MEMA March 4th, 2026  Meeting!

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Hosted at: Brooklyn Park Fire Department, 5700 85th Ave N., Brooklyn Park, MN 55443

Topic: Assassination of Minnesota Legislator Melissa Hortman and her Husband  

Speakers: Dan Johnson-Powers

Networking starts at 9:30am, please give yourself plenty of time to get parked and in. 

Meeting starts at 10:00am

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Members, please see membership email for specifics regarding:

• Address, parking & location of the meeting.

 

*”When available, a virtual link is emailed to members only”

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March Presentation and Speaker Bios

Speaker Bio: Dan Johnson-Powers, MS
Dan Johnson-Powers is an accomplished Emergency Management leader with more than 20 years of experience guiding organizations through crisis planning, response, mitigation, and recovery across government, healthcare, higher education, and the private sector. Known for his calm leadership and ability to bring structure to complex events, he has built a reputation for strengthening systems and partnerships in every organization he serves.
In 2024, Dan joined the Brooklyn Park Fire Department as the city’s first Emergency Management Coordinator, where he established Brooklyn Park’s inaugural Emergency Management Division. His work focuses on foundational EM compliance, NIMS/ICS education, risk-reduction initiatives, and major upgrades to both the physical Emergency Operations Center and the processes that govern its activation. These improvements proved critical as the city faced two internationally publicized crises in 2025: a plane crash into a residence and the assassination of the Minnesota Speaker of the House, along with the murder of her husband and dog—both requiring extensive coordination with local, state, and federal partners.
Prior to his current role, Dan served as an Emergency Manager for UnitedHealth Group, leading global crisis management for more than 5,000 U.S. sites, and before that with Allina Health, Fairview, and the University of Minnesota, where he contributed to major emergency responses including the I-35W bridge collapse. He holds a Master of Science in Emergency Management from Jacksonville State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Minnesota.
 

Presentation Overview 
On June 14, 2025, Brooklyn Park became the center of a coordinated, politically motivated attack that claimed the lives of Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband. Before dawn, the city’s newly established emergency management program stood up a full EOC activation to support law enforcement, manage information, and guide a community waking up to fear, uncertainty, and a mobile suspect impersonating police.
This presentation recounts the response through an emergency management lens—focusing on leadership, coordination, and the operational decisions made in the first 24 hours. Topics include the impact of NIMS training on real-world performance, the challenges of integrating county, state, and federal partners without losing local command, the complexities of IPAWS messaging under pressure, and the dynamics of managing fear as a community-wide hazard.

Grounded in candid lessons learned, the session highlights how relationships, clarity, and preparedness shape outcomes when every decision matters.