Ex-cop faces sentencing for 2020 assault
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A former Minneapolis police officer who assaulted a man during the 2020 riots faces sentencing Monday.
Five days after George Floyd's murder, police in an unmarked van shot Jaleel Stallings with a crowd-control projectile.
Stallings was not rioting or looting and has no criminal record. The Army veteran returned fire with his 9mm pistol, but tossed it away and surrendered when he realized it was police in the van.
As Stallings lay face down on a Lake Street parking lot, former officer Justin Stetson kicked and punched him in the head.
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A jury in 2021 acquitted Stallings of attempted murder after he took the stand and argued that he had initially believed the people in the van were civilians, and fired at them in self defense. Stallings, 31, later reached a $1.5 million settlement with the city.
Stetson, 35, pleaded guilty in May to felony and gross misdemeanor charges, but his deal with Hennepin County prosecutors calls for the felony count to be dropped if he abides by the agreement.
He also avoids federal civil rights charges in a separate agreement with the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office. He is also barred for life from working in law enforcement.
Stetson is the only officer to be prosecuted for using excessive force in connection with the unrest.