MINNEAPOLIS: Protesters carry signs as they march against police violence from Loring Park to City Hall. - AP

MINNEAPOLIS: Minneapolis police Chief Janee Harteau says she is "willing to step aside to let a fresh set of leadership eyes" be in charge of the department, which has been criticized in the wake of last weekend's fatal police shooting of an unarmed Australian woman who had called 911. Harteau's resignation Friday came at the request of Mayor Betsy Hodges, who said she lost confidence in the chief's "ability to lead us further." She said she asked Harteau to step down after assessing where the department needs to go.

"For us to continue to transform policing - and community trust in policing - we need new leadership at MPD," Hodges said. Harteau, who worked her way up from the bottom of the department to become the city's first female, first openly gay and first Native American police chief, said Friday that she was proud of the work she accomplished and honored to serve as chief. But she said the shooting of 40-year-old Justine Damond by one of her officers and other incidents "have caused me to engage in deep reflection."

The chief, who once successfully filed a discrimination and sexual harassment complaint against the police force along with her partner, said she must "put the communities we serve first" despite the department's accomplishments under her leadership. Harteau was out of the city on personal time for nearly a week following last Saturday's shooting of Damond, a life coach and bride-to-be who was killed by an officer responding to her 911 call of a possible rape.

The state is investigating the shooting. In her first remarks on the case Thursday when she returned to work, Harteau defended the training of Mohamed Noor, the Somali-American officer who shot Damond, but was sharply critical of him. Still, some City Council members called for a change in leadership. Linea Palmisano, who represents the ward where Damond died, told fellow council members that she was "done with image control and crisis management" and that it's "time for action." After Harteau's resignation, Palmisano said she looks forward to the start of changes that she feels the department needs to make.

Shortly after the announcement, Hodges nominated Assistant Chief Medaria Arradondo to be the next chief. Nicknamed "Rondo," he served as the department's public face after Damond's shooting while Harteau was out of town. Arradondo, who is African-American, has been with the department since 1989.

'Bye-bye Betsy'

Later Friday, Hodges called a news conference at City Hall to elaborate on Harteau's departure, but she was interrupted by a few dozen protesters who entered the room and demanded that she resign, too. They chanted "Bye-bye Betsy" while waving signs that said "Messy Betsy" and "You are next." Hodges eventually walked out as they surrounded her at the podium, but she returned later to take questions from reporters.