MinnPost’s Twin Cities Documenters program trains and pays community members to take notes at local government meetings. Below are Documenter Glen Johnson’s summary and observations from the April 22 joint meeting of the Minneapolis City Council and Audit Committee, where the City Auditor presented a report finding lapsed responses by Minneapolis police (MPD) in two high-profile cases. You can read the full notes here. The notes include links to the agenda and video, as well as timestamps to navigate the recording.

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Summary: 

• The Audit Committee and City Council received a presentation from the City Auditor’s Office on the after action reviews of the shooting of Davis Moturi and the death of Allison Lussier.
  • Davis Moturi was shot by his neighbor, John Sawchak, in October 2024. During the year leading up to that point, Moturi, who is Black, called 911 nearly 40 times requesting help in dealing with racial slurs and threats from Sawchak, who is white. Police responded, and an arrest warrant was eventually obtained, but Sawchak was not arrested before the shooting. Moturi has pushed for answers to why things escalated to his own shooting despite asking for help multiple times.
  • Allison Lussier, a Native American woman, was found dead at her home in February 2024 following several calls to 911 reporting that she was abused by her boyfriend, Charles Foss. Lussier’s family and advocates have pushed for an investigation into her death, accusing MPD of mishandling the case.
  • The report detailed multiple findings for each case that should be addressed by MPD.
    • Factors cited in the Moturi case included: low staffing in MPD causing delayed response, confusion over types of restraining orders, and officer concerns weighing the risk of entering Sawchak’s home to arrest him due his history of violent behavior and known weapons. 
    • In the Lussier case, handling of domestic violence cases was noted as needing improvement, as well as better coordination between the Hennepin County Attorney’s office and MPD. The City Auditor also recommended creating an American Indian Community Liaison position.
    • Inconsistent documentation and issues with how MPD communicated to the public was noted in both cases. Increased training was recommended on various policies.
  • Audit Committee and City Council members spoke to the need for this type of review when horrible events happen, thanked advocates for pushing for review, and indicated motivation to tackle the report’s recommendations.
    • Council member Jason Chavez (Ward 9) asked MPD Chief Brian O’Hara to apologize to the Lussier family, which the chief did at the meeting. Council members Aisha Chughtai (Ward 10) and Soren Stevenson (Ward 8) were critical of the breakdown in communications noted between O’Hara and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and asked how this would be addressed. Moriarty and O’Hara have agreed to keep a regular meeting schedule, according to the presentation. 
    • Audit Committee members Lily Hosbein and Hallie Williams Jr. focused on how report recommendations can and will be pursued.
• The Audit Committee approved releasing the after action reports to the public on a 6-0 vote (with one member absent) and referred the report to the city council.
• The Audit Committee voted unanimously to refer the Workforce Optimization report, which was not presented at this meeting, to the City Council.

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Observations and follow up questions: 

Accessibility: Did you face any challenges that made it harder to document the meeting or that may have made it difficult for others to attend? For example: trouble accessing the location, difficulty hearing the discussion, lack of nameplates for elected officials, or the agenda being unclear, disorganized, or incomplete.

• No issues. One two minute segment the video went to another feed as mentioned in the notes. 

Scene: About how many members of the public attended the meeting? If watching virtually, what was the livestream count (if applicable)? Was anyone protesting outside? 

• 850 viewers a day after the meeting. Comments from officials indicated that the public area had many people in attendance.

Notable: Do you have any follow up questions or other observations to share? What stood out to you as interesting or confusing? Is there anything you’d like to see reporters look further into? Were there any particularly memorable quotes?

• The impact of this report will be a focus for both the Audit Committee and City Council. MPD and Audit Office will be providing updates to each on the recommendations made in the report.

More context:

Read Documenter Glen Johnson’s full notes here. The notes include links to the agenda and video, as well as timestamps to navigate the recording. View our full database of notes here.

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