Ex-Minneapolis cop who beat Black man during civil unrest sentenced to 15 days in workhouse, 2 years' probation

In his mugshot, Jaleel Stallings' face is bloody and bruised, swollen from the beating he endured hours earlier.

But he is smiling.

"I was relieved and surprised to be alive," Stallings recalled Monday in Hennepin County District Court. He'd come to confront the former Minneapolis police officer who caused those injuries — and later lied about it.

Stallings was confident that he would be free to resume his quiet life in St. Paul as soon as another officer who witnessed the assault reported what really happened. They never did.

"My case crossed the desks of many people who had the power to put an end to my abuse, but not the intestinal fortitude to stand up the the truth, either because they were too afraid or too complacent to be the voice of justice," Stallings said in his victim impact statement.

Justin Stetson, the former SWAT leader who attacked Stallings amid the height of civil unrest in 2020, received a sentence of 15 days in the county workhouse and two years' probation after pleading guilty to felony third-degree assault.

As part of a plea deal with the Minnesota Attorney General's Office, the court agreed to dismiss a lesser charge of gross misdemeanor misconduct of a public employee or officer. The felony conviction will be removed from Stetson's record if he successfully completes supervised probation.

Stetson will never again be permitted to don a badge in Minnesota.

Terms of the deal required that Stetson enroll in an anger management class and write a letter apologizing to Stallings, who suffered a broken eye socket, spent days in jail and went on trial for attempted murder in the aftermath of the encounter with police on May 30, 2020. He was acquitted by a jury and later won a $1.5 million settlement from the city.

In Stallings' unsuccessful objection to the original plea deal — which he characterized as a "betrayal" of justice — he noted that he spent more time in jail than Stetson, or any of the officers involved.

Judge Shereen Askalani forced state prosecutors and Stetson's defense attorneys back to the negotiating table this spring after her review of probation's pre-sentence investigation found "no special circumstances" to warrant a stay of adjudication. They slightly amended the terms of Stetson's deal to include 15 days in the workhouse, although he may serve the majority of that on house arrest. He is unlikely to spend a single night in jail.

In brief remarks before the court, Stetson reaffirmed his guilty plea and his previous written apology, saying: "I accept responsibility for my actions and the sentence of this court."

Stetson's attorney, Fred Bruno, told the Star Tribune that the U.S. Attorney's office has agreed not to seek federal civil rights charges against his client in light of the plea deal. Bruno declined further comment.

The hearing marked the culmination of a case that drew national attention and reignited debates about the future of policing in the city that killed George Floyd. For Stallings, it offered little closure knowing that Stetson was the only officer to receive any form of accountability through the criminal legal system.

"It's a slap on the wrist," Stallings said in an interview, denouncing the lenient resolution as one that did nothing to prevent future police brutality. "It leaves me with the feeling that as civilians we are held to a higher [standard] than the actual ones charged with upholding the law."

Five days after Floyd's murder, members of an MPD SWAT unit were roving around south Minneapolis in an unmarked van and shooting nonlethal projectiles at protesters out past curfew.

When the officers fired a 40mm projectile at Stallings without warning, he shot back — unaware they were police officers. When they stopped the van and ran toward him, Stallings dropped his gun and immediately surrendered. Stetson repeatedly struck him and didn't stop until a sergeant intervened.

Then-Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman prosecuted Stallings, an Army veteran who was in legal possession of a firearm that night. A jury cleared him of all counts.

The officers had testified that the force was justified because Stallings was actively resisting arrest. That account later proved false with the release of video evidence. The Attorney General eventually took over the investigation and charged Stetson with assaulting Stallings.

During his May plea hearing, Stetson admitted to picking up Stallings' head from the ground as he lay in a prone position, unarmed and compliant, then slamming his face into the concrete. Under oath, Stetson agreed that level of force was both excessive and unlawful.

In a one-page letter addressed to Stallings and his loved ones, Stetson apologized for exhibiting a "lack of control and poor judgment" that night.

"The humiliation that you must have felt during that time must have been unbearable. Not only did I cause you physical injury but I know that the emotional scars of the brutality are equally as painful and can last forever," Stetson wrote.

"I acknowledge and apologize for the actions of the past and the role that MPD has played in society's historical mistreatment of the disadvantaged communities and against those engaged in peaceful civil protests."

In the aftermath of the assault, Stallings began to feel paranoid about the potential for retaliation by MPD and moved to Houston to be closer to family. He said he often avoids visiting Minneapolis when he returns to Minnesota.

Earlier this year, Stallings launched a nonprofit called the Good Apple Initiative to help empower more people within law enforcement and the criminal justice system to speak up when they witness misconduct by colleagues.

He intends to create a tip line where people can anonymously report unethical behavior in the workplace and seek community resources related to public safety.

"I was left with two options: I could be bitter and angry and just hate all police. Or I could do the work and bring about the change that I wanted to see in the first place," he said. "So I chose the latter."