Left-wing mayor who declared ‘I am illegal in this country’ sued by police chief over alleged touching, sexualizing cops, retaliation

The Democrat mayor of St. Paul — who once proclaimed that she is “illegal in this country” — has been hit with a lawsuit by her own police chief over shocking sexual harassment accusations, according to new court documents. The police chief said the mayor has “embarked on a campaign” of retaliation.On Wednesday, St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry filed the lawsuit against Mayor Kaohly Her over alleged “inappropriate” encounters, sexual harassment, and retaliation, NBC News reported.’Why is Tim’s bigger?’ Mayor Her, 53, created “a hostile and demeaning environment” for the chief’s staff by sending a meme about “good weinering,” according to the 73-page lawsuit filed in Ramsey County District Court.NBC News reported, “‘Wienering’ is an internet slang term for sexual intercourse and is frequently misspelled as ‘weinering.'”The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that Her made “unwanted and nonconsensual physical contact” with Henry by “placing her hand on his upper thigh beneath a conference-room table — not once, but twice — during a [St. Paul Police Department] budget meeting.”According to the complaint, Assistant Chief Paul Ford witnessed the contact.According to the court filing, Her stood with Henry and Deputy Chief Tim Flynn during a police academy graduation on Feb. 19, 2026, and asked the police chief: “Why is Tim’s bigger?” The lawsuit asserts that Her made a “facial expression that suggested to Henry the comment was meant to be a sexual innuendo regarding the size of his penis,” the New York Post reported.Henry, who has led the St. Paul Police Department since 2022, asked the mayor what she was referring to, and she allegedly pointed toward the ribbon bar on his uniform, according to the court filing.The court filing states that at least five police officers witnessed Her making loud grunting and moaning noises while exercising at the St. Paul police department gym. The lawsuit claims these workout sounds were intentionally exaggerated to sound sexual.The left-wing mayor allegedly approached officers working out and called them “beefy,” according to the lawsuit.On multiple occasions in January 2026, Her allegedly photoshopped the faces of Henry and other police department members onto a variety of bodies, including boy band members, UFC fighters, and “bodybuilders with prominent bulges in the crotch area of their compression shorts,” the court document states.The suit, which names Her and the city as defendants, says the mayor printed the photoshopped images, placed them in gold frames, and displayed them throughout the police department. Some of the altered images were displayed in areas accessible to both sworn officers and civilians, showing pictures of police leadership “being mocked and sexualized” in public view, the complaint alleges.The complaint claims that after two officers saw one of the doctored images, “they both remarked that their wives would be offended if they saw it,” and Chief Henry’s longtime partner described the images as “offensive and utterly inappropriate.”Her allegedly pasted her own headshot over official staff command portraits, department awards, and SWAT retirement plaques within the police department hallways, the lawsuit states.The court filing states that Her scolded Henry for failing to find the photoshopped pictures amusing, telling the police chief he lacked “a sense of humor.”In December, Her and Henry met with St. Paul Port Authority President Todd Hurley at a cigar lounge to discuss possibly relocating the police station to downtown to help spur local business growth.The Minnesota Star Tribune, citing the lawsuit, reported, “Her allegedly told Henry at that meeting that if she didn’t get her way, she would just tell people that Hurley ‘grabbed her ass.'”RELATED: ‘Did you marry your brother?’ Reporter confronts Ilhan Omar on marriage scandal Blaze News previously reported that Henry filed a formal complaint with the city attorney on April 1, claiming that the mayor sent “inappropriate, and indeed, unlawful text messages” to city staffers.An investigation of the accusations was launched just six months into her term.The lawsuit alleges that Her’s administration then “embarked on a campaign” of retaliation.”But instead of accountability, the retaliation began. Rather than confront Mayor Her’s misconduct, her administration, and those acting at her direction, embarked on a campaign to retaliate against and discredit Chief Henry,” the lawsuit states.The suit accuses St. Paul officials of violating the Minnesota Whistleblower Act when they “engaged in a series of retaliatory acts.”Minnesota Public Radio reported, “Henry says Her retaliated after he filed a human resources complaint by excluding him from personnel decisions, publicly criticizing his complaint, and giving raises to other members of the police command staff but not to him.”The complaint claims Her hired a private public relations firm to discredit Henry after the investigation began.”[Henry] knew that accusing the Mayor of St. Paul of sexual harassment could jeopardize his career,” the suit reads. “He reported it anyway. He did so because he recognized the seriousness of the misconduct, the vulnerability of those subjected to it, and the likelihood that the conduct would continue if no one spoke up.”The investigation into Her wrapped up less than a week before the lawsuit was filed, and a two-page summary of the outside investigation was released last Friday.The misconduct investigation said Her “engaged in offensive and inappropriate behavior” in violation of St. Paul’s workplace conduct policy, but that she did not sexually harass or retaliate against anyone.Matt Wagenius, a spokesman for the mayor, said in a statement that the independent investigation “did not substantiate claims of sexual harassment or retaliation against any city employee.”Wagenius stated that the mayor “will continue to lead Saint Paul and follow the recommendations of the report.””Beyond that, the City of Saint Paul doesn’t comment on active litigation,” the statement concluded.Chris Madel, Henry’s attorney, told the Minnesota Star Tribune, “Axel Henry is an honorable man and a dedicated public servant. He didn’t come forward for attention or advantage — he came forward because what happened was wrong and needed to be reported.”Madel continued, “We look forward to proving our allegations in a court of law, where all evidence, not some sanitized summary written by the City about itself, can finally be heard.”Henry’s lawsuit requests that the city release the full report on its investigation into Mayor Her.The suit also demands a jury trial to determine damages for “lost wages and benefits, emotional distress, humiliation, and harm to reputation.”Her’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.As Blaze News previously reported, Her shockingly admitted that she and her parents are in the United States illegally.Her, who was born in Laos, defiantly claimed on the state House floor in June 2025: “And so, I am illegal in this country. My parents are illegal here in this country.”Like Blaze News? 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