The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office has charged a former Minneapolis police officer with violating a Black man’s civil rights during the 2020 summer of civil unrest.
The state’s top attorney, Attorney General Keith Ellison, alleges the cop used unnecessary and excessive force when detaining a suspect, even though the man surrendered to them after he shot at other officers in self-defense during a riot following George Floyd‘s murder.
According to the complaint filed by the state, assistant special agent-in-charge with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Dawn Johnson investigated Justin Stetson, 34, and determined he went against the Minneapolis Police Department’s policy when he assaulted Jaleel Stallings on May 30, 2020.
Stetson faces up to five years in prison if convicted, CBS News reports.
The investigation included information Johnson pulled from “other BCA agents and other law enforcement agencies; witness interviews; and other records and evidence” and discovery she received through her own interviews. Johnson added she did not include every fact she discovered during the investigation but submitted only the information she believed was “necessary to establish probable cause” for a conviction.
Some of the facts, MPR News reports, were that a few days after Floyd was killed by former officer Derek Chauvin, Stallings, a Black man, attended a protest with friends intending to join an all-night vigil for Floyd at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue.
While on their way, the group was deterred by roadblocks and ended up in a parking lot at Lake Street and 15th Avenue.
An Army veteran, Stallings, then said he pulled out his licensed 9mm pistol in response to rumors about a white supremacist gang infiltrating the street demonstration.
The man said he witnessed a white unmarked van driving close to the group.
“As soon as I saw the van come into view, shots were fired. At that point, I didn’t have time to speculate on who was in the van, who was shooting at me, or whatnot. I had to react,” Stallings said.
The man was struck in the chest with a green 40 mm marking round, a foam-tipped crowd-control projectile, from someone in the van. Stallings could be heard on body-camera footage apologizing to the officers when he realizes his mistake.
Officers, including Stetson, were out enforcing a city-wide curfew and stopped after seeing four people in a parking lot, the complaint states. The cops then opened fire on the four with rubber bullets, hitting Stallings.
Stallings shot back three times but did not strike anyone. Once realizing the men in the van were police officers, he gave up his weapon and surrendered to authorities.
