We all remember the unrest that came after the unjust death of George Floyd, and rightly so. But I think it’s caused the Minneapolis Police Department to fall under the radar.
Outside of the trial involving the four officers responsible for Floyd’s death, there have been a plethora of other cases where local Minneapolis police officers have been accused of terrible acts, most notably excessive use of force.
For example, during the peak of the Floyd protests, Officer Justin Stetson and other officers were enforcing a curfew during a May 2020 night when they spotted a group of people in a parking lot. The officers then started firing rubber bullets at the group without identifying who they were, according to the Associated Press.
Jaleel Stallings, who is Black, was one of the people in the group and was hit in the chest with one of the rubber bullets. Assuming civilians attacked him, he fired three shots at the officer’s unmarked vehicle in self-defense. But when he realized they were police, Stallings immediately dropped his firearm and laid on the ground.
In response, Officer Stetson began to punch and kick him in the head and face and slammed his head into the pavement, even though Stallings obeyed all of the officer’s commands, including putting his hands behind his back, according to the AP.
Stetson only stopped after his sergeant told him to stop. Due to the incident, Stallings suffered a fractured eye socket.
The incident was recorded on police body camera footage:
Stetson admitted in court in May that he went too far in his treatment and pleaded guilty to the assault of Stallings. But do you think he’s going to serve any real prison time? Of course not.
After accepting a plea deal, the now ex-Minneapolis officer was sentenced to only 15 days in the county workhouse on Monday, according to the Associated Press.
His plea deal includes two years probation, completion of an anger management course, payment of $3,000 in fines, and is “refrained” from ever applying to another law enforcement job for the rest of time.
To no surprise, this has frustrated Stetson’s victim, who said in court Monday, “The system that I believe was designed to provide justice to citizens … protected my attacker but not me,” according to the Associated Press.