Kicking Off 2023 with Another Cop Facing a Felony [Update]

Updated as of 1/3/2023 at 3:50 p.m. ET

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison charged former Minneapolis officer Justin Stetson with third-degree assault for the beating of a demonstrator back in 2020, per NBC News. He’s the latest former officer to face legal repercussions for alleged misconduct.

Stetson was among a group of colleagues enforcing curfew during a George Floyd protest that summer, per the report. He and the other officers opened fire with rubber bullets from an unmarked car and Jaleel Stallings returned fire. Stallings surrendered when he realized they were police, but Stetson commenced to kicking and slamming him on the ground. Now, Stetson faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Looks like we’re bringing in the new year on the right foot: charging the bad apples like regular-degular people.

Just before the new year began, two DC police officers were found guilty of second-degree murder, according to the Huffington Post. The verdict was marked the first murder conviction for a DC cop. However, it wasn’t the first murder conviction we saw for a cop in 2022. Let’s go down the list of cops who have been prosecuted like criminals.

Aaron Dean

Ex-officer Aaron Dean was convicted in the murder of Atatiana Jefferson. She was babysitting her nephew when Dean and his colleague responded to the house in suspicion of a robbery, per ABC News. Jefferson grabbed her firearm for safety and Dean shot at her through her window once he spotted it. Now, he’s about to do 11 years.

George Floyd’s Killers

We hit a home-run in George Floyd’s murder case. Ringleader Derek Chauvin and his sidekicks J. Alexander Keung, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane were found guilty on both state and federal charges, reports say. Chauvin is serving 25 years for violating Floyd’s civil rights and 22 years for murder and manslaughter charges. The other three must serve time for aiding and abetting and received up to three years for violating Floyd’s rights.

Bryant Strong

Prince George’s County officer Bryant Strong was sentenced for leaving Demonte Ward-Blake paralyzed following a traffic stop in 2019. Reports say Strong was convicted of second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment landing him a lousy one year in prison and three years probation. Ward-Blake died in 2021 at 26 years old in an unrelated shooting, reports say. I wish he could have lived to see this victory.

Kim Potter

Crying-in-the-courtroom Kim Potter was convicted in 2022 in the killing of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop when she mistook her gun for a Taser. Potter is due to serve two years in prison on first and second degree manslaughter charges. The prosecution tried to push five more years on her sentence, per USA TODAY.

Erich Ruch Jr.

Ex-Philly officer Eric Ruch Jr. was served a guilty verdict in the killing of 25-year-old Dennis Plowden Jr. Ruch fired within two minutes of approaching Plowden. The jury turned down the three-degree murder conviction for a voluntary manslaughter conviction. Ruch faces a maximum of 25 years in prison, per The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Eric DeValkenaere

Eric DeValkenaere, a former Kansas City police officer, was sentenced to six years in prison for fatally shooting 26-year-old Cameron Lamb on his own property. He was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal actions, per KSHB.

Amber Guyger

Former Texas cop Amber Guyger is already serving time for her 2019 conviction in the murder of Botham Jean. However, she gets an honorable mention here because she got her appeal tossed out (again) in 2022 after arguing she shot Jean in self-defense and doesn’t deserve to be in prison, reports say. The court begs to differ.