investigator staffing levels and distribution among MPD Investigative Units from 2019 to 2025, (ii) comparing GOA process from 2019 to 2025, (iii) current Arrest List process, and (iv) any emerging data analysis on their end since we last met on September 24.
The meeting was unproductive and no data was provided to me; I was not even able to receive a direct answer about how many Domestic Violence Investigators MPD has at present. This is a direct and defined question, with a numeric answer – and yet, Mayor Frey and his executive team did not provide me an answer, nor have they followed up with data.
If Mayor Frey is not willing to report staffing levels after several weeks, then how can I trust that he is engaging with the systemic questions, data, and analysis needed to address community safety for everyone in Minneapolis? For example: the number of Domestic Violence calls in Minneapolis and where, the number of calls that are GOA, the number of Domestic Violence cases that MPD refers to the City Attorney or County Attorney, the number of cases they do not refer, the number of cases charged, the overlap of Domestic Violence with firearms or aggravated assaults as well as the overlap with opioids, addiction, or other public health measures.
If this is about caseloads and resources, then why has the City of Minneapolis chosen to not provide the necessary data in order to uncover systemic gaps and resolve needs? And if there was a decrease in staffing, caseloads, and resources allocated toward Domestic Violence from 2018 to present, then Mayor Frey must explain why his budgets have deprioritized victims and survivors.
We are in a time with unprecedented conditions and injustice coming from every direction, so we need intrinsic leadership, effective due diligence, and moral resolve from the City of Minneapolis’ elected executive. Even when in-person with Mayor Frey and four additional members of his team, the Mayor sought to minimize and dismiss my concerns to “staff-level” and at one point even asked me: “Why do I need to be in the room?” He admonished me for refusing to meet with his staff in order to get answers to my questions, to which I replied: “Aren’t these your staff? Why didn’t you invite everyone who can answer questions?” And to be clear, I have still not received any answers to my questions.
What does this mean?
On behalf of the countless women, victims, and survivors of all backgrounds, I feel it is my duty as an elected leader, a woman, and a resident of Minneapolis to speak truthfully about the harm that has taken the lives of not only Mariah and Allison, but so many others at the hands of Domestic and Intimate Partner violence. These are not isolated tragedies; they are the product of systemic failures and a lack of proactive and accountable leadership from those in power.
Mariah Samuels was a mother, daughter, friend, and Northsider. She was murdered by her Abuser in mid-September soon after her 34th birthday. As a victim of Domestic Violence, she did everything “right.” She called 911 multiple times, bravely shared her experience on social media, engaged with advocates, received an OFP – and yet, she is dead.
Victims should have trust in systems whether or not they have taken formal steps within those systems. Alongside countless public safety leaders and community providers, I have worked hard to instill trust that when residents or their loved ones call 911, they will receive an emergency response that meets their needs. It has been six weeks since the preventable murder of Ms. Samuels, and it has become painfully clear that City of Minneapolis executive leadership has failed her – and until corrected, is failing all of us. MPD’s failure in Mariah Samuels’ case and Mayor Frey’s efforts to avoid accountability undermine our community’s faith in the integrity of our emergency response system.
It is with profound sadness, sincere ire, and unrelenting resolve that I publicly speak to residents and community today. I do not have confidence that the City of Minneapolis is capable of seeking justice, redress, and reforms in the wake of the murders of Allison Lussier and Mariah Samuels that will prevent another similar killing in our time.
What happens now?
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and I am proud of Hennepin County’s annual recognition and ongoing support of this important issue; additionally this year, the County Board also approved an action that directs staff to further study domestic violence to identify systemic gaps and strengthen countywide prevention and protection efforts.
Moving forward, I promise to center Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence among my priorities, and I promise to remain very focused on strengthening systems to ensure that Minneapolis is a safe place where people can trust calling 911 – so that all people trust coming to the government when they need help or support.
To residents who have experienced the harms or inaction described in this statement: I consider you my constituent and promise to continue to fight for your safety, dignity, and justice. To our partners and providers: thank you for your advocacy and for standing up and supporting this difficult and necessary work. I am very open to feedback and suggestions, and I look forward to remaining alongside residents and partners as we build more equitable and safe communities.
To anyone who has boosted, supported, or partnered with Mayor Frey: please use your influence for the betterment of all women, victims, and survivors – and urge him to provide data, proactively lead, and take seriously the systemic changes needed to further community safety.