St. Paul Police Chief Sues Mayor for Sexual Harassment
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Center 0%
Right 100%
0 left · 0 center · 2 right
What happened
St. Paul, Minnesota, Police Chief Axel Henry, who has led the department since 2022, filed a 73-page lawsuit in Ramsey County District Court against Mayor Kaohly Her — the city’s first female mayor, in office since January — and the city, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation. The complaint claims Her twice grabbed Henry’s upper thigh under a table during a police budget meeting; called herself a “MILF,” including in a remark about his “MFF” ribbon, and made sexual comments about his body, her marriage, and a need to be “friends”; made orgasm-like noises at the police gym and called officers “beefy”; displayed doctored “sexualized” photos of officers; circulated a “good weinering” meme; appeared uninvited at a golf simulator; and, at a December cigar-lounge meeting with St. Paul Port Authority president Todd Hurley about moving the downtown police station, said that if she did not get her way she would tell people Hurley “grabbed her ass.” After an internal complaint that The Minnesota Star Tribune first reported in July, Henry further alleges that city officials excluded him from decisions, withheld records, hired a public-relations firm to discredit him, released a sanitized investigation summary, and violated the Minnesota Whistleblower Act. An independent investigation did not substantiate claims of sexual harassment or retaliation against any city employee but concluded that Her “engaged in offensive and inappropriate behavior”; she issued two apologies, saying some “attempts at humor” fell flat, and spokesperson Matt Wagenius said she would continue to lead and follow the report’s recommendations while declining further comment on pending litigation. Shortly before the suit, Her’s office asked the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office — contacted on September 10 — to take over her security from the St. Paul Police Department, citing threats of political violence; neither agency named the dispute with Henry as the reason.
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 2 articles
2 of 2 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report. Matt Wagenius denied part of it on the record.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 2 of 2
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Axel Henry and Kaohly Her
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 2 of 2
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: court filing
- Credits another outlet 0 of 2
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
- Unnamed sources 0 of 2
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- On-record denial 1
- A named person or institution says the claim, or part of it, is not true. It is on the record — someone signed their name to it — but it is not confirmation, so it never counts toward On the record. Criticizing or dissenting from a decision is not a denial. The count is how many people or institutions deny it; each is listed with the first article that carried the denial. Here: Matt Wagenius (NBC News, Sep 24, 17:57 UTC)
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Sep 24, 17:57 UTC by NBC News, naming its source. First document in the first report, from NBC News (court filing).
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Right-leaning coverage omits investigators' finding of misconduct by the mayor, leaving the inquiry looking like a clean denial. Left-leaning coverage reports that the inquiry did not substantiate sexual harassment yet concluded Her "engaged in offensive and inappropriate behavior." Two apologies appear in left-leaning coverage at NBC News and are missing from Fox News, which repeats only the city's unsubstantiated-claims line.
The two sides split on whether a gym episode was noise or a performance. Left-leaning coverage describes sounds that "sounded like she was having an orgasm." Right-leaning coverage says she "simulated an orgasm," a phrasing that assigns intent the other account does not.
What did the full investigative report actually find beyond the city's short public summary of the case?
Bottom line
The suit is not a pure he-said-she-said: NBC News reported investigators already found offensive workplace conduct and two apologies, a mixed official result Fox News left out of its denial-only account of the inquiry.
The receipts — 6 facts one side's coverage lacks
- The independent investigation concluded the mayor engaged in offensive and inappropriate behavior
- At an awards ceremony the mayor allegedly said she thought a Mobile Field Force ribbon marked MFF said MILF
- The mayor allegedly doctored photos of the chief and other officers and displayed sexualized images in a gold frame in his office
- The mayor unexpectedly showed up at a golf simulator after Henry used vacation time to visit one
- Henry claims the mayor hired a private public relations firm to discredit him after the investigation began
- Henry claims city officials released a sanitized two-page summary of the independent investigation
The Left View
NBC News treats the filing as a serious civil action whose graphic claims sit alongside the city’s position that investigators did not substantiate sexual harassment or retaliation, Her’s two apologies, and the separate finding of “offensive and inappropriate behavior.” It foregrounds her status as St. Paul’s first female mayor and her biography as a Laotian-born former refugee, and it records her Aldi-store refusal to discuss “pending litigation.” The account also gives weight to Henry’s Whistleblower Act and reputational-harm claims and notes that officials did not tie the sheriff’s security takeover to the strained relationship.
The Right View
Fox News frames the suit as documenting explicit sexual comments, unwanted contact, and a “campaign” of harassment and retaliation, cataloging workplace, gym, awards-ceremony, and after-hours incidents as a pattern rather than misfired humor. It stresses Henry’s charge that the administration excluded him, withheld records, and issued a “sanitized” two-page summary to downplay her conduct after he complained, quoting the non-substantiation statement without the apologies or the “offensive and inappropriate behavior” finding. The security transfer to the sheriff is presented as a further sign of rupture between the mayor and the police chief.
Our Take (balanced)
NBC’s strongest argument is process: an independent investigation did not substantiate sexual harassment or retaliation, and Her already apologized for humor that “fell flat,” which supports treating the gravest legal claims as unproven. Fox’s strongest argument is the complaint’s concrete allegations of touching and sexualized remarks plus a post-complaint pattern of exclusion, withheld records, and a “sanitized” summary — evidence that, if credited, would undermine using that investigation as a complete answer. The central unresolved tension is whether the investigation rebuts the lawsuit or was itself shaped by the retaliation Henry alleges — a conflict the public record, as reported, does not resolve.
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