Minneapolis Shooting: Mayor Betsy Hodges Faces Resignation Demands, Police Chief Quits

Nearly a week after an Australian woman, Justine Damond called 911 for the police's help but was fatally shot by one of the responding officers, Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau resigned Friday. Mayor Betsy Hodges had asked for the resignation of Harteau as she had "lost confidence" in the chief's ability to lead the department.

The move ended Harteau’s four-and-the-half year run as the department’s first openly gay woman chief.

However, the protesters soon started disrupting the press conference where the police chief's resignation was announced, by criticizing the mayor's choice of nominating the current Assistant Chief Medaria "Rondo" Arradondo as the Police Chief. People attending the conference were not satisfied with the change and demanded Hodges' resignation as well.

"We do not want you as the mayor of Minneapolis, and we are asking you to resign," a man yelled at the event. Members of the crowd shouted: "Bye, bye, Betsy!" before Hodges gave up and left. "We're not buying this," another man said into the microphone after the mayor left. "The former chief wasn’t doing her job, but we understand it’s beyond the chief — the problem is [the] institution."

Read: Australian Woman, Justine Damond, Fatally Shot By Minneapolis Police Sparks Outrage

Conor Duffy, North America correspondent for ABC News Australia, tweeted a video showing the chaos at the press conference where the protesters were chanting slogans against the police.

The protesters' frustration was likely because police violence has been a major issue in the Minneapolis area. Philando Castile was killed in July 2016 outside the city, but the trial of the officer who shot him — which ended in acquittal — was held in Minneapolis. That incident had also led to protests across the city.

Similarly a 24-year-old African-American, Jamar Clark, was killed in a scuffle with caucasian Minneapolis officers in November 2015, however the officers were not charged with a crime as a police internal investigation found the officers had not violated department policies, CNN reported.

Chief Harteau's resignation came a day after after she made her initial remarks on the 40-year-old Damond who had called on 911 to report about a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her house. Damond reportedly approached the driver's side window of the police car right after the two responding officers heard a loud sound. The officer in the passenger seat, Mohamed Noor, then fired his weapon through the open driver’s side window, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Read: Audio Released In Justine Damond’s Police Shooting In Minneapolis

In the days after the incident, Harteau had been out of the city but said Thursday she had been away on "personal time" and was in contact with her command staff, reports said.

Damond’s death was the latest high-profile incident to put focus on police tactics under Chief Harteau. There have been other protests as well in the past against police shootings, according to the New York Times.

Hodges, who will contest the mayoral elections again in November, has also faced criticism for her handling of police issues in the past.