St. Paul Mayor Accused of Sexual Harassment by Police Chief

The police chief of St. Paul, Minnesota has filed a sexual harassment complaint against the city’s first female mayor. The allegations claim inappropriate behavior towards him and other department members. The local NBC affiliate reported the complaint on Wednesday.

The city has engaged an external law firm to look into the allegations concerning Mayor Kaohly Her, who has held office for seven months. St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry, in charge since 2022, detailed his accusations in an April 1 letter sent by his attorney to the St. Paul City Attorney. “The City is on notice that Mayor Her has engaged in illegal conduct towards City employees,” attorney Christopher Madel stated in the letter, which was obtained by KARE 11.

According to Madel, Henry submitted the complaint after realizing that the Mayor’s behavior was not confined to isolated incidents. The behavior included sexual harassment of subordinate City employees, including those from the St. Paul Police Department. “Chief Henry is not only seeking to address the wrongdoing but also aims to protect his team, indicating such conduct will not be tolerated,” Madel emphasized.

The letter included a screenshot of a supposed text message from Her to an undetected city employee, which reads “Happy Weiner (sic) Wednesday! Wish I was having a (hot dog emoji) with you all on 6 today!” Below this message, an internet meme displayed a swaddled baby with an adult’s head, which was redacted, as reported by The Minnesota Star Tribune. The meme read: “When she wraps you up in her blanket after you gave her a good weinering.” ‘Wienering’ is an internet slang term for sexual intercourse, commonly misspelled as ‘weinering’.

The letter alleges that Her used one or more mobile phones for inappropriate and unlawful communication but did not provide additional specific examples.

Madel’s letter warned that litigation might occur and demanded the city undertake “a full filesystem extraction of each of Mayor Her’s mobile phones.” Neither Mayor Her’s spokesperson Matt Wagenius nor the police department provided comments to NBC News. The Star Tribune indicated Resolute Law Firm of St. Cloud has been assigned to investigate the mayor. The firm, described as women-owned, did not answer requests for comment on the investigation.

Mayor Her, age 53, was born in Laos and spent part of her early life in a refugee camp. Her family moved to the U.S. when she was three, and she grew up in Illinois and Wisconsin, as noted in her campaign biography.

The Star Tribune reported a previous allegation against Mayor Her. Last year, a restraining order petition accused her of sending “inappropriate or sexualized questions.” Ramsey County District Court Referee Elizabeth Clysdale denied the petition, stating that the texts did not constitute a threat and noted Her’s husband attempted to resolve the situation. There was no evidence she contributed to the complainant’s removal from the National Kidney Foundation Board.