Cheers, and some heckling, as Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is sworn in for third term

Amid cheers, jeers and the harsh spotlight of White House scrutiny, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was sworn in for a third term, which he has said would be his last, on Jan. 5.

His inauguration, and the oaths of office of the City Council, Minneapolis Park Board, and Board of Estimate and Taxation took place at the Pantages Theatre downtown, which was about three-quarters full with hundreds of attendants, including numerous government staff.

The event was an ode to public service, including invocations by multifaith clergy, music by a cappella ensemble Cantus, a reading by Minneapolis Poet Laureate Junauda Petrus and traditional Somali dances.

“This moment is about all of us,” Frey said in an inaugural address filled with themes of hope and cooperation. “This is never easy work. It is tough. It is controversial. But here’s the thing, it is fulfilling work, and I look forward to embracing and embarking on this work together.”

As soon as the mayor began speaking, he was heckled by a small group of protesters seated among the audience. Frey’s supporters started cheering his name in an attempt to drown them out.

The protesters were those who had criticized the Minneapolis Police Department’s response to the deaths of Allison Lussier and Mariah Samuels, Minneapolis women who had reported fear of domestic violence before turning up dead.

Lussier’s aunt and advocate Jana Williams shouted up at the mayor before she was removed from the venue. Williams demanded the establishment of an independent investigative unit for domestic violence cases, discipline for officers who allegedly failed to take Lussier’s and Samuels’ cases seriously and a statement from Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara acknowledging fault in their deaths, according to a statement shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune.

While there has been progress on all fronts since the height of the pandemic in 2020, many of the issues that Frey faced in his first term persist. For example, Minneapolis is in the third year of a court settlement with the state, an agreement prescribing police reforms that could take years to fully enact.

“We had a prophecy with our people seven generations ago, that today our generation would ... help humanity solve the issues that we are faced with today,” said Sam Strong, tribal secretary of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, who gave the welcome address. “Let us choose our destiny, a destiny of strength and hope. Today, let Minneapolis be that starting point.”

The rest of Frey’s speech continued smoothly, with promises that by the end of his third term, the city is “going to work together,” with a reinvigorated downtown full of workers, a new chapter for Uptown driven by small businesses, the former Kmart site on Nicollet Avenue redeveloped, a concert at Upper Harbor Terminal and a new police station in south Minneapolis, after the Third Precinct was set ablaze in 2020.

“These are not pipe dreams,” Frey said. “We are wide awake, wide-eyed and we are hungry for results.”

The mayor also waxed about winter, comparing it to the darkness of the challenges Minneapolis has faced in recent years and the looming “national crisis,” an apparent nod to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown on Minnesota, along with its scrutiny of social service fraud in Minnesota combined with insults toward Somali Americans, most of whom are citizens. Frey said he hoped spring — literally and metaphorically — would bring opportunities for renewal.

Frey is the city’s 48th mayor and the strongest in Minneapolis history after voters approved changes to the city charter in 2021 that shifted power from the City Council to the mayor.

He grew up in Virginia and was a professional runner and lawyer before entering public office. After serving one term as a Ward 3 City Council member, he ascended to the Mayor’s Office. As mayor, he has fended off multiple challenges from his political left, most recently defeating democratic socialist state Sen. Omar Fateh last November.

A few hours later, the City Council re-elected Council Member Elliott Payne as council president and elected Council Member Jamal Osman as vice president.